All Favourites: Silk Palazzos and Darth Duster

Some exciting news! Mom was recognized in the wild! A lovely person stopped her while she was out shopping, and said she read my blog! So, hello, Jacqueline (? Mom didn't quite catch your name, sorry). Thank you so much - that was such a thrill for Mom, and I love that you're out there! Thanks so much for reading.

I'm in a hurry - gotta eat and dash off to Book Club! This is what I wore to work. 

It's a kaleidoscope of colour! 

• Wool cardigan - Ports, vintage 80s, consignment; last worn here in May for a delayed Star Wars Day
• Cotton bustier - H&M, consignment; first seen here (2nd outfit) in December 2024 for brunch
• Shirt - Denver Hayes, consignment; last worn here in June in a "cropped and socked" outfit
• Silk pants - Pinkerton, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in August 2024 for brunch and a wee shop
• Sandals - Wonders; last worn here in June in that same outfit as the pink shirt

I wore it mostly like this, with my wool duster over everything. 

This long duster cardigan/dress is one of my treasures. The colour! The pockets! The colour! 

The silk stretchy-waist palazzo pants are also a long-time favourite. They have pockets too.

The silk is really thin, so I have a very small window to wear them, but I was reminded of how much I like them. I'll have to sneak in another wear before I swap my closet at the end of September. 

I did overheat a few times - that's what I get for wearing wool in summer! - so I planned the outfit without it, of course.

I really liked the pink top and red bustier with the patterned pants. Showing off my ink! 

I appreciate the stretch panel in the back, although it would be better in red, not black. Just sayin', H&M.

At least the straps are adjustable on the bustier. 

Incognito.

One man gave me a very wide berth as I was walking home. My Darth Sheila vibe was strong! 

The stuff: 

These sandals are so comfy, even though the sole is rigid. Another favourite here! 

I changed my shoes for the walk to Yvonne's.

Perfect for a short walk. 

The other stuff: 

I never thought sequined pink sneakers would be so versatile! 

Bright bling: 

I knew I hung onto this big floral bead necklace for a reason. 

• Blue eelskin bangle - vintage 80s, thrifted
• Teal eelskin bangle - vintage 80s, thrifted
• Gold/turquoise ring - consignment
• Gold/amethyst ring - Frances Jewelers, c. 1965, Dad's 
• Necklace - thrifted
• Earrings - Stella & Dot, consignment, Vancouver

And now, head to toe in favourite clothes, I'm off! 

Sequins, Blue Bookends and Fishing for Jewelry

We have a long weekend in our sights, my friends! It's BC Day next Monday, and woo, that extra day can't come soon enough. But I have a busy, busy week ahead first, so please note that my posting schedule might be a bit hodge-podge. 

Today I needed some armour, so wearing my sequined skirt and newly thrifted belt.

Returning to the blue bookend theme, after doing them last week. There is lots of blue in my closet!

• Silk skirt - Evidence, vintage 80s, consignment; first seen here (2nd outfit) in March with a different sequined skirt
• Skirt - Artelier by Nicole Miller, consignment; last worn here in December 2024 for a sparkly shopping day
• Shoes - MJUS, consignment; last seen here in May with a white skirt and Issey Miyake jacket

I like the long slinky cut of the skirt. The sequins are Os, very small and laid end-to-end, giving it an almost a liquid metal effect.

It's lined and nice and stretchy, but is slightly scratchy at the hem (I know not to wear it with tights!). 

I did a front tuck of the oversized sand-washed silk shirt.

And let the loose back hang down. 

The front tuck allowed me to add my bigass belt, and still show a peek of the black and white-striped waistband.

The shirt was good sunblock on the walk home. 

The stuff: 

These are such fun shoes, and we all swoon over the rich metallic blue! 

• Leather belt - Silpada Designs, thrifted; purchased here for $12.95

Black and white bling: 

I wanted a big brooch at the neck of the shirt, but the weight could have ripped the silk, or at least dragged it down and been annoying. I threaded this "cosmic" brooch on my silver wire and hid it under the collar. Perfect! 

• Black and white cuff - vintage, vintage fair
• Black/white bangles - consignment
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Pin worn as pendant - Sarah Coventry, vintage 70s, thrifted
• Pearl studs - Aldo

When I got home from work, I had to move both of our dressers to retrieve my Givenchy necklace, which slithered off its hook in my jewelry box and disappeared down the back. As I grabbed for it, my cinnabar bangle also clattered and joined the necklace. SIGH. 

