Goodbye, Urban Camo - Flashback!

Monday! I defaulted to an as-yet-unworn seasonal item, my Urban Camo dress. As you may have surmised from the post title, this is its last outfit. 

I layered my new-to-me black suede and leather blazer with it, and picked out the red in the pattern with my bright red booties. 

• Blazer - Marquis, vintage 90s, thrifted; purchased here for $15.00
• Dress - Dept, thrifted; last seen here (2nd outfit) in March 2023 with a blue cardi
• Booties - Powerhouse Jyoti, Fluevog; last worn here in January on a snow day
• Eclipse coat (below) - Welsh, consignment; last seen here in February

My view of the Castle this morning - it was clear and cold for most of the day. 

The branches are starting to fuzz out - teeny-weeny buds are appearing. 

I liked everything about this outfit...except the tights - I should have worn black tights. Just pretend I did.

I loved this gorgeous, soft suede blazer - I flipped the cuffs back to let the dress sleeves show. 

I remember structured boxy blazers like this back in the day, the early 90s. I am guilty of cutting out shoulder pads, like the previous owner of this blazer did, when the trend had peaked.

And I realized today, that the dress was my least favourite part of this outfit. It's not a piece I grab for anymore. 

I've pulled it out of the giveaway pile a few times over the years. 

But it's been an awesome dress for a very long time, so we are going to have a Flashback on it at the end. 

Without the blazer.

But I didn't take it off. 

Outerwear. 

Oops, I left my closet light on! 

Accoutrements: 

Love that bright blue. 

• Scarf - Vera, vintage, Mom's
• Gloves - consignment

The stuff: 

Funky boots! I love the colour and shape. 

Black and gold bling: 

Featuring my new-to-me black eelskin cuff. 

• Belt - consignment
• Earrings - vintage 70s, vintage mall
• Gold/eelskin cuff - thrifted; purchased here for $7.95
• Brass/glass ring - Rafael, vintage 70s, consignment
• Brass ring - vintage mall
• Leather/chain wrap - local

Flashback: Urban Camo Dress by Dept

I bought this dress on impulse, without trying it on, back here in October 2014, nearly 10 years ago! L dashed into a store to buy a guitar stand, and I did a five-minute shop in the WIN (Women In Need) Boutique next door. 

I was smitten with the colours and the abstract pattern. I've called it my Urban Camo Dress for years. 

It came with a tie belt in the same polyester fabric, but I have seldom worn it. 

The dress is by Dept (a brand I've seen at Dots for years). 

And yes, it was $8.00. 

I first wore it in October 2014. Enjoy my changeable hair, my rotating glasses, and watch me get older! I am 47 here, wearing purple frames and my hair is orange with a blonde streak in front. 

The hem is on that border of being too short, so I frequently layer vintage slips underneath - you can see a bit of one peeking out here. Those were orange waxed Fluevogs - they ended up getting badly stained. 

December 2014 - remember what I said about the hair! This is my stand-up coif that I rocked for a year or so. 

My hair is a more burgundy purple here. I still have the vintage orange leather belt. 

October 2015 - this is my travel outfit to Nashville, Tennessee. My hair is a vivid bright purple, really short, and the blonde streak remains. 

My beloved cowboy boots. 

I wore the dress each way while traveling, and once more for a day spent with blogger Megan Mae.

A classy hotel room pose. 

This was my travel home outfit - that's L's hat, which I wore as he bought himself a cowboy hat. 

Note the blue slip hanging out - we'll be seeing that again really soon. 

July 2016  - I'm growing my hair out. This was the first time I put the dress in the giveaway pile - I was tired of it.

I must have thrifted my Fendi belt around this time - I wear it a lot with this dress too! 

In August 2018, just returned from a trip to Powell River, no make-up. 

A Vizzini sighting - he's only 7 there.

Late December 2016. Hair's getting longer. 

Fendi belt - check! Blue slip - check! 

October 2017 - my 50th birthday had just passed. New aqua glasses and my hair's all grown out. 

I just wore those shoes last week! 

January 2018 - playing with my hair colour, moving away from the very bright purple (which was hard to apply on longer hair, and a pain in the arse to maintain the colour). 

My blue velvet boots! We know those! 

