Hello, my friends! How's your weekend been? Mine's been busy - I need another holiday just to recover! - so let's get right into it.
Our US Thanksgiving Day was spent with three of our best friends (Nick, Casey and Zeb), watching NFL football all day, well into the night. I made a ginormous pot of chili, which was completely devoured, and we all indulged in naps throughout the day.
Wearing my team's colours (I am a Carolina Panthers fan - we suck this year), even though they weren't playing.
- DeAngelo Williams jersey - c. 2008-2015, vintage market; not tracked
- Track pants - Adidas, thrifted; not tracked
DeAngelo Williams played for the Panthers from 2008-2105.
I was comfy in this all day, which was a football and chili-filled blur.
L and I spent a leisurely Friday morning puttering around, and then got dressed to go for lunch at Cactus Club, followed by some chores downtown.
I had loads of comments on my outfit - L generously pointed out to people that I decorated this leather jacket myself.
- Snake jacket - Q2 Collection, vintage 90s, illustrated by me; last seen here in December 2023 with more red and black
- Black sweater - Bleu and Gray, thrifted; last worn here (2nd outfit) in July 2022(!) for Winesday
- Corduroy trousers - Diane Von Furstenberg, vintage 90s, thrifted, Seattle; last seen here in February with Dries leopard
- Shoes - Mini QTee, Fluevog, consignment; last worn here in February with a mermaid skirt
This is one of the last outfits I had assembled from my previous Playtime in my closet - it's time for more another session, to build outfits for the encroaching Silly Season.
We've been lucky with fairly mild weather this week - no heavy coats were required.
Whenever I wear this jacket, I pair red and black with it.
These fabulous fine-wale corduroys are a treasure. I'm glad I spent a couple of hours tacking up the cuffed hems.
Skull and snake!
L and I spent two hours at local shop Goo Goo Goggles Optical (link
here 'cause I love as always) - we're getting new glasses! I'll save my new frames as a surprise, but in addition I'm also having my purple Rapp frames re-lensed following a terrible incident with nail polish remover back in 2017. Enjoy the debut of my "new" Rapp frames in Feb 2013
here - gosh, we look young! and I have blonde chicken hair!
I'm excited to have FOUR pairs of glasses I'll be able to change up according to my mood and outfit!
I never took the jacket off, but here you go.
Incognito.
I did a bit of holiday shopping while L was doing machinations at the bank.
Accoutrements:
I didn't need the gloves, and ended up stashing them in my purse.
- Purse - Ted Lapidus, vintage 90s, vintage fair
- Velvet scarf - Echo, consignment; purchased here for $25.59
- Velour gloves - Thinsulate, thrifted
The stuff:
These shoes are good for a little bit of walking - they're holding up well after 10+ years that I've had them!
- Red eelskin bird bracelet - vintage, consignment
- Black eelskin bracelet - vintage 80s, thrifted
- Rose earrings - Betsey Johnson, swap from Cat
- Necklace - Givenchy, vintage 80s, vintage fair
- Green stone/silver ring - consignment, Sidney
- Red stone/silver ring - thrifted
- Silver/onyx ring - Tocara, vintage fair
I changed after we got home - time to go back to town for my company's Holiday Party!
The theme was "Sparkle" but I felt like wearing this lovely blue dress and a bunch of copper jewelry. It's sparkly enough!
- Dress - Ann Hobbs for Cattiva, vintage 80s, thrifted; purchased here for $24.95
- Shoes - Big Presence Desmond, Fluevog; last worn here a few weeks ago with my Frankenskirt
- Coat (below) - Marciano for Guess, consignment, Powell River; last seen here in February
My colleagues swooned over my dress - I did twirl a few times!
However, it's a bit big on me, and this is an overly fussy-feeling dress for regular wear. It's not my style.
I'll put it up for sale in Limbo, but it'll be available for borrowing to my close friends.
"What? You're going out AGAIN?"
Vizzini did like having us home all day on Thursday - the rest of the weekend was very disruptive for him, poor little bear.
I carried my copper leather purse around with me as I schmoozed the party.
I had to check in on everyone, make sure they all felt welcome. It's exhausting work.
I stayed for a couple of hours, then put on the Unsafe Tiger and made my goodbyes.
"I hope you're coming home soon."
L was kind enough to drive me both ways.
The Unsafe Tiger was more popular than the blue dress!
"I'm not surprised - cats are always loved."
Everyone wanted to stroke it!
The stuff:
I had a smaller copper purse I wanted to use, but it doesn't hold my phone! I wore a name tag, although I'm the one employee everyone knows. My feet were tired after standing in these heels for two hours.
Copper bling:
The belt and my Grandma J's necklace/earring/bracelet set were much admired.
- Copper belt - Renoir, vintage 50s, vintage fair
- Copper necklace/earrings - vintage 50s, Grandma J's
- Large copper cuff - Renoir, vintage 50s, Grandma J's
- Copper ring - vintage, consignment
- Brass leopard ring - thrifted
- Bronze ring - P. Sarpaneva, Finland, vintage 70s, vintage expo
- Copper bracelet - vintage 60s, thrifted, Sidney
I was glad I ducked out of the party early so that L and I could have part of an evening together, hanging out and playing boardgames, our favourite!
We slept in on Saturday, then headed to John's Place for brunch.
Almost at the end of the Playtime outfits. I wanted to pair my vintage mermaid skirt with my sporty Adidas jacket.
