Non-Mom-Day Shop in Daffodil Inspiration

Welcome back, my friends! Due to utterly crap weather, we reluctantly pulled the plug on another Mom-Day. It was sleeting out, and brrrr...ever so cold. Sending Mom warm thoughts! I missed you! 

Since I was already dressed and ready to be out in the cold, I decided to head to town anyway. When I cleaned out my wallet last week before our trip to Powell River, I discovered a $50 Flavour Upstairs gift card, and I also had a cheque from Louise (Merry Christmas!) to deposit - and spend! 

I started with the coat - the bright colour cheers me, and reminds me of daffodils when they are just poking up. 

• Coat - Stormtech, thrifted; last worn here in January on a Snow Day
• Sweater - Ralph Lauren, vintage 80s, thrifted; last seen here in January with these same boots, also on a Non-Mom-Day
• Skirt - Isle Jacobsen, consignment; first worn here in January with my Thousand-Dollar Sweater
• Boots - Doc Martens; last seen here (2nd outfit) in January for a Saturday brunch

Without the coat, although I never took it off except when trying stuff on. 

Extra pockets in the skirt are always useful. 

As this quilted skirt is a mix of grey and olive, I picked other pieces to emphasize the green in it.

Nothing matches...

But everything goes! 

How I looked as I shopped in stores. 

Scarf moved from the purse strap to my neck - I definitely needed that extra warmth! 

I was nice and snuggly in this.

Will it rain?

It did, but only a sprinkle. 

Accoutrements: 

This was the debut of this new-to-me leather purse, picked up last weekend in PR. 

• Purse - Aimee Kestenberg, thrifted, Powell River; purchased here for $25.00
• Scarf - vintage 60s, Dad's
• Toque - gift from Tammy
• Brooch - Monet, vintage fair
• Leather/cashmere gloves - Roeckl, consignment

It was excellent - held all of my bags and wallet perfectly, and didn't swing around or catch or misbehave. 

The stuff: 

These boots are comfy, but after 4 hours, my feet were tired as I trudged uphill home. 

Minimal bling: 

I wore the brooch to cover up the RLL embroidered logo on my sweater.

• Leather/chain wrist-wrap - local
• Leather/metal cuff - thrifted
• Brooch - vintage, vintage fair
• Silver/onyx ring - Tocara, vintage fair
• Brass ring - vintage 70s, vintage mall
• Earrings - thrifted

I had a peek in the stores on Fort Street that had been empty on Monday, and discovered this amazing over-shirt/jacket in a new vintage/consignment shop. All links 'cause I love! 

Shiny! It's tissue-thin sheer fabric, printed with leopard in shades of grey. 

It has a hood with a drawstring. 

And there's a drawstring at the hem. The cuffs are elasticated, and you might have noticed a sleeve tucked into a pocket above. 

Ginormous pockets! 

And a better look at the fabric. Cool! 

The shop is called Rodega (link here - she appears to only be on Instagr*m), and the owner's got a great eye. 

I was entranced by many items. 

I poked around at this and decided if I wanted it. 

Cotton, polyamide and silk, nice. It's made in Bulgaria. 

It's Dries Van Noten, new with tags! It's called the Charrie Shirt, the colour is Charcoal, and it retailed for $1,293.00, but I can tell by the removed stickers that whoever bought it, got it on sale - possibly at the big Norstrom's that used to be in Vancouver

Still, that's a LOT of money! 

I did not pay that much, but it was still $97.00 - thank you, generous mother-in-law Louise!

This was from her. I spotted the same one in an archived listing from 7 years ago on Grailed for $500,

Here's the screen-grab. 

I couldn't find it in that runway, though. Maybe it's a men's top?

I went deep downtown, to Upcycle, an excellent vintage/curated consignment shop, where I found this cotton cable-knit. 

A great colour! 

It's by LL Bean, and since it was dated over a month ago on the tag, it was half off their price of $30.00.

So, $15.00 for a nice cotton sweater in a gorgeous colour? Yes!

This made me gasp - especially when it actually fit me. 

A black and pale grey/bone mini-skirt. 

With giant pockets! 

They go right to the centre of the skirt! 

Lamb leather. 

I used my handy CA lookup to help me date it. 2006, it says, which is when the design was registered. 

And it's by Helmut Lang. 

I was shocked at the $36.00 price tag! One sold on the RealReal for $225.00, and there's a cowhide mini on his site that started at $1,055.00 (now on sale for $422.00). I got a bargain! 

From there, I went to Flavour Upstairs to spend my gift card. Now, I did NOT buy these jeans (many sizes too small), but I did take a picture of them. Why? 

Because I bought and wore these exact jeans back in 1985-6, purchased at a store called "BH Emporium" (it was connected to Fairweather) at Tillicum Mall here in Victoria. I found their parent company, Dylex's shareholders' report from 1985 here (PDF, some awesome fashion pictures), which mentions it as a teen shop - our little one in Victoria was the only store in BC! I believe it closed a few years later. These may actually be my old pair, how weird would that be? 

Anyway, I saw these paint-swirl print jeans before Christmas when I was doing my present-shopping (pre-phone), so I am glad to record them now! I wore them back in the day with a chunky yellow sweater and yellow pumps, or a red angora sweater and red leather lace-ups, I recall. Not much different than how I'd style them now! 

Full of happy thoughts, I perused the selection and found two amazing pieces. 

This is a short t-shirt printed with Marimekko's "Kivet" (which means stones) design (link here). 

100% cotton, and it's one of the Uniqlo x Marimekko collaborations. 

I poked around on the interwebs and found a few of these for sale - it looks like the original price was $14.90 Euros which is just over $21.00 Canadian. 

And there you go - I paid the retail price! 

I'm excited to incorporate this into my wardrobe. 

I was absolutely tickled over this sweater. I know this tiger! 

The sweater itself is a marled red and black knit (feels like a wool blend - the content tags have been cut out). 

All of the design is embroidered - the backside of it is all very nice, but shows quite a bit of age. 

I've never seen one with the tail and paws on it before! 

I spent a bit of time looking for clues to see if it's fake - I did find a similar one in mustard yellow online. This label is close to the one on my cardigan (this one) but not identical. If it's real, it's likely from the 90s, based on the images at the Vintage Fashion Guild (here). 

You can see the interfacing used to provide structure to the embroidered tiger design there - it's peeling away in places. Whether it's fake or not, it delights me, and at $44.95, I'm happy with my gift card paying for it! 

And happy with my gift purchases, I headed home to warm up! 

I was on the lookout for signs of spring. 

Crocuses (the purple spots) and snowdrops. 

I finally found some miniature daffodils.

Oh, those make me happy! Thank you, lovely daffodils, for the inspiration - you cheered me right up. 

And now, my friends, I'm going to take off for my weekend, which is a long one (Family Day in BC). I'll be back on Monday with tales of adventure! Take care and may peace wrap you in a warm hug.