10 months later, November 2018. I dyed my current pastel over the darker colour until it faded, then switched to a purple non-permanent colour and grew out my natural hair. 

Hated those shoes. This might have been the only wearing of them. 

March 2018 - you can see my natural grey here in my bangs. 

This is the one and only time I wore the matching tie belt! 

November 2019 - hug time for Vizzini! 

It took over a year to get my hair almost fully grown out to my natural state - a boring grey with brassy overtones. I went back to dyeing it purple shortly after this. 

And...it's January 2021! I think the dress might have been in the giveaway pile again. 

Yay, it's a pandemic! I have new glasses.

November 2021 - one of my mullet cuts. 

Love that orange blazer.

And here's the last time I wore the dress, in March 2023. 

Looks cozy. 

Mathy stuff: Including today's outfit, I've worn this dress 17 times in almost 10 years, which works out to 47 cents per wear. 

Thanks for all the easy outfits, Urban Camo Dress! 

Bigass Weekend Wrap-Up: Friday Dries Leopard and Bellbottom Cords; Shopping Plaids, Roses and Brights; and Party Copper and Tiger

Welcome back, Gentle Readers! It's been a lovely - although far too short - weekend, and I'm eager to get back to it. I have three outfits to share with y'all - Friday's work 'fit, a shopping ensemble for an afternoon spent with a friend, and what I wore to Greg and Cat's joint birthday party. 

Kicking us off is my last work outfit of the week, Funky Friday! 

I was excited to style my new-to-me Dries Van Noten (Dreez van KNOW-tun) tunic.

• Tunic - Dries Van Noten, NWT, consignment; purchased here for $97.00 in gift money
• Tank (not visible) - Caroline Grace, thrifted; purchased here for $8.95
• Cords - Diane Von Furstenberg, vintage 90s, thrifted, Seattle; first worn here in November 2023 with giant sleeves
• Shoes - Amante, vintage, thrifted; last seen here in November 2023 with all blue
• Coat (below) - Mallia, consignment; last worn here in January

I played around with it in my closet the night before, testing it with various bottoms to see how the proportions worked. As the tunic goes past my hips, I had to make sure that I kept the look long and lean. 

"Well, I'm waiting for your brilliant revelation?"

Pipe down, Vizzini! I found that the best complement was my long thin-wale cords with the bellbottom hems.

They balanced the fullness of the top without the outfit overall looking droopy or making me appear shorter than I am (5'4"). 

"Still not seeing anything. Will there be food?"

Silly kitty. Many cuddles and chases down the hallway ensued after I took my morning pictures. 

I enjoyed wearing this outfit - the sheer, thin top was warmer than I expected, and I often shoved my sleeves up, as in the pics above. 

"Shoelaces? No, but those straps look tasty."

The pockets were welcome. 

I realized after I took my outerwear photos, that I should have pulled the tunic's hood out to hang down the back collar of the jacket.

I actually wore it like that, in real life, and it added a sport look to my classy long coat.

Cozy and warm in my cashmere, wool and baby alpaca.

They are predicting there will be one more cold snap...then I can put my heaviest winter coats away for the season. 

Accoutrements: 

No rain, no hat.

• Scarf - Elaine Gold, consignment
• Gloves - Parkhurst

The stuff: 

I considered ousting these shoes from my wardrobe (they've been on the fence for a couple of years), but they're so darned comfy - plus a handy height for long pants/skirts - that they keep making the cut. Colleague Viz liked how the snake pattern echoed the shiny grey leopard in the tunic.

Brutalist bling:

I never need an excuse to wear some of my Brutalist collection. 

• Bracelets, necklace - Robert Larin, vintage 70s, vintage mall, gifts from L
• Volcano ring - vintage 70s, Mom's
• Hematite ring - thrifted (used to keep the volcano ring on)
• Square ring - thrifted
• Earrings - vintage mall

After a fun evening of board games and music, L and I said our farewells on Saturday morning and went our separate ways. I had a shopping date with former colleague and friend, Monica. 

She's one of those folks who doesn't like shopping, but was feeling so bored with her wardrobe. I took her to the Velvet Crease, plus all the other second hand/consignment/curated vintage shops in the same block of Fort Street. It's such a great little shopping district! 

