Mental Health Shop in Adidas and Lurex

Hello, my friends! No Mom-Day today, as Mom's energy is still sapped from the excitement of Sunday's birthday party. As it turned out, our plans for birding at Swan Lake would have been quelled by the gloomy and rainy weather.

Since I had already picked out an outfit, I decided to go for a Mental Health Shop. I really needed a day to myself.

• Iggy Pop tour tee - 2023; last worn here (2nd outfit) in November 2024 with suede and funky boots
• Skirt - JUMP Eve Roth, vintage 90s, thrifted; purchased here for $2.00
• Jacket - Adidas youth, vintage 90s, consignment; purchased here for $35.00
• Sequined sneakers - Converse, consignment; last seen here in April for a pink day at Finnerty Gardens with Mom

I built the outfit around the sparkly silver lurex skirt, picked up for a whopping $2.00 on the weekend.

It was super comfy and a delight to wear. Keeper! 

I added my Iggy Pop tour shirt, and my new-to-me Adidas youth jacket. 

Flashing the lining! 

The jacket actually ended up being perfect for the chilly day. The shorter sleeves were just right.

The pockets were inadequate to hold a phone, but otherwise this was excellent to wear.

I was glad to have the extra puffer layer.

As I was playing around with my look, I swagged this ginormous scarf around my hips like a pirate. Yarr! 

I liked the fluttering ends.

Add a purse and we are good to go! 

Accoutrements: 

You can't see the nipple-less merfolk (a reminder of what the full scarf looks like here), but we know they are there! 

• Silk scarf - Valentino, consignment
• Leather purse - Rebecca Minkoff, consignment

The stuff: 

Comfy shoes! I walked down to Fort Street and browsed the half-dozen consignment stores on the block between Cook and Vancouver Streets. It's an excellent shopping spot!

Bold bling: 

A few solid things. 

• Leather cuff - Guess, thrifted
• Silver mesh cuff - consignment, Sidney
• Silver/amethyst earrings - vintage 80s, gift from Mom & Dad
• Silver chain ring - Mexican, consignment
• Silver/amethyst ring - vintage mall
• Silver S pendant - UK, c. 1994, gift from Mom & Dad

And here's what I found. I started at MONA, where I landed on this toga-like top.

It's a washable polyester, with a side zip. The material is very flowy, and it looks good on. 

It's by Zara.

It was $27.00 which felt all right. A good white top is tricky to find.

From there, I spent a while browsing through everything at the Velvet Crease, and having a nice chat with Jacqui, the owner. This scarf looked familiar.

We used to have a Michal Negrin store in Victoria...

...and yes, there's the tag. I know this would have been EXPENSIVE - everything they sold was handmade in Israel. I used to have a pair of sparkly culottes by them (remember these?).

This was $20.00, and you can add another 0 to that for the retail. Really! It was a hugely expensive store.

I spotted this amazing fishbone necklace on a display and pulled it off. 

MINE! 

There are little crystals every so often.

I like howe it echoes my snake necklace. 

Oh, I spy a monogram. 

RFM? That's Roberto Faraone Mennella, and this is Roberto for RFM from the Home Shopping Network! This is called the "Alice" pave crystal fish necklace, and it sold for $99.00. 

Proof - here's (all links 'cause I love) a video of it on YouTube, posted in June 2014. 

This was $45.00, but it's so cool...and I didn't have to pay shipping and handling. 

I really liked this colourful poncho/dress thing. 

It has big wide sleeves - it's basically a big rectangle.

The tie goes through a hole to define the waist.

The green arrow is helpfully pointing to it.

It felt lovely, so I dug down the sides to find the content tag.

As suspected, it's 100% silk. No washing, though.

I do like a collaboration - this one is Matthew Williamson For H&M. It looks like it launched in Spring 2009 (article from Glamour here), and this piece is from the Summer 2009 collection (link here). Pictures screenshotted from those links: 

On me, this is just above my knees! I guess it's a bathing suit cover-up? I might wear it as a dress or tunic.

Matthew Williamson is a UK designer who was lead designer for Pucci from 2006-2008. 

I can totally see that. His Wikipedia (here) totally skips over this collaboration! 

This was only $30 - it retailed for around $75-77.00 CAD.

I'm excited to wear this in the summer. 

The bright orange of this top called to me. 

It's slightly longer in the back, with a gold clasp at the back of the neck.

Made in California! 

I spy Trina Turk's name. 

This is good quality polyester, and fully washable. 

Much as I love silks, sometimes you know you're going to sweat in it. This was $40.00 - I found the same one on eBay for $50.00.

After examining this denim skirt, I determined that someone did rework a pair of jeans to make it.

The uneven bleaching. 

The dark patch where they removed the leather patch AFTER the bleaching.

These slits are not as high as they look, by the way. This is actually really cute on. 

The original was Levi's.

And it was tagged at $30.00 with a half price tag...so $15.00. Worth it! 

After an hour and a half of browsing, I crossed the street and had a poke through Vend Collective, where I found a TREASURE.

Oh, I know, it's oatmeal, and I'll admit I'm not thrilled with the colour. Blah. It also really needs a belt.

BUT. Look at these sweet little cuffs. 

The fabric is Ultrasuede.

It's thick and so soft. I've had an Ultrasuede dress before (remember this one here from November 2014??), but it wasn't as soft as this one. 

I spotted the initials inside: "S.Mc." Sheila McUltrasuede? 

Geoprge Straith Ltd. I know this store - it still exists, but only sells menswear, and it's been around since 1917.  About them here (I recognize the black tile in that photo of the original store - that tile is still there but there's a bubble tea shop instead of clothing).

The CA number is their own name. 

I noticed that the buttons are all reinforced with tiny clear buttons on the back.

A mark of quality. This is fully machine washable! 

I also noted that the (likely) threaded belt loops had been cut off on the side seams.

This probably had a matching belt in the same Ultrasuede. 

And we all know who the kind of the Ultrasuede dresses was, don't we? HALSTON. About that famous shirtwaist dress here.

I spied three Halston Ultrasuede dresses on 1stDibs for over $3,000 each. My friends, I paid $62.00 for this! Oh. my gosh! This is from the mid-70s. Wow. I'm boggled. 

Flush with my exciting find, I had a poke around in Luna further down the block.

This leather skirt was butter soft. It has a front/side slit - it's going to be lovely to wear with boots. If this crappy weather keeps up, I'll be able to wear it soon! 

I saw the size but knew it would be a vintage sizing, just from the style. That's a modern size 12, and it's a little loose on me, but I'm good with it not being snug.

The brand is Antels, and I'm sure there's a ginormous shoulder-padded jacket out there missing its skirt. $42.00 seemed like a very good deal. 

These odd loafers caught my eye. Why is the heel flattened down like that? Is is supposed to be? 

They're a creamy leather, with offset bows and a gold O. 

I can see a name inside, very faint. 

Chloe?!

Chloe! 

Made in Italy. These work for me both with the heel up and down (although I'm not such a fan of that slap-slap), and yes, they are meant to do that.

For only $38.95? What? 

These are called the Quincy loafers, and they  retailed for $300.00 new - I spotted a pair secondhand online for over $700.00! 

Well, the Shopping Gawds have smiled on me, for sure. 

And now, it's time for me to sign off for the weekend, and look forward to a long one, as we celebrate Victoria Day on Monday (hard pass on the parade). Please do pop in and visit, and I'll regale you with Tales of Adventure! 

Thanks for being here, Gentle Reader (and apologies for being absent in the comments and your blogs, life's been a lot lately).