The water was shut off to our building for the morning, so I did my best with a trickle of water, what was left in the kettle and dry shampoo!
I like this season when I can wear blazers and jackets as my outerwear.
This ginormous fleece-lined skirt caught my eye. Must wear it again!
The weather was all over the place, so I needed to be warm - but not too warm.
- Jacket - Tahari, consignment; last worn here in January with grey pleats and sparkle
- T-shirt - Adidas Farm Rio, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) on the way home from Seattle earlier this month
- Long-sleeved sweater - Sonia Rykiel, thrifted; last worn (but not seen) here in February for a Mom-Day at the burial park
- Skirt - Eliza Faulkner, consignment; last seen here in March with a preppy blazer and tie
- Sneakers - Adidas, thrifted; last worn here in August for a weekend in Powell River
I bought it at the end of last year's fall/winter season, and have only worn it once.
It was nice and snuggly.
My legs were covered in white fleece balls when I got home.
Even though I wore a slip!
I only took the jacket off while at Mom's.
Her house is usually cold, so I layered a thin cotton sweater under my Adidas double-layer mesh over cotton tee.
All done up. The jacket is a rich dark purple velvet, with thick knit sleeves.
It's almost corset-like with curved, structured sides. Lock and load!
Outerwear - I wore the beret all day to cover my hair.
This is how most people saw me. I wish I'd remembered sunglasses, but I thought it was going to rain all day.
Accoutrements:
I bought sport shoe insoles for my Adidas Superstars - they were much comfier!
I was feeling rather purple.
- Purse - Rebecca Minkoff, thrifted
- Scarf - Fluevog
- Gloves - Danier Leather
- Beret - consignment
The stuff:
Spooky bling:
Her gardener is doing a super job of bringing her gorgeous garden back to life.
I have a lot of spider and snake jewelry.
- Silver/amethyst earrings/ring - gift from Dad, c. 1985
- Silver/obsidian spider ring - Mexican, gift from Mom & Dad, c. 1986
- Silver snake ring - BC Museum Gift Shop, 1985
- Silver/amethyst ring - vintage mall
- Spider brooch - vintage mall, gift from L
- Leather cuff - Guess, thrifted
- Studded leather cuff - vintage 90s
Mom and I headed out to the path that connects her street to the park.
Hey, Mom, he missed a pirate!
A rather rakish one at that!
These tiny crabapples were underneath the tree.
I bit one - it was very sour, very hard and not very good. I spat it out.
"Hey, what's that bird with the pointy head?" I asked. That chunk of birdseed in suet hanging from the tree had attracted scads of birds.
It's a Steller's jay! (about them here, all links 'cause I love).
I have never seen one before, despite them being our provincial bird.
We saw several of them as we strolled along in the foggy mist.
Even in fall, we have so much green.
I'm glad that the path wasn't too muddy.
Mom, show off your new pink top!
It has a hood! So cute!
Wow, look at this gorgeous tree!
Reason #657 why fall is my favourite season.
So much good colour.
My eyes want to eat it up.
Mom lives in a semi-rural area (I live a few blocks from town).
Farmland! With a line of cars zooming through in the distance.
Lots and lots of Garry Oaks around here.
Their acorns are satisfying to crunch underfoot.
This tree still has apples way up high!
They look tasty!
We saw so many birds while we were walking, but this gang splashing about in the birdbath made me laugh.
Bird hot tub, anyone? The quail on the ground seems intrigued.
Mom's blueberry bushes still had a last few berries.
Remember how lush this bush was back in August? Pic here.
Mom in her art studio - she's been working on her photo albums, tossing boring pics and finding all kinds of treasures. I'll share a few at the end of the post.
A better look at Mom's outfit - the top has three bigass glitzy buttons on each side, angled across the shoulder, and gathered sleeves with big cuffs. An excellent purchase, Mom! I love the jeans too - they look great on you.
Mom treated us to a salted caramel chocolate cheesecake for dessert.
We split it and I had mine with the blueberries I'd picked.
Is it good?
Silly question!
On the way to the bus stop, I spotted one more Stellar's jay. As you can see, we had blue sky by afternoon.
Wow, so cool. I've seen so many cool birds (and some scary ones!) on our walks.
I know this farm has sheep - I always look for them when I pass on the way to the bus stop.
Quite a gaggle today!
I made them nervous, getting too close to the fence.
I'm leaving, I'm leaving! Settle down!
I popped into the WIN store downtown on my way home, and found a few things.
This gorgeous mohair/wool toque was only $12.95. It's snuggly warm without being too tight on my hair.
I couldn't pass up this amazing men's shirt. If it doesn't fit L, I'll sell it to one of his friends.
I think this is such a great way for men to express their style - lovely colour and contrasting patterns.
The cuff contrast is silk paisley.
That and two spare buttons - it's the secret of life.
The stripes are woven, never printed.
"Knowledge Wisdom Truth."
The shirt's by Robert Graham and was made in India. I know these shirts start at $265.00 new.
$19.95 is a score. I charge 10% surcharge to my friends - they get a kick out of it.
Mom's hoodie inspired me and I had to grab this luscious bright citrus orange VELOUR (so KLASSY) hoodie for myself.
I love the short sleeves - I'll wear a long-sleeved shirt under it - and the pockets are fully stitched down.
I was impressed that the hood is velour inside and out.
They don't make 'em like that anymore.
Custom hardware is always a plus.
"JC" on the hood strings and a gold metal zip, with a big 3D "J" with crystals (swoon!) on it.
Of course, it is Juicy Couture. This label was used after 2009 so it's likely from that era.
$14.95 seemed like a good deal.
