Mental Health Shop: Daisies and Denim

Hello, my friends! Give me a few days off, and I'll absolutely take a day for a Mental Health Shop. L had plans with Nick all day, so I headed to town for a nice long browse at the Women In Need (WIN) store.

Will it ever be sunny? It was bright, but the sky remained white today, sadly. 

• Jacket - 2014 Stella McCartney for Adidas, consignment, Vancouver; last worn here in September 2021 as a topper
• Top - Plum, thrifted; last seen here in April layered under dots
• Skirt - Zara, thrifted; first worn here in April for a Mom-Day Adventure on the harbour
• Shoes - Homers; last seen here in January with my pirate skirt

My dilemma today was that I'd run out of nylons, and it was too cold to go bare-legged.

So I wore these "nightshade" ones - I quite liked this look and had a nice compliment from a fellow shopper.

The jacket is so cool - bomber jackets don't really suit me, but there's no way I'm giving up a Stella McCartney piece. 

The white denim skirt was a good neutral. I might snip that big piece off at the back, or at least trim it a bit shorter. 

Without the jacket, although I never took it off. 

I love this black tee - it's got a weird slinky feel to it, but wears like iron. 

Masked up.

Matchy! This is how I looked while I shopped.

And this is how I looked walking around outdoors.

As you can see, I added a scarf. 

Accoutrements:

I was actually cold on the way home on the bus. I was glad of the scarf and wished I'd worn gloves. Welcome to June-uary! 

The stuff: 

I love these shoes - so comfy. 

Matchy bling: 

That's Mom's vintage belt that I threaded through the skirt's belt loops.

• Belt - vintage 70s, Mom's
• Yellow cuff - thrifted
• Leather studded cuff - vintage 80s
• Chain silver ring - Taxco, Charmaine's
• Shield ring - Nine West
• Ear-balls - Dior, consignment

And here's what I found! I spent close to 3 hours, looking at EVERYTHING. I did some more birthday shopping for L too, but since he reads my blog, I won't be featuring them. 

In the jewelry section, I found this necklace and those...

What are those things? 

They are button-covers! This was a thing back in late 80s/early 90s.

I didn't notice until I took this picture that one is red and one is green. These were $7.95 for the pair.

They're stamped. 

NONY. It also faintly says "New" underneath that, and yup, it's Nony New York, known for their button covers, shoe clips and other bits of things that you attach to your clothes.

The necklace reminds me of ones I had in the early 00s - pretty sure it's from that era.

I like the colours - this will be good with some of my chunky sweaters. 

It's marked "Gilde Handwerk" - the other side says "Art Collection."

It's a German company from the early 00s. It was also $7.95.

I'm always on the lookout for little shallow bowls for playing our boardgames - I like putting all the little tiny game pieces in them. 

I love the copper finish on this ceramic one, plus it's made in Wales. And it was only $2.95.

Look at that lovely blue! Apparently this is vintage and the brand is Creigiau, which is slightly visible in the mark on the bottom. About them here, all links 'cause I love.

My fingers are in there for scale - it's tiny! This is probably from the 1960s or 70s.

Back to the accessory department! I found a belt. 

I love the warm grey colour and the ball-chain stitched on the edges. Plus the studs. As you can see, it was $6.95.

It's by Below the Belt, which is a small Canadian mall chain that started in 1978. This style reminds me of the 90s.

It's leather, and very, very long (I think the end is meant to be knotted around the belt). 

I always enjoy a good rummage through the scarf department. I found this one by feel.

"There's something about this scarf I like."

The colours are red, black, green, turquoise and pale golden yellow. I spotted the signature and into my basket it went! 

"I spy a thread! This must be eaten immediately."

Vizzini is a monster when it comes to loose threads. I snipped it off right away. 

I was thrilled to find another vintage Pierre Cardin scarf,

Especially one in 100% wool, made in Japan(!) and only $6.95. It still has a plastic tag through the content tag and the fold lines are crisp - I don't think it's ever been worn. The CA number belongs to Paris Glove Ltd. of Montreal - it's likely that they held the licensing for manufacturing Pierre Cardin for a while. 

The colours of this long skinny scarf attracted me. 

Turquoise, red and brown in sort of a snakeskin pattern. 

The edges are hand-rolled, and I can see where someone removed the manufacturer/content tag. I'm 100% sure it is silk.

Only $3.95. Of course, into the basket it went! 

I know this is an Italian tourist scarf, the kind you buy thinking you're getting a real designer piece. 

"All those Cs - it must be Coach!"

Vizzini, you're such a rube - it's obviously Cooch, a close but cheaper relation (tee hee!). 

"Fine, I only wanted to chew on the tassels, anyway."

It's by Pashmina, and is made from 70% pashmina and 30% silk. I like the purple/pink colours - that's why I bought it. It's so hard to find purple scarves that are nice. It's also really soft and snuggly.

For $6.95, I don't mind that it's a tourist souvenir. I'll give it some love.

I had a good look through the book section, as they had a "buy 1, get 1 free" special on. 

I paid $3.00 for all the books I got (3 bought for L as well - shhhh, don't tell him!). The Zadie Smith looked good, and while I've heard of Doris Lessing, I've never read anything by her. 

Back to clothes! I found this top in the vintage section. 

I really like the flattering cut and the abstract painty print. 

It's completely handmade - I turned it inside out and found tons of hand-stitching. 

It has bra strap holders! I love that! 

I was amused by the ZIK zipper, which is all metal. 