- Thermoplastic jacket - Adidas X Fiorucci, consignment; last seen here in October 2023 over sequined Ralph (need to wear that again soon)
- Platinum Blonde tour shirt - 1985, consignment; last worn here in August to see Molly Tuttle in concert
- Skirt - vintage 70s, thrifted; last seen here in February for work and an evening at the Belfry
- Boots - Powerhouse Jyoti, Fluevog; last worn here in July with a matching back
I've moved this plastic jacket into my cold weather wardrobe as it doesn't breathe at all - I warm up fast when I wear it.
This is an easy outfit formula.
A cool skirt, plus a band tee, plus a funky jacket, then just match your shoes.
Why would I ever wear jeans? There are so many interesting skirts.
I didn't take the jacket off at all, but here you go.
I liked the red belt with it, but I had to add a celery elastic to keep the end from flapping about.
Sort of pointing at Victoria on the tour map on the back of the tee.
"I was there! I went to this concert in 1985!"
I noticed that my "label-less" skirt actually has a few labels, so I thought I'd dig to see if I could figure out the brand.
Overseas Marketing Ltd. is the result I got from the CA number search. Not helpful.
Some deep searching led me to a thread on the Vintage Fashion Guild site (
here).
The date on there doesn't refer to the date of manufacture, unfortunately.
The "Norma Di Legge No. 883 (26/11/1973)" refers to Italy's fiber/textile content labelling law, effective on November 11, 1973.
I still think my skirt is from the 70s - those colours, the shape!
The stuff:
So much matching red, I love it!
Accoutrements and red bling:
This is my first time using this make-up bag as a purse.
- Make-up bag - Christian LaCroix Rouge for Avon, consignment; purchased here for $3.00
- Belt - vintage 90s, consignment
- Leather/steel cuff - Rimanchik
- Nu-wite/glass bangle - R&G Co., vintage 1920s, vintage mall
- Silver/smoky topaz ring - Anneli Neuman, Sweden, vintage mall
- Silver/red stone ring - thrifted
- Silver/red enamel ring - antique store, Sidney
Wait, missed this.
Just a wee choker.
- Crystal/metal choker - Myka, thrifted
After a bit of blog-writing, it was time to get ready to go out again. Yvonne and I had planned on seeing the Victoria Operatic Society (VOS) production of "Sweeney Todd", but she had an unexpected family emergency, so passed her ticket along to Rosanna.
I wanted to wear my "Personal Jesus" dress again.
- Dress - Alessandro de Benedetti, "Gothic Western" dress, consignment, Vancouver; first worn here (3rd outfit) in April for Mac's birthday
- Boots - Coach, consignment, Vancouver; last seen here in October with grey leopard
- Cashmere/baby alpaca coat (below) - Mallia, consignment; last seen here in March
I love that it has the Depeche Mode lyrics all over it.
And cowboys, of course.
L and I walked to the Garrick's Head Pub - the Santa Claus Parade was at the same time and we barely made it across Douglas Street.
We had pub dinner, then Greg and Rosanna and Nick arrived, and Rosanna and I walked to the theatre, and met up with the boys again at the pub afterward (they were much less sober!).
As I walked back to our table from the loo, a person at the next table told me I looked "Fantastic! Like a model in that dress!"
I will admit, I had some swagger going on!
I definitely was feeling the cool factor with this ginormous hat.
People stopped in their tracks to gush over it.
Accoutrements:
I carried my boots in a bag for walking - the sneakers were needed.
- Leather purse - Allibelle, consignment; purchased here for $60.00
- Fur scarf - Danier, thrifted
- Leather/fur gloves - thrifted
- Hat - Flag Accessories, consignment; purchased here for $23.99
- Sneakers - Adidas, consignment; last worn here (3rd outfit) in November for Winesday
The new-to-me purse was wonderful - I liked the big wrist strap for carrying it, and it was big enough to tuck under my arm. It held my scarf and gloves during the show - I used the hat to keep my hands warm in the theatre.
The stuff:
These boots are fine for walking a few blocks. I swapped back to my sneakers afterward and L and I hopped a bus home.
Silver and amber bling:
I liked the medallion belt slung on my hips - very cowgirl!
- Belt - Mudd, vintage 00s, thrifted
- Nu-wite/glass bangle - R&G Co., vintage 1920s, vintage mall
- Silver bracelet - Mexico, consignment, Sidney
- Silver/smoky topaz ring - Anneli Neuman, Sweden, vintage mall
- Silver/amber thumb ring - consignment
- Silver chain ring - Mexico, consignment
- Silver/amber ring - Past Times, 1995, gift from L
- Bronze ring - P. Sarpaneva, Finland, vintage 70s, vintage expo
- Silver earrings - Israel, consignment
Rosanna and I arrived early, so we had a wander around Centennial Square's light-up.
OOH! So pretty!
Then we settled into our seats. I've attended many, many shows at the MacPherson Playhouse in 50+ years. I even performed onstage here when I was 4-5 years old!
It was formerly the Pantages Theatre, where my grandfather turned the sheet music pages for his mother as she played piano along with silent movies. Mom and I attended dozens of plays and musicals here during the 80s and 90s.
I thought you might enjoy the snakes in the décor.
Okay, I guess they are actually ribbons on either side of the lute and harp, but I see snakes!
Me and Rosanna showing off our programmes.
Here's a local review of the show.
We thoroughly enjoyed the production - it was very campy and fun (and bloody!).
Here's to non-traditional ways of celebrating the holidays! Big love to Rosanna for joining me!
And thanks so much to you, Gentle Readers, for following along with me! I hope you enjoyed my fun weekend!
This velvet scarf is becoming a quick favourite.
My black and gold "set." I liked the salamander on my vest.
