Tweed Magazine Photoshoot! Plus a Wee Shop (and a Splurge)

Hello, clever friends - good job on figuring out my hint in yesterday's post! I checked with the involved parties, and I'm welcome to share with you that...

L and I did a photoshoot for Tweed Magazine today! 

Check out their main link here (all links 'cause I love), but my most recommended is here, House of Savoy's "Press" page. Hey, my "Eclipse" coat was featured in Yam Magazine, how cool! 

Emilie and Zenija, House of Savoy's awesome owners, reached out to me just a couple of weeks ago to ask if L and I would be interested in modeling a featured article of clothing of our choice from a local shop. Obviously we leapt at the chance, I scheduled a day off (this is an Important Thing!), and L and I were instructed to visit Turnabout and pick out our loaner items. 

No need to twist our arms! After Saturday brunch, we headed down Oak Bay Ave and checked out the menswear selection for L. 

This is a GORGEOUS leather blazer. 

Not so sure about the white rubber label on the arm, Balenciaga!

No official styling, just L trying it on over his regular weekend outfit. 

The man knows...

Yeah, this is the one. He was tempted to pick this up for himself, but at $1,600.00 that is too rich for our blood, even if the original was more like $10,000. Yes, you read that right! I saw this same blazer on re-sell sites for $3,000-5,000.00!

I forwent a good look around and headed straight for the designer section. Why not try something I'd never be able to afford? 

I left part of the ginormous mirror at the Turnabout change-room area showing. It's very cunningly pulled out at the bottom to make one look tall and skinny. 

How do you get these phones right without taking over the picture? 

L is in the background giving me helpful advice. "That one!"

I totally agree, this looks fabulous on me...

It's a "carwash" hem, where the flaps are connected with godets of black Swiss dot mesh. One is left open as a slit. 

A fitting room pictures. It's SO PRETTY. Rose brocade! Shiny! 

I love all those colours. This would fit SO WELL in my wardrobe. 

Gulp, that's a lot of money, even if it was marked down half price from Turnabout's original of $795.00.

But I LOVED this skirt, and so I splurged and cashed in some of my Turnabout points. I feel somewhat better when I see that Erdem skirts sell for $1700.00 - $2,200.00. I'd better wear it to death! 

So all week, we've been excited about the photoshoot and we both planned out outfits last night, including packing a bag full of alternate shoes, accessories, shirts and jackets. And then we woke up. 

"You're not going to like this, Woman."

It was SNOWING. 

In March. Snowing. Really? Today, of all days! 

But it was predicted to clear up - which it did - and L and I drove to the venue together. 

"No, sorry, the Man is busy. He's staying home with me."

Aw, sorry, bud. time for us to go! 

We drove to the Monterey Rec Centre in Oak Bay.

Never been here before, did not know it existed! 

Here's Jen Clark adding some "pow!" to my make-up. 

I actually met her when I was shopping with Monica (here, 2nd outfit) - the black leather gloves were from her pop-up! 

I got false eyelashes (long!), some extra blush, a slight touch-up on my lipstick, and a tweak to my eyebrows. 

I pulled the eyelashes off as soon as we were finished the shoot and rubbed off most of that blush. 

I took this picture - there's L and Jen in the mirror. 

We were the only couple; another model (all local folks like us) showed up as we were getting ready for pictures - those are her dresses (from a different shop in the neighbourhood) on the left on the rolling-rack. 

L took a few pics while my make-up was being done. 

I see you were admiring your shoes, my love. They are Fluevogs, of course. 

Many thanks to Emilie for sending me these pics that she took of photographer Lia Crowe working her magic. 

First we stood in this alley. 

I like this pic through her arm. 

Nice dumpsters! 

Working our poses! 

Looking good! 

Now, go over to that door. 

"L, do your pose!" I hissed. 

That's my guy.

It was so fun. 

Then we lounged around on the side of the building. 

Lia was acrobatic! Good leg strength! 

She had us walk towards her "with attitude" a few times. 

Tweed Magazine - it's actually a local PRINT magazine (must get a billion copies!!) - will be out on March 24th, so I'll be linking to it then! 

Since I took the day off, I planned to go for a wee shop on the Avenue - unfortunately, L had to go back to work, but I'm so glad he was able to make it. 

This is what I wore for the entire photoshoot, as it ended up, although I did swap out these earrings for the rose ones below.

• Jacket - Royal Underground, consignment, Powell River; first seen here (2nd outfit) in February for brunch
• T-shirt - Karl Lagerfeld, consignment; purchased here for $10.00
• Skirt - Richard Quinn X Debenhams, consignment; last worn here in January with different red ankle boots
• Boots - Prepare 2.0 Tracker, Fluevog; last seen here in February with a Kenzo tiger
• Sleeveless coat (below) - Only, thrifted; last worn here in January

My view of the Castle. 

Cold and snowy. I thought we were done with all this business, Nature! 

I didn't take my jacket off, but here's the new Karl tee. 

I love this neoprene skirt - I picked it as it was similar in colour and shape to the brocade skirt I'd be wearing at the shoot (I didn't actually get it until after, just to keep everything together). 

Better practice my poses! 

I've got these down pat. 

I enjoyed wearing this jacket again - I like the rock and roll vibe of it. 

I modelled, then shopped all day in these boots, and then walked home. 

