Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Fancy Friday in Lace Zig-Zags; Sidney Mega-Thrift Shop in Dots and Birds

Welcome back, my friends! It's a sure signal that life is becoming more social - the Weekend Wrap-Up is again Bigass! Grab a beverage, settle in and enjoy my shenanigans.

Friday's Jammy Dress.

You can't go wrong with lace zig-zags. 

• Dress - Talbots, thrifted; last worn and Flashbacked here in August 2021, with copper for a Betty walk
• Shoes - Truths , Fluevog; last seen here in May with a floral skirt
• Jacket (below) - Club Monaco, thrifted; last worn here in June

I'm carrying on my tradition of never wearing the same shoes twice with this dress.

This is the 8th time I've worn it and it's been different ones every time. 

The dress is actually thick lace, fully lined. 

Can you believe I only paid $24.00 for it? I'm down to $3.00 a wear. 

I love to tell people that it's a (VERY generous) size 2. 

"OMG, you have to be BURIED in that!" gushed the gent at Rich Rags, which made me howl with laughter. I popped in on the way home to cruise through the racks for good stuff (didn't find anything today). He likes to check out my clothes - it's nice to chat fashion with someone who appreciates it! 

Masked up: 

A busy work day, although it was quiet in the office itself. 

Incognito: I'm surprised I was recognized (hee hee).

I've had this light Club Monaco jacket for at least 5 years - I'm down to pennies per wear on it. 

Accoutrements: 

Kitty mask! 

• Scarf - Fluevog
• Mask - by Mom

The stuff: 

Love these shoes - they are an all-day shoe. So comfy. 

Silvery bling: 

My hair used to be the colour of my tassel earrings! 

• Bangle - vintage 1920s, vintage mall
• Filigree bangle - St. Paul's Cathedral gift shop, London
• Tassel earrings - consignment, Vancouver
• Silver/amethyst ring - vintage mall
• Gold/amethyst ring - Frances Jewelers, c. 1965, Dad's

A lovely Friday evening of board games was had by all (including Vizzini, who grabbed a cheezie from under the couch and gloated over his snack victory all night), and we were up early on Saturday for further adventures. For me, that was a day-trip to Sidney with Cat to raid the thrift stores.

It was overcast with a slight wind on Saturday, so I wasn't sure how to dress - layers? It's always a few degrees colder in Sidney due to being mere meters from the ocean. 

• Blouse - Tory Burch, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in July 2021 with ORANGE LEATHER SHORTS (sorry, it's in their contract)
• Skirt - Compania Fantastica, consignment, Vancouver; last worn here in May for a Mom-Day adventure at Elk Lake
• Shoes - Born, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) way back in May 2021 with a Hawaiian dress for a Ye Olde Pandemic Park party
• Jacket (below) - Smoking Lily; last worn here in May

By the end of the day, I was down to just this, as it warmed up considerably.

I wore nylons, but peeled them off after a few hours. 

I love this silk blouse (good sunblock). The pattern is abstract birds - I like how it looks like feathers overall, like a snowy owl.

This creamsicle orange pleated skirt is a firm favourite. 

Masked up. 

It was "Sidewalk Days" in Sidney (which we hadn't known about prior) and there were scads of people thronged about the main strip of Beacon Drive. 

Jacketed and incognito. L is packing up for a game of Ulti in the background - I was sad to miss a game, but I haven't gone to Sidney with Cat for a shopping day in ages! The last time was here in October 2020!

I started out like this, but rolled up my stretchy denim jacket and stuffed it in my backpack, along with my silk scarf and the dead nylons. 

Zipped up. 

That did not last long. 

Accoutrements: 

I was rather pleased at how well this scarf went with the blouse. 

• Scarf - Bill Blass, vintage 80s, thrifted
• Mask - by Mom

The stuff: 

These navy suede flats are very cushy inside - they were great for our 5.5-hour shop! I mostly wear them for taking out the recycling these days.

Blue bling:

The pin was on the collar of my jacket. 

