Weekend Wrap-Up: Karma Shop in Zebra With L on the Ave

Welcome back, my friends! My Sunday is being spent with a house full of people for our first big Super Bowl party in 3 years, but my Saturday was a calm oasis of shopping, with my favourite person in the world, L! 

Not that I need an excuse to shop, but I like to reward myself for making it through another periodontist appointment, and seeing as I had just given away a precious item to my colleague Stefanie this past week (here), I was hoping that I'd have some "money" in the Karma "bank" . It always seems to work out that way! 

I chose an outfit full of things that I love (as it should be), and L and I headed out for the day. The plan: grocery shop, followed by errands downtown, drop off the groceries, and then a languorous shop along Oak Bay Avenue. I also still had cash on my Turnabout gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket! 

• T-shirt - O-Gen, thrifted; last worn here (3rd outfit) in December 2022 for shopping on Oak Bay Ave with Cat
• Dress - H&M X Kenzo, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in November 2022 for the theatre with Cat, Yvonne and Randall
• Boots - Prepare 2.0 Tracker, Fluevog; last worn here in January with a not-quite-there outfit
• Coat (below) - Baez Leather, consignment; last seen here in a Hallowe'en-y outfit in October 2022

This is how most people saw me. 

In shopping mode! L is all dressed and looking for his silk scarves (hint: they are not in there). 

Here's the dress without the coat, but I only had the coat off briefly while in the changeroom, and at the Penny Farthing Pub where we had dinner afterwards. 

I just adore this swooshy silk dress. 

The big elastic belt is necessary, as the dress is just big tent without.

I layered fleece-lined tights underneath, plus little sport-shorts to keep everything in place. 

It's a full dress. 

See? 

Masked up - none of the stores required masks...so I skipped wearing this. 

It felt WEIRD, but I quickly got used to it. 

I kept my distance from people (as I usually do). 

L, I told you, your silk scarves aren't in there! They are near your shoe shelf. 

All done up. 

I had many kind comments on my outfit, and I always love engaging over my clothes with the lovely folks at House of Savoy and Turnabout. It's so nice to see other fashion-y people! 

Accoutrements: 

My little studded bag is crammed full of shopping bags - I was feeling optimistic! 

• Bag - Rebecca Minkoff, consignment
• Scarf - Elaine Gold, consignment
• Gloves - Echo, consignment
• Mask - by Mom

The stuff: 

These boots are only a net 1-inch heel, but my feet were very tired after our 6+ hours of shopping, walking and being out and about. 

Minimal bling: 

I don't like wearing a lot of jewelry when I shop. 

• Belt - thrifted
• Earrings - Betsey Johnson, swap from Cat
• Silver/onyx ring - Tocara, vintage fair
• Anneke & Lars ring - vintage mall

L and I started out downtown, where he had a brief run-through the stacks at Ditch Records, and I had a quick browse through the new stock at Dots, where I found this gorgeous viscose kimono. 

I love the colours - this will go with a bunch of stuff in my closet. 

It has elasticated cuffs, and big bat-wing sleeves. 

I LOVE the pattern (which is lined up nicely across the shoulder seams). See the birds? I think they are peacocks. 

This is by Apricot and would have retailed for $75.00.

I paid $29.99. I rarely shop retail but Dots' stock is all sales samples - never worn, often never produced for retail businesses. 

We did our grocery shop and put it all away at home. From there, we drove down to Oak Bay Avenue. First stop, Good Things Consignment, where they had a huge display of glass in the colour AND in the pattern I collect. This is the King's Crown or King's Thumbprint pattern, in amber. It was manufactured from the early 1950s until the 70s - it is pressed glass, and was made by the Indiana Glass Company. It's not rare - it's dime-a-dozen online - but I like finding my pieces in person.

There were sorbet glasses, goblets and other items I already have, but I don't really need more of those - I prefer to own pieces that I will actually use! This is a ginormous platter - about 14 inches across. It was $15.00. 

From there, we strolled down to House of Savoy and had a good browse. L's tolerance for shopping is much lower than mine, so once we did the menswear, he plopped himself down in one of the chairs and read a book until I was finished. 

I'm including L's purchases in our haul - this gorgeous brocade tie caught his fancy. 