I concur with the tagger's assessment that this is from the 1950s. 

Maybe late 50s. For $9.95, I risked it (we can't try on anything in WIN). And it fits! 

I'd seen this dress there before, but this time I went for it. 

I love that aqua colour. 

It's detailed in a darker teal. 

The material is woven. 

It's got pockets!!

Big ones! 

And the boobular region is open with hooks and eyes. 

I'm not sure why I would want to open those? I may pinch them shut with pliers to avoid any catastrophes.

It's 100% cotton and is fully lined in acetate.

Made in the USA - you don't see that much anymore. The CA number points to Holt Renfrew, a giant swanky department store chain in Canada. It was likely made to be sold in their stores. 

It's by Nanette Lepore and the US-made construction tells me it's fairly old - likely late 90s or early 00s. 

It had been marked at $26.95, then marked down to $24.95 - the butterfly punchout means it was half price, so $12.50. 

I grabbed this camisole when I saw it - I'm a bit of a crow that way! 

It's a woven fabric and is fully-lined. 

Silk and metal! 

It's from Holiday 2013. Were we especially sparkly in 2013? I can't remember. 

It also has bra strap holders! 

I like that very much - I always look for details like that. 

It's by J. Crew and was half off, so $6.50.

It also has a previous price tag bit still attached through the tag. It doesn't look like it's been worn at all. 

I actually bought this top because I recognized the brand, then realized this was just a crazy top and I had to have it. 

I'm a bit attracted to the wacky stuff, heh heh. 

It has elastic at the back of the arms, and vents at the lower shoulder blade.

The top of the right vent needs a small bit of stitching - it's ripped open, but it'll only take 5 minutes to fix. 

Look at the odd gathers and stitching on the sleeves. 

Big floppy cuffs too. 

With moulded brass buttons. 

Fancy!

Odd detailing on the front. One above-boob seam has gathers, the other does not. 

The big buttons are fun. 

They are enameled on the front with blue and gold.

But the backs are shell. 

Made in Italy.

Although the fabric looks like denim, it's tencel, which is a type of rayon. 

I like that the date of production is noted. 

May 2018. It's only 4 years old. 

This is the seam that popped open. 

I'll need to sew it to line up with the two tacked areas (which are done in gold thread - fancy!). Easy-peasy.

I know this name: Eliza Cavaletti - I've seen it in high-end consignment stores. Their parent company is Daniela Dallavalli (she is the designer of Eliza Cavaletti). 

Their blouses and shirts run from $182 - 403.00 Canadian - I guess my $15.00 was well-spent! 

I'm a sucker for a peplum. And this pretty shade of burgundy.

This is a very stretchy sweater fabric zip-up jacket - it needs a blouse under it, as it's very boob-tastic. 

I like the flecks of sparkly in the material. It's marked a Large on the tag, but it's says small inside! It's a little on the snug side for me right now (must cut back on the chocolate). 

It's by Guess and was $9.99. We used to have a Guess store in town - this would have been 10 times that new, easily. 

I liked the colours in this short pencil skirt. Yes, it does go with the previous jacket/sweater.

LOVE that baby blue is in there. This will go with a ton in my wardrobe. 

It's by Ann Taylor - their sizing is wonky, as that size 4 fits me. I'm usually an 8-10.

The fabric is woven again (not a printed pattern) and it's fully-lined. It was marked down to $14.95 from the original $16.96. 

I love this purple pleated chiffon skirt. 

It's a really good length (right at the knee) and is very swooshy. It has a stretchy lining.

It's by the Limited and was $7.95. 

I am looking forward to wearing this. 

This skirt excited me - another swanky designer name! 

The front is not that exciting - it's a golden tan colour. I noticed that it had pockets on the sides! 

The back is where all the excitement is! You can see a bit of the pocket on the left side there. 

The zipper is lined up with the left embellished seam.

At the bottom of each of those seams is a wee pleat for walking. 

The golden fabric is crumply but shiny. The black fabric feels like cotton. 

The waistband is black grosgrain ribbon with cream stitches.  

The vertical strips are cream grosgrain with black embroidered "trees". The blue bit is a thin strip of velvet ribbon. 

I always turn the good stuff inside out! This is the pockets on the inside front of the skirt. 

How cool! They are not connected (there's a seam in the centre) but this design means the pockets won't flop around. Smart.

Ah, it's polyester and silk. 

It's made in Italy. 

Oh my, I know Alberta Ferretti! I've seen her gorgeous dresses on many a celebrity. About her here, from Vogue. I'll spend some time another day hunting through all of her runways (Vogue goes back to 2000 with her runway shows) to see if I can find the season this skirt is from. 

There's a plain linen short skirt on their site for $700.00 Canadian - my $14.95 was a SCORE! And it fits perfectly! 

Greetje's (blog here) voice came to me as I debated buying this silk blouse. 

She said, "Buy it!" The print is gorgeous. Big poppies! 

It does up across the chest with little faceted black buttons. 

The weight of the silk is causing it to sag a bit here, but I love that they've lined up the print to match. That's a sign of good quality. 

Greetje loves Max Mara and I'm sure she will swoon over this! And it's 100% pure silk (that's what "pura seta" means).

It was labeled a vintage item - I think it's from the late 90s (that neckline). I really only paid $6.95! Their current season's blouses and tunics run between $325.00-990.00 - WOW. I love it - thanks for pushing me, Greetje.

Phew! Time to get back to chillin'! What's your favourite of my new purchases?