• Belt - Karen Millen, thrifted
• Pin - homegrown vintage c. 1986
• Silver/sodalite ring - Scotland, 1996
• Orange ring - Italy, vintage 1960s, vintage mall
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes
• Earrings - local

Here's a listing of the stores we went to, with websites as available - as always, all links 'cause I love (I get no benefit from links provided). Sidney is loaded with a mix of true thrift stores, consignment stores and excellent boutiques. I've updated my Shopping Tab (link here) to add these.

• Dog's Breath Antiques (FB link here)
• BC SPCA Thrift Store (SPCA store page here)
• Beacon Community Services Thrift on Fourth (shop list here)
• Beacon Community Services Thrift Annex (as above)
• Connections Consignment (FB link here)
• House of Lily Koi Consignment (website here)
• Cameron Rose Gifts (website here)
• Green Door Thrift (FB link here)

We both bought very little in the way of clothing - most of the stores don't have fitting rooms, and the pickings were slim anyway. We did do extremely well with accessories! 

Cat spotted the tower ring at Dog's Breath Antiques, but it didn't fit her so I tried it. 

Dog's Breath is one of the few stores that sells their silver jewelry by weight ($5.00/gram).

The stone in this ring is a crystal, but the rest of the ring is sterling silver. 

The "STG." does mean Sterling, but I wasn't able to find what "SUP." means. Superior, I assume, ha! 

It needs a good buffing, but I like how the crystal is suspended. 

The lovely lady gave this to me for $60.00.

The amber/silver ring is also sterling, but only had this single indented mark.

I like how the back is open, and the ring is almost like a collar.

There they are on (sorry, my big amethyst/gold ring is distracting).

The amber ring was $40.00. I spent half my budget right away in one store! 

From there, we moved on to the SPCA thrift store, where I spotted this silver and malachite bangle in the jewelry case. 

I'd just seen similar sterling bracelets for over $200 in Dog's Breath.

I like the lines of silver on the teardrop shape.

The drop is hinged on one side - you squeeze and the pin on the right drops out. It's a very small bangle. 

The original price - the owner was a lovely man, who said it had been in the case for a while and he'd charge me $30.00. Done! 

I'll take that over $54.00, even though the SPCA is a great cause. 

I was happy to see the Mexico stamps, and the 950 mark (that means it's 95% silver). 

The T stands for Taxco, the city it was made in; the second letter (L) is the last name of the silversmith. The numbers are unclear - they can mean how many silversmiths use that last name letter L. There is no universal list of silversmiths from Mexico, but I'm still very happy with getting this for $30.00. 

Isn't it lovely? 

It also needs a good polish! 

I also picked up this sparkly "eyelash" texture dress.

I held it up to myself, thought it might fit and hoped for the best. 

The brand is Warren Z (Cat and I both had a giggle that Warren Zevon was the designer). 

From a brief interwebz search, it looks like this was an early 90s brand. Yellow tags were half price, so this was $3.50. However, it did not fit, and was itchy, so off to the giveaway pile it went. Ya can't win 'em all.

I couldn't let go of these velvet leggings.

They're so soft! 

Only $6.95.

Not a small - that clearly says Large on the tag. These will be for at home only! 

I bought this nice knit scarf for L. 

It was in superb condition (no balling or snags). 

It's by Mexx - so not a cheap brand. 

And it's 80% wool, excellent. 

This will keep my poor delicate husband's neck warm in the chill this winter. 

I snorted at the care tag - I'll ensure I use excessive steam! 

It was a mere $5.95. I'm sure it would have sold for around $60.00 new.

However, my entire purchase came to $42.00, so the owner seems to have given me a few extra dollars off (we did enjoy a bit of amusing banter). 

Cat and I spent a good hour-plus going through Connections Consignment, a store that groups everything by type and size. I always appreciate that, even though I take a quick look at everything, just in case. 

These trousers caught my eye - I know that print! 

They are the Morris & Co collaboration with H&M - I had this dress here by them (I put it in the giveaway pile as I hated the cheap fabric after one wearing)

The original price was $29.99, and these were marked at $19.98. They are a nice thick stretch cotton and they have pockets! 

I recognized this as another designer collaboration - if it looks familiar to you, I have this skirt here from this same collab.

The sleeves are a stretchy lace, and it's polyester. 

Cool pattern mixing. 

I am vibing on this black/white sporty look. 

