Bigass Long Weekend Wrap-Up: Brunch in Dries Menagerie, and Double Party Outfits, Plus Neon Shoes Art Project Progress Update

And here we are, my friends, at the end of the June Staycation, and ready (not really) to go back to my usual work schedule. It's been a wonderful long break, and I feel totally refreshed and ready for whatever fresh challenges life brings. 

Kicking off the final weekend wrap-up with our usual morning feed, plus L's birthday party outfits! Here's Saturday brunch.

Just mucking around in my closet, playing with things. I wanted to wear this wonderful chartreuse/pink Dries Van Noten skirt, so I built the outfit around it. 

• Silk menagerie top - consignment, Vancouver; last worn here in July 2024 with my skants
• Silk skirt - Dries Van Noten, consignment; last seen here in April 2024 with a crinkle top that was sold
• Shoes - Tudor Fiske, Fluevog; last worn here in April with a wine corduroy dress

L and I met up with Nick and Jay for brunch at John's Place, followed by a grocery shop for party food.

I've never paired my menagerie top with this skirt. It has a bunch of real and mystical animals on it - you can probably see the flamingo and the elephant, and perhaps a squid and a bird on the front.

The back has some odd-looking owls, and a lion, plus more birds. I spy a unicorn on the sleeve.

The skirt is a double weave (the back-side is pink with chartreuse flowers) and very thick - it's also a full circle skirt.

I wore my new-to-me pink slip underneath so I could clamber in and out of Vlad the Convertible (very low to the ground).

Ah, and there is the back of the skirt fabric. So pretty! 

Incognito, and ready to get all our party preparations underway.

I added this new-to-me thrifted purse, which was excellent - easy to access and not too heavy on my arm. 

Oh, the Drama! 

The Movie Star Wrap for zooming around in the wind with the convertible top down.

Accoutrements: 

I liked how the yellow and red straw in the bag read as pink/chartreuse. 

• Purse - no label, thrifted; purchased here for $9.95
• Silk scarf - Smoking Lily, vintage 90s, consignment

I've had that scarf for over 15 years! The pattern is gold paramecium! 

The stuff: 

I'm determined to wear these shoes until they are thrashed - the toes are scuffing and the fabric is getting damaged, which doesn't make me happy. 

Sparkly bling: 

I like a mix of blue, green and pink.

• Belt - Lady Foot Locker, vintage 80s, thrifted
• Green crystal bracelet - Mom's, vintage 60s
• Hinged crystal cuff - Swarovski, consignment, gift from L
• Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes
• Scarab ring - Heidi Daus, vintage mall, gift from L 
• Crystal necklace - Sherman, vintage 50s, vintage fair
• Crystal earrings - Sherman, vintage 50s, thrifted

I mixed up my two Sherman sets - the necklace has matching earrings, and the earrings have a matching necklace. 

I spent the afternoon prepping the food so that I could keep it chilled and put it out once folks started arriving. This weekend was the hottest of the year (so far), with temps up to 28oC. I also pre-shot the pictures of my two party outfits.

This was my first outfit, worn from 8-10pm. I wanted a loose, flowy outfit that didn't constrict me or hug me tight anywhere. It was far too hot to have synthetic textiles on (it was over 30 on our deck!). 

• Dress - Junya Watanabe, consignment; first seen here in February with blues for a show at the Belfry
• Jellyfish skirt - Soho Apparel, consignment; first worn here in March with leopard, orange velour and Jean Paul Gaultier
• Pink flatforms - Skyhigh F Razzle, Fluevog; last seen here (4th outfit) in August 2024 with a jumpsuit for Nick's birthday

Due to the big black blob-ness of the dress I had to pose with my arms waving about.

It dips, it drapes, it's asymmetrical! 

The skirt was very fun to wear (perfect with the tall platforms too), and it wafted as I swanned about, greeting guests.

We had multiple fans going to cool the room. 

I loved how this made a very sculptural look.

I did miss the little kitty chomping on it...and it was weird not to have him hoovering around and lurking to snaffle chips. 

The stuff: 

I'm slowly breaking these flatforms in with short wearings for brunches and parties, which are the perfect setting. Lots of standing, not too much walking. These are very secure - I never felt like my ankle would twist in them. 