I keep a pulled-apart wire coat hanger so I didn't have to move the dressers too much, and was able to fish my pieces back up. Phew! 

I took the opportunity to tuck a black shoe bag between the dresser and the wall (there's a moulding there to keep it from sliding down). No more necklaces making a run for it! I also gave the area a good dusting and changed my box/dish/plate layout to prevent further mishaps, but still make it easy to access everything. Success! 

Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Friday Popcorn; Cheese Curls and Copper Two Ways; Art Project Update: Yvonne's Badass Boots

Welcome back, my friends! What have you been up to? We had a medium-busy weekend, but I'm charging my batteries for a busy coming week, so relatively quiet was a good thing. I even got some more done on Yvonne's booties! 

But first, Friday's office outfit. I did not even hesitate, I wanted to wear this skirt so much! 

It was a bit cloudy, so I risked this thin sweatshirt because SEQUINNED POPCORN. 

• Sequined cotton-blend sweatshirt - Forever 21 Girls, thrifted; first worn here (2nd outfit) in March with the pouffy skirt of earlier this week
• Skirt - Gap, thrifted; purchased here for $19.95
• Boots - Doc Martens; last seen here in May for a Mom-Day at Swan Lake
• Jacket (below) - Ed Hardy, vintage 00s, consignment; last worn here for a day-trip to Sidney in April

This was a completely comfortable outfit - it feels very me. 

Ha, I'm wearing sequins and feeling casual! 

When I steamed the skirt, it came out smooth, but as soon as I touched it, it wrinkled back up, so I leaned into that, giving it a full twist before wearing.

It was a low-swoosh skirt, Swoosh Factor 5, mildly swooshy. On the plus side, it required minimal wrangling and was not gobbled up by my chair wheels.

I needed pockets, hence a jacket.

Having a great "base" piece like this red skirt makes busy/bossy pieces like the jacket work properly, in my mind. 

They balance! 

And the bottom is mustard and ketchup, hee hee. 

I ended up tying it around my waist on the walk home. 

Too hot! 

The stuff: 

Butter yellow, butter soft. Good for all my walking. 

 Minimal bling: 

The sequins are bling too.

• Pearl bracelet - thrifted, Powell River
• Cinnabar bangle - consignment
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Silver/red enamel ring - antique shop, Sidney
• Pearl earrings - thrifted

After a lovely evening of board games, L was up early for Ulti, and I enjoyed a leisurely morning, picking my outfit. Weekends are my favourite time for being playful in my closet. 

Time to wear this dress! I am liking my little trend of wearing a Big Dress on Saturdays and then lounging in it all day. Why not do it again? 

• Ruched mesh top - no label, thrifted; purchased here for $6.95 (less my Senior's discount)
• Cheese curl dress - vintage 70s, consignment; last worn here (2nd outfit) in August 2024 with Weird Adidas
• Sneakers - Steve Madden, thrifted; last seen here in January in my awesome New Year's Eve outfit

I'd planned on wearing this ruched mesh top with my sequined skirt and red bustier, but it didn't work as well in real life as in my head. So I kept going. 

Hey, it's a dress that I love wearing - this is a vintage 70s 100% double-knit polyester beauty. I think the pattern looks like cheese curls. 

The top is a winner - as I wore it, the ruching caused puffing like a Victorian blouse, which is a big thumb's up in my book.

I wore wee shorts under the dress for extra comfort. 

I walked down to the field to meet L, and we headed to John's Place for our usual brunch with Nick (back from the UK!) and Jay. No time for a wee shop!  

I changed up my bum-bag to cross-body and added some pins to it. 

Accoutrements: 

I debated going full matchy with copper shoes, but ended up with these two sporty elements instead. 

• Bum-bag - thrifted
• "Secret Plans for World Domination" pin - Boom, thrifted
• Copper brooch (on strap) - vintage 60s, thrifted

Copper bling: 

My new bracelet joins my Renoir/Matisse copper collection - welcome to the family! I layered them over the long cuffs of the black mesh top. 

• Copper "leaf" bracelet - Renoir, vintage 50s, thrifted
• Copper "triangle" bracelet - Renoir, vintage 50s, thrifted; purchased here for $7.95
• Copper ball ring - consignment
• Wooden ring - Dots
• Amber square ring - sidewalk find
• Stone ring - thrifted
• Enamel/copper necklace and earrings set - Matisse by Renoir, vintage 60s, vintage expo

L and had a wee shop each after brunch - he poked around in Ditch Records, and I went to Csinos/Star Vintage. No luck for me, but we have a bunch of new music to listen to! 