I found this skirt by feel - when I'm not in the mood to peruse every item, I just run my hands through and feel for good fabric.
Stripes! It's very stripey.
A nice slit in the back - no tears or seams coming apart.
I noticed that it's fully lined...and the hem lining is stitched down! That's a massive mark of quality.
The back zip and button.
As I examined it, I realized that the original skirt has been altered by a skilled tailor.
Maybe it was altered by the design house for Client 26251, which could be a person or a department store from the era.
You can see where this skirt's lining has been unstitched and redone.
Of course, it's by Emanuel Ungaro (about him here, he died in 2019). That's the manufacturer in Turin, Italy that Ungaro used in the 80s and 90s.
These labels all match to many other Emanuel Ungaro Parallele Paris garments I've seen online. The Vintage Fashion Guild identifies this label as being from the 90s (link here).
What an amazing score - even second hand, this would sell for over $300.00.
It was a mere $34.95 for me!
Okay, now some of the pictures Mom dug up. This is probably from 1975, obviously at Christmas.
That's me on the left in a swanky leopard hat and one of my Grandma J's old dresses. The middle child is neighbour Brian (in an old bridesmaid dress of Mom's), and that's my little brother Dave in one of Mom's old cotton dresses.
We loved playing dress-up! This is Brian's older brother Steven, with a leopard beret over a veil with another of Mom's bridesmaids dresses - they were our main dress-up clothes.
That's me on the right - same leopard hat, and showing a peep of some sparkly buckled shoes (also Mom's).
Brian again (holding my Raggedy Ann doll) on the left. I see he snagged the sparkly-buckled shoes!
And me, hitting my pose, in that same blue dress in the top pic. My doll was named Dolly, ha, I was not really into baby-dolls, and I do look rather posh in my furry hat!
We're standing in the front yard of the house I grew up in, seen here sometime in the late 70s/early 80s after a snowstorm.
Mom and Dad's room is the window on the left, Dave's bedroom next to the front door, and that's the living room window on the right (the kitchen, bathroom and my bedroom were on the back). Below that is a narrow basement window, and I spy our old VW bus in the garage. We lived midway up a hill which is why it seems sloped. I see David left his hockey net out!
Well, that was a lovely little jaunt down Memory Lane! I hope you enjoyed it too. I'm off now for the weekend, my friends! I'll be back on Sunday with tales of adventure!
I love it when bloggers share some personal stuff! And your mother looks fabulous in pink. And I love the studded bracelet!!
ReplyDeleteSo much from this post is simply delicious! Helen, I appreciate your quietly adorned hoodie and jeans, it’s what I call classily relaxed. Sheila, the black and white skirt is quite the find, as is the red hoodie. Will they share an outfit together? As for the men’s top, our older son would definitely agree that it’s a spiffy find. He matches colors and patterns with finesse, much as you do.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never seen a Stellar Jay but can see the “Jay” resemblance to our Blue Jays back East as they both share those fluffy feathery crowns.
Is your Mom going to reorganize the photo albums or eventually make digital photo books or both? Her efforts are making me think going through our photos would be a useful activity. I may have asked this before, but what did your Mom do with the photos from the first book - keep them or, once scanned, dispose of them?
Here’s to the weekend!
Cheers, Laurie
She's pulling apart the old albums (which are always chronological) and is grouping all the pics as she likes into this new album style. I don't think she's planning on digitizing or writing anymore books! All of the photos that we digitized for the first book are saved still in their original albums - she's just trying to get rid of a lot of the pics that have no meaning to her. She's tossed a huge amount!
DeleteWhat a joyful post, Sheila! I love your Mom's Days. That photo of Helen enjoying her pudding is priceless and you both look fabulous, that delicate pink is lovely on your Mum and your snuggly skirt is a fabulous shape with that fitted moto jacket.
ReplyDeleteThat bird is astonishing, I love his punky hair-do! Your Mum's garden is stunning but what's with that pirate?
Great shop, L's shirt is so cool!
Those photos of little Sheila are hilarious, stylish even then. I want to know more about Brian, did he grow up to be a rock star, he's got a look of a young Mick Jagger in that photo.
Have a brilliant weekend, my friend. xxx
Brian became an auto mechanic and ran a little gas station/mechanic shop a block from the house he grew up in. He died of a sudden brain aneurysm over 25 years ago, sadly. I wish he'd been a rock star.
DeleteHow lovely to join you and your Mom on your Autumnal walk, and to walk with you down memory lane! You were stylish even back them, and apparently you already had a soft spot for leopard!
ReplyDeleteI'd never seen, or even heard of a Steller's jay: what a stellar bird!
That salted caramel chocolate cheesecake looks absolutely yummy.
And once again, you did extremely well with your wee shop. Loving the shirt and the short-sleeved velours hoodie in particular!
Have a most wonderful weekend my friend xxx
Oh I love the velvet with the fleece skirt, such a cosy outfit! And how did I miss that you thrifted a pair of Superstars?! Ugh, I've been so behind with blog reading! I've been debating actually buying a new pair of superstars, as mine were a bit beaten up when I thrifted them, and I wear them a lot. But I'm sure I can get a little more wear from them, haha! :) You bought a lot of great things on your shopping trip too, and it's always food to see you and your mum on your adventures :)
ReplyDeleteSuch cute pictures!!! Look at you minis!!!!
ReplyDeleteI loved seeing your jaunt with Mum and the Jay is a beautiful bird! I've never seen one like that. Our Jay is a Corvid and has brown feathers with a brilliant blue stripy wing feather!
Your outfit is really lovely and looks cosy- I do love how soft that beret looks!x
Great to see you as a child.
ReplyDeleteGreetje