It is vintage V2 by Versace

A close-up of the gorgeous pattern. This was $75.00 which felt like a lot (since I'm in the habit of buying ties for $1-2 in thrift stores). It all balances out, though. 

I found these acrylic earrings for myself. They are light as a feather, and are clear with an iridescent finish on them that goes pink and green. 

I know they will go with a ton in my wardrobe! They were $21.00. 

When I shop consignment, I am VERY picky because the prices are that much higher. I only want to buy the items that really sing to me. 

I'm hearin' the full choir for these high-waisted wide-legged blue and neon trousers! 

Pockets! 

I have a blouse that shade of neon - ooh, I can't wait to wear these! 

They are by Gorman, a brand I'm not familiar with...because they are Australian! 

And as we can see, they are from Winter 2021. Not very old! 

I believe these are the Clemence Pant, which retails for $189.00 AUD (Canadian $ is nearly on par with Australian, so these would be nearly $200 CAD). 

I paid $125.00, but I really love them. Worth it! 

But those buys were not the Karma I thought I'd have - I'm not complaining as obviously, the Shopping Gods were smiling on us. L and I drove further up the Ave and parked near Turnabout. We started in the menswear where we struck gold. 

My shopping Karma all went to L! He's been looking for a new black suit - he wears a suit and tie to work every day, so he needs a new one every 2-3 years. His black suit is at the end of its life, and he'd resigned himself to a very pricy one at Outlooks. However, let's see what Turnabout has - you never know! 

Oh, what's that? A black suit, you say? 

This suit was in near-perfect condition, and fit L to a T. 

Dolce & Gabbana's "Martini" suit. It was made in Italy, and the Martini suits are only bespoke (custom-made). 

This was on sale for $280.00 - it retails for $3,645.00. What a score! Custom D&G for less than 10% of the original price. L would have paid double that for a new suit (that wouldn't be D&G). He was thrilled. 

I begged L to try these on - I even suggested styling for an outfit to get him to try them on. 

He is "slipper-averse" but I pushed these as a party shoe. Also, duh, they have brocade-woven WASPS on them. WASPS! 

Look at that! 

If these were my size, I would have bought them for myself. 

The other foot is different. 

So. Freaking. Cool. These were also marked down to $350.00, which is in the Fluevog price-range. They've been resoled with Topys (for anti-slip) and have been worn, but they are in very good condition. 

Jimmy Choo! These retailed for $775.00. What a great haul for L! 

All that shopping exhausted poor L, who took himself off to the pub for an early stout and some more reading while I finished up at Turnabout for myself. I tried a lot on (including two Alexander McQueen dresses, swoon, but they didn't fit), and ended up with only two things. 

This leather studded short jacket called to me. I decided last week to let go of my Danier Couture cropped leather jacket, as I had other jackets that were more me - how perfect that this one appeared! 

OMG, stud-buttons! 

Oh, thank you, they carry around to the back. 

This is a good length for me, just as the top of the hip. 

Two patch pockets on the front. 

Enough room for storing small things. 

It's leather and is by Michael Kors. 

It was $85.00, marked down from $169.99. I also had $56.00 in total leftover from my gift card and from cashing in my Turnabout points, which takes another $28.00 off that price - so it was actually $61.00. It probably retailed for around $400.00.

My white leather floral Doc Martens died several months ago, so I've been wearing my brown canvas Docs as my winter walking shoes (also getting worn out) and have been keeping an eye out for another pair.

Wow! Black canvas with lavender and orange floral - yes, please! I love the ribbon laces. 

They are in great shape, with only a tiny bit of wear. 

These were $89.99 - less my gift card and points, they came to $61.99. 

Not bad for a pair of Docs that would have retailed for close to $300.00. 

I feel like I should wear these with some actual clothes, not just as my functional walking shoes. What do you think? 

And now, I'm off to join the Super Bowl party! Vizzini, are you ready for a house full of people? Vizzini? 

"No one's here. Go away."

L is doing the laundry so the bed is stripped...except for this one mysterious blanket with a lump under it...

"Yes, it's me. Now leave me be, Woman."

I expect he'll hide for a while, then come out to hoover up bits of chips and cheezies. We learned our lesson from last year - no salmon! (here, scroll down).

I hope you all had a lovely weekend! Thank you so much for visiting my little corner of the Interwebz.