Peter Pilotto on the buttons. 

And yes, there is Peter Pilotto on the tag!

I found a picture from Elle Canada here of both pieces together from the 2014 collaboration - of course, I will have to wear them together like that! 

It retailed for $34.99 US, so I am okay with $24.98. 

There was a huge gaggle of people outside the House of Lily Koi, but the Sidewalk Sale stuff was really crappy-looking, so we ducked inside the store to check out the nice(r) things. 

We both fell for these white balsa wood lightning bolt earrings (so 80s!). Everything in the store was an extra 25% off, so these were $13.50. Cat also bought a lovely Stella & Dot bracelet. 

We didn't realize what time it was, but we were parched and starving, so headed down to the waterfront pub, Riva, for lunch. After a delicious grilled salmon burger and salad apiece, we headed over to Cameron Rose Gifts, where they were just putting away their sale table. 

"What time is it??" we wondered, and were shocked that it was 4:30pm! Where did the day go?

Anyway, we SCORED on their sale jewelry. I spent less than $20 on all of the following. 

This Harriet Grey line (it appears to be a Vancouver designer, but no website that I could find that looked legit) was obviously on deep clearance. From the original $12.95, I paid $1.00. 

I do love a bastard-massive (as Vix would say) ring. 

Isn't it fabulous? 

I also found these earrings. 

They were also $1.00 - the marking on the backer is Shiraleah.

This long necklace is also a Harriet Grey piece.

The pendant is black feathers, with rows of darkened metal chair, all on a long greyed chain. 

Regular price $66.95, marked down to...

...a DOLLAR. Take my money! 

I snatched this up right away. 

It's a Harriet Grey as well - it's a nickel "liquid" mesh bracelet. 

It has adjustable snaps. 

The original price was $81.95, marked down to $57.00, the marked down to $5.00. That's...wow. 

Here it is on. 

So cool! I love this! 

Between us, Cat and I bought 8 rings over the course of the day - I bought FIVE. 

I love the silver balls on this one - it's sterling silver, and was originally $67.50.

But for me, only $5.00.

We were both boggled at the prices, and pawed through everything - we left many good pieces behind. 

Here's the ball ring on. 

I love that - it will look good with my Brutalist collection. 

There were a bunch of these colourful enamel rings (Cat bought a yellow/orange one).

I liked the green/pink/orange of this one - very vintage-y. The original price was $39.95.

But it was marked down to $5.00. 

The backing of the ring is really pretty; the size is adjustable too. The brand name is Ollipop, USA.

Here it is on.

So pretty! 

Good thing I'd found a crystal ring-holder at Beacon Community Services Thrift Annex earlier in the day! I bought five rings! 

I also bought a new-to-me metal flipper at the same store for my cast iron pans (for a whopping 38 cents). Breaking the bank here at $1.50 on the ring dish.

I dumped all the jewelry (except for the feather necklace) in it. 

Fantastic! 

Our last stop was Green Door Thrift, a true thrift store (along with the accompanying slightly ickiness of a very crowded space).

In those kinds of thrift stores, I always head straight for the accessories, where I scored three silk ties for L at $2.00 apiece. 

This one's by Bouelder, Milwaukee (but made in Italy) and features a Charles Rennie Mackintosh-inspired design. 

It says "Adapted from Orange & Purple Spirals, 1915. Pinterest image link here. This is probably a late 80s/early 90s tie.

The middle tie felt very Art Deco to me although it's likely from the 90s - it's a travel theme (note the central cruise ship, and the airplane above it - you can also see a bit of a train on the right in the main image above). 

I recognized the brand name (Bugatchi) as being high-end back in the 80s/90s - their silk ties sell for ~$165.00 new. This one's also made in Italy. It was obviously loved, as someone's gone to the trouble of hand-sewing a repair on the back of it. 

This dramatic tie is L's favourite (he liked all of them). 

It's likely from the 80s. Great pattern! 

Whew! We were exhausted after 5.5 hours of shopping - I crashed and napped for an hour when I got home - but what a great time we had! What's your favourite of my purchases? 

And now, I'm off to enjoy the remainder of my weekend with my fam (furry and human). Thank you so much for stopping by!