After a nap for L and some working on Yvonne's boots for me (below!), I changed into a tee for hanging out with pals Emma and Daylan, our building neighbours. 

I didn't change any of the jewelry - I liked having it on.

• T-shirt - Cynthia Rowley, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in June under my pea-green dress

I wore my slippers (black, very classy - you can see them in the boot pictures below).

We watched "Big Trouble In Little China," one of our favourite movies (they'd never seen it!). I was excited to meet their cats, Kestrel (a cute tuxedo) and Toco (a white/calico-ish fluffball), but they were very leery of us.

And now, I'm off to enjoy the remainder of my weekend, but first, here's an update on Yvonne's boots! 

Art Project Update: Yvonne's Badass Boots

The start of this project was back here a couple of weeks ago. On Saturday, while L was napping, I sat out on the deck in my big dress and got my pens out.

The grey-coloured straps are new. 

Then I did the black stripe down the front, using a very fine-point pen. 

Colouring with a fine pen was giving me a very sketchy look (the colour lifts itself, as it's alcohol-based), so I dug out a thicker-tipped pen for better coverage. 

A nice dark black stripe! 

I realized at this point, I should plan out how the black and grey stripes are going to work - the lines (squiggly and straight) indicate straps that will be black. I still made a few "continuity errors" - oh well, no one will notice.

I filled in some of the black on the inside. 

It's much more slow-going than you might think! My hands were aching after an hour.

And there you have it! 

Mom-Day at Home in Denim Mermaid and Optic, Plus a Wee Shop

Hello, my friends, and welcome back to Mom-Day! I went out to visit Mom at home, as she had overspent her energy for the week, plus needed my help with a couple of things around the house. I last visited Mom here in May, just before her big birthday party.

"I see you got the black and white memo," Mom said when she saw me.

Yup, I wore a lot of black and white! This is my old combo for a casual outfit. 

I layered a graphic mesh top under my Eames chair tee, and put that on top of my other denim maxi skirt.

• Eames tee - SPRZNY, thrifted; last seen here in April for a Mom-Day at Finnerty Gardens
• Mesh top - Mexx, thrifted; last worn here in December 2024 layered under olive
• Denim skirt - Levi's, thrifted; first seen here in May for the Annual Day of Indolence
• Sneakers - Converse; last worn here (3rd outfit) in May for my first wearing of the Halston Ultrasuede dress
• Optic cardigan - Jean Paul Gaultier Soleil, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in July 2023!! 

I ostensibly built the outfit around my optic Jean Paul Gaultier cardigan, but this is how I wore it all day. 

Not exactly the focus, but that's okay. I was shocked to see that I missed wearing it last summer - it's been two years! 

Ah, there we go, see what I mean? Spectacular! 

It matched the long-sleeved top really well. 

I took it off while I was inside - I was crawling around a toilet, replacing the seat for Mom.

I'd forgotten she needed that done - this mermaid skirt was not exactly conducive for sitting on the floor. 

Yes, I'm very thankful that Mom's cleaners came yesterday. 

I have no fear! Hand me that screwdriver! 

This is how most of the world saw me. I walked to town (just missed the bus), then caught another, walked from the end stop to Mom's, then did the reverse, getting off downtown and walking home from there. 

It was a lot of walking. 

Oh, here's the cardigan on for you. 

Isn't it cool? The cuffs are very open mesh, and it has useless pockets that can only hold a piece of paper. 

I love the hypnotic pattern. 

Rock on, my friends! 

Accoutrements: 

Due to lack of pockets, I went with my most pocketed purse.

• Leather purse - Lodis, thrifted
• Paper hat - thrifted

The stuff: 

These shoes held up well, although my feet were pools of sweat by the time I peeled my socks off in the early evening. 

Gold and turquoise bling: 

The little gold bird on the tee inspired me to wear gold, and then I felt I was missing colour and added a bunch of turquoise. I pinned the silver feather brooch onto the necklace. 