Black and white bling: 

I often wear these pink flocked velvet earrings as bookends for the shoes.

• Striped plastic bangles - consignment
• Black and white cuff - vintage fair
• Silver Anneke & Lars ring - vintage mall
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Earrings - Dolls Kill, consignment

At 10pm, I changed into a lighter and cooler outfit.

As I reviewed my closet, I realized I've never worn this silk dress around my friends. They were agog at the details, which are hard to discern in pictures. 

• Silk dress - Camilla, consignment; first seen here (3rd outfit) in April 2024 to see Dance Victoria with the Turnabout/Fluevog store crew
• Silver sandals - Via Spiga, consignment; purchased here for $40.00

I bought it over a year and a half ago, on a Turnabout trip with Cat and Yvonne (spending gift cards).

It was a relief to switch to the silk - I also have wee shorts underneath for Thigh Security.

I walked around in the house in my outfits pre-party to make sure they felt good.

This dress is a pure pleasure to wear. 

It even has massive pockets! 

It photographs oddly due to large dark blocks of colour, but the up-close pattern is digital and very intricate. The front, shoulders and top of the upper arms are covered with tiny crystals. 

The stuff: 

The belt was the only thing that was fitted. 

• Belt - H&M, consignment
• Stone cuff - thrifted, Sidney
• Blue plastic bangle - thrifted
• Silver/turquoise ring - Karen's
• Fulvia Ring - Wendy Brandes
• Turquoise oval ring - Glee
• Silver/turquoise earrings - Mexican, consignment
• Silver/turquoise pendant - Karen's

This is the first wearing of these new-to-me sandals, and as I walked around, I noticed that the arch over my heels was cutting in a bit. Well, you know I won't stand for that.

I got out my trusty X-acto blade and cut three slices through the seams, to open up that back strap just enough to keep it from hurting my heels. It worked beautifully! 

I took a picture of L, but he looked half-asleep, so no pictures of him (at his own party!), and no one else took any pictures of the party or our friends - which is fine, not every party needs to be recorded, and the time flew as we reveled in the moment. The party raged until 2am, and the last person left at 2:30am. Woo! 

Art Project Update: Neon Shoes

On Saturday, I spent some time on the deck - until it got too hot! - working on my neon shoes. 

I filled in the flower outlines on both shoes.

I had to undo the straps to make sure I covered everything.

You can see that my lines are rough and uneven. It won't even be noticeable once I'm done. That's my regular pen - a permanent waterproof Staedtler Lumocolor in fine (F/S) tip. No smudging, no fading. 

Strap's done! 

I delight in each step. I love how cool they are starting to look. 

Nice and even, mirrored on each side.

I had bright sunlight dappling through the Garry Oaks, so had to move the shoes to take evenly-lit pictures. 

Adding in leaf detail. 

In retrospect, I wish I hadn't done that, as once I coloured over the lines with my alcohol-based paint pens, it blurred the black ink. The only thing that removes that pen is more alcohol pen. 

I moved onto the centres, which I carefully coloured yellow.

If the yellow touched the black, it would pick up the colour, so I had to constantly wipe the yellow pen's tip off on a piece of paper, to keep the colour clean. 

Once I finished the yellow, I added a crescent of orange for shading. 

I then went back with the yellow pen and blended it - the one on the left is blended; the centre on the right is not. It makes a huge difference to do that bit of extra. 

Then...woo, deep breath, here we go! I did red shapes in the centre of each petal.

That's pretty cool, even just like that. 

Adding the tonal pink colour, and suddenly it has depth and dimension. 

Then I started a flower with the other colour pairing (purple/burgundy). 

Then adding the pink around the purple, and playing with the leaves.

I'm not happy with how the leaves turned out, so I'll try something else on my next round. 

And now, my friends, off to enjoy what's left of my staycation. As I was standing at our side window this morning, looking for Maple the Squirrel, I looked down and gasped. 

Someone's sleeping in our condo's side-yard! 

It's a big buck, with lots of prongs and velvet on his antlers.

He was panting from the heat, and having a nap in the shade. Wildlife in the city! 

Thank you so much for being here, my dear friends! I'll be catching up on blogs and comments this week, but please know that I appreciate every single one of you!