Some outerwear - I didn't know if they wanted it. 

But you know I never half-arse it. 

Rock on! 

Realizing I hadn't done a back picture. 

Wearing my pink backpack (ready to be stuffed with some good deals). 

And there's my Ed Hardy bag (consignment, Powell River), full of alternates. I was glad we'd done that, even though we didn't need them - it soothed my anxious nature. 

I like red and pink together. 

I'd had visions of only needing this jacket - you know, like on an actual spring-ish day! 

Nope, I had to wear a coat. Did not need the sunglasses either. 

This sleeveless coat keeps me warm but lets big sleeves roam free. 

Accoutrements:

I use most of the zipper pockets - compartments are so fun. 

• Leather backpack - Ash, consignment
• Silk scarf - fake Louis (Lewis!) Vuitton, thrifted
• Beret - Parkhurst, consignment
• Gloves - Picabo, Powell River

The stuff: 

It seems like these boots are high, but they are really only an inch. 

Badass bling: 

Gobs of stuff. 

• Belt - gift from Ruth
• Zipper rose - Victoria & Albert Museum gift shop, London
• Studded cuff - vintage 90s
• Leather/steel cuff - Rimanchik
• Jet necklace - vintage 50s, Grandma J's
• Rose earrings - Betsey Johnson, swap from Cat
• Silver/onyx ring - Tocara, vintage fair
• Silver/obsidian ring - vintage mall
• Anneke & Lars ring - vintage mall
• Silver chain ring - Mexican, consignment

I lucked out and found a few things. First stop, Turnabout, where I discovered this lovely crystal and brass cuff. It's a C-shaped, so I bent it slightly to fit my wrist.

You so seldom see pink in jewelry that isn't super-girly, which isn't my jam. The other "stones" are clear, flanked by two navy blue ones. 

I was pleased to see a nice stamp - Loren Hope. It was made in the US, which is always a bonus - it was $49.99. 

Being handmade comes with a price - this would have retailed between $130-350 new. 

I scoured the clearance section and found these awesome gold runners. 

They are titch big on me (no, you can't have them, Mom - hands off!), but I plan on putting a proper sport insole in them. 

I fell for the embroidered bees, the silver sparkly laces, and the mixed stripes. 

Silver glitter, black leather and a yellow snakeskin. 

Findlay, you are speaking my style language! 

These were marked down to $20.00, a bargain! They're not a "name" brand, but twenty bucks is good. 

I loved this cropped bright pink blazer. 

Cropped! This is highly flattering on short-statured me. 

It's by Only, and it's fully lined. 

It was $47.99 (not off the clearance rack). 

This skirt caught my eye. 

The black knit stripes are merino wool. I like the sporty vibe.

Would you have guessed that the tweed is red, white and blue? 

Me neither! I know Rag & Bone, though - they have a tweed skirt on their site now that retails for $475.00. My skirt was marked down to $20.00 from Turnabout's original $59.99. Score! 

I grabbed these shiny snakeskin-embossed leggings, since they fit more like pants. 

And they're kitty-approved! Do you see his little paw on the left? So cute...

They're by Zara and were NWT (aka New With Tags). 

I paid $12.00 which is thrift store pricing! Turnabout originally had them for sale for $39.99. 

I loved this lime green dress - I immediately belted it and the salesfolks were wowed. 

I sense a Jammy Dress! Vizzini was biting the hem by this time - it was late afternoon and he was hungry. 

This dress is also by Zara, also NWT. 

And we know it retailed for $49.90 - I paid $34.99. 

I had a brief poke around in A La Mode Consignment - a shout out to kind and lovely Haley, who had actually checked out my blog after I gave her a card the last time I was in. Thank you so much for telling me you're a reader, Haley! That totally made my day.

I loved this perma-crinkled top. 

It's a good basic high-neck shape that looks good on me. 

Since my last sleeveless black high-neck top bit the dust several years ago, I've been looking in vain for a good quality replacement. 

A close-up of the crinkle. 

There were only these tags down the side. What is "zollnummer"? It means "customs number" in German. 

I looked up the CA number and discovered it was issued to Baden Baden Boutique which used to be on Fort Street until the early 00s - now they only have a boutique in Sidney (link here). They likely ordered basic tops like this directly from...China? I don't know where it's made, but I bet this cost more than the $30.00 I paid for it. 

I had a good poke around in House of Savoy and found a couple of treasures. 

It's a new tulle skirt! I've been looking for a non-black one - for something that was a trend a few years ago, it hasn't trickled down into the consignment stores quite yet. 

I loved all the layers of netting. 

It also has a knee-length lining. 

No tags, just this.

It was $48.95.

I fell for these "gawdawful ugly" (thanks, L) shoes. 

I love the funny soles, and the weird look of them. 

Ooh, nifty. 

Oh, I've heard of Trippen - all the cool bloggers wear them. 

But why is this elastic folded over and stitched here? 

That makes them fit kinda tight...

Maybe if I cut those stitches out? 

Let me fetch my handy craft knife! 

That worked very well, and they fit even better! 

Much better. These were marked down to $68.95. They're called the Allee and they originally sold for $365.00. 

They're supremely comfy and nice soft leather. 

Phew! That was quite a day - I'm so glad I have tomorrow off too!