• Leather belt - Banana Republic, thrifted
• Turquoise stone bracelet - thrifted, Sidney
• Gold hinged bangle - thrifted
• Silver/turquoise ring - Glee
• Turquoise ring - Karen's
• Mixed metal/leather bracelet - Jenny Bird
• Gold/turquoise ring - consignment
• Gold earrings - Biko, consignment
• Gold necklace - Givenchy, vintage 80s, vintage fair
• Feather pin - Boucher, vintage 60s, thrifted
• Turquoise/silver pendant - Karen's

And now, sit back and relax and enjoy some pictures of my day. 

I walked from home to the bus stop which has a lovely view of the Porter Block, a heritage building. 

Also, Victoria is famous for these lamp posts (which are sky blue) and their hanging baskets of flowers. 

This is City Hall. 

Pretty spiffy, right? I remember when it was purple. 

A long bus ride later, and I'm in the rural hood, and here's our favourite sheep farm.

SHEEPS! 

The blackberries were nearly ripe. 

I totally ate a few. 

Mom was thrilled with her new white paint-pens I'd picked up last week for her. 

Looking lovely in your black and white outfit, Mom! 

She had to try them out right away. 

One of these is her tester picture and one is the "good" one. They both look pretty good to me! 

So nice with the mat on it! 

While Mom fussed around and played with her pens, she said, "Oh, go look in the closet."

OH MY GAWD. This painting! This hung in our basement, right outside the entirely robin-egg blue bathroom (even the ceiling! it was a creepy little loo), beside Mom's Art Bench. 

Mom painted this c. 1976-77 when she went back to school when my brother and I were kids (I was 9-10 then). It's her art teacher. This brings back that time very vividly - 

Doing my daughterly best to help out. 

I'm a pro! That toilet seat is installed! 

We had toasted bagels with egg salad for lunch, plus some veggies and dip and cups of herbal tea. 

I LOVE egg salad, and hoovered this down. 

I thought y'all might enjoy an old family picture. I took this as we were getting prepared to go outside and pick blueberries. 

I'm around 14 in this picture, so this is 1981. Mom's 36 here, my Dad is 38 and my brother Dave is 11. He's wearing a Vancouver Whitecaps soccer (football!) jersey. Note my pierced ears, aviator glasses, and jewelry, and my hair is even feathered! 

And then we were outside, amid the buzzing honeybees.

You might be able to spot two bees here in the lavender. 

A gorgeous blue/purple hydrangea. 

Mom had me cut one to put in a crystal bowl on her dining room table. 

I pulled down a deck chair for Mom to sit in while we picked blueberries.

The bushes were loaded! 

I was amazed that birds hadn't gotten to them. 

There were small wild blueberries, and then big fat ones Mom called Big Boys. 

We each filled a container.

And then we sat in the sun eating them and watching butterflies and birds.

A red-tailed hawk was calling (a new one on my Merlin app!). 

The birds were having a good time soaring on the thermals.

Time for me to head home.

Thanks so much for such a lovely day, Mom! I love you! 

A peek at the Olympic Mountains in Washington State (USA) to the south.

Blackberry brambles in the foreground.

Back at the sheep farm.

The sheep had all come outside. 

They were grazing near the barn. 

Such a lovely area! 

I had a bit of luck at the WIN Boutique, spotting this copper bracelet in the case right away.

Ooh, I love this design. 

I've never seen this one before. 

Considering it's nearly 70 years old, it's in really good shape. 

Love seeing that Renoir stamp! 

This is from the 1950s, and it was $7.95 - I saw one online for almost $50! 

Isn't it pretty on? 

I'm excited to add this to the collection. 

I couldn't leave this gorgeous black leather belt behind. 

What a cool buckle! 

It's stamped Silpada Designs, Made in Canada, and of course, it's real leather. Silpada now seems exclusively focused on jewelry. They were bought in 2016 by a jewelry manufacturer (link here 'cause I love), and started in 1997, so this is likely from the early 00s. 

I paid $12.95, which feels like a bargain for a leather belt. I spotted this same one sold for $35 online.

I grabbed this red crinkled polyester lined skirt (no pockets, unfortunately).

It's a midi length and had a lovely wide elastic waist. 

It's the Pleated Midi Skirt in Rocket Red! And it's from the Fall 2018 season (shipped in May).

It's by Gap! 

I know their sizes run large. $19.95 felt right. 

On my way home, our old friend the buck was near the sidewalk, chomping down on some bushes. 

I'm watching you, we both said. 

Okay, you just continue eating and I'll just walk by you.

Urban life! 

Thanks so much for dropping by, my friends. I'm signing off now for the weekend, but I'll be back with tales of adventure on Sunday, so do stop by!