• Jacket - Frank Lyman; last worn here in November 2023 with mismatched greens
• Sweater - Banana Republic, thrifted; last seen here in December 2023 for the last shop of the year
• Frankenskirt - thrifted; purchased here for $9.95
• Boots - Bond Girl, Fluevog x Anna Sui; last worn here in December 2023, in non-traditional colours

I styled my outfit around the new-to-me Frankenskirt picked up last weekend, plus my comfy suede boots. 

When I first got these boots in the fall, I thought they'd only be useful for spring, but they go with a surprising amount of my winter clothes. The skirt has an emerald green stripe. Matchy! 

I added the floral-embroidered jacket to go with the roses on the skirt. 

These bright colours make me happy. 

Without the jacket - I took it off while we had brunch at Bear & Joey before we hit the shops. 

Matchy tights too!

Geared up. 

This is how most people saw me. 

I have to wear my hair up with this faux leather jacket, as the silver studs are actually metal balls and snag the heck out of my hair. 

It was also really windy, hence the beret. 

Rock and roll! 

Let's go shopping! 

Accoutrements: 

More brights. 

• Wool beret - Parkhurst, consignment
• Silk scarf - Elaine gold, consignment
• Purse - Danier Leather, thrifted
• Gloves - Picabo, Powell River

The stuff: 

I scrutinized the weather report carefully, ensuring there would be no rain to ruin my boots. I walked to and from our shopping date, and we shopped for about 2.5 hours. Poor Monica was exhausted - shopping requires stamina! 

Colourful bling: 

I wore the bug pendant on the spur of the moment - it went with the roses! 

• Silver/malachite ring - consignment
• Silver/aventurine ring - consignment
• Bug pendant (glows in the dark!) - Heart's Content
• Steel/leather cuff - Rimanchik
• Lapis lazuli ring - Wendy Brandes
• Silver/kyanite ring - consignment
• Rose earrings - Betsey Johnson, swap from Cat

I gave Monica a long, ongoing lesson in how to shop second-hand: what to look for, how to feel for good fabric, proportion guidelines, sizing advice (ignore it!) and colour wisdom - but I did most of the work, picking out things for her to try on. She ended up with a jumpsuit, a Jammy Dress, a skirt and a fingertip-length coat. She was thrilled with our date and excited to wear her new-to-her purchases, bought at a fraction of retail.

After the Velvet Crease (which took a little over an hour), we poked into MONA and a few of the other vintage, consignment and curated second-hand shops on the block, including Rodega, where I'd found the Dries Van Noten tunic last week. To our excitement, they were hosting a vintage pop-up, and I spotted a pink suede jacket that I insisted Monica get - she looked so badass in it and it was only $35! 

I found these unlined thin leather gloves for myself, my only purchase of the day.

They are noted as a tight fit, but they're barely worn and I knew they would stretch. At $25.00, that's an absolute bargain for leather gloves. 

I was feeling pretty tired myself by the time I got home, and enjoyed a long afternoon nap with L and Vizzini. We got dressed for a small house party at Greg and Rosanna's to celebrate Greg's and Cat's birthdays, which are both this week. Happy Birthday, you two cool kids! 

I couldn't resist wearing the new gloves right away! Why not? Keeps me out of the chip bowl, ha ha! 

• Top - Sun Kim, consignment; purchased here for $39.00
• Suede skirt - Guillaume, consignment; purchased here, but totally whiffed on the pictures!, in Powell River for $42.00
• Boots - Babycakes Minis, Fluevog; last worn here in October 2023 for a stroll through Beacon Hill Park with Mom
• Coat (below) - Marciano for Guess, consignment; Powell River; last seen here a week ago

I also wore two new-to-me items that are recent/and or waiting to be styled post-purchase, this cropped olive structured top, and this suede skirt that I bought in Powell River. 

"What suede skirt you bought in Powell River?" you may well be asking! I didn't realize I totally forgot to photograph it and post pictures! It's an early 00s semi-tulip shape with a slit in front. It was $42.00, but it's such a good fit I was willing to pay a bit more, and it's a good cause (local shops!). 

The gloves stretched out (as predicted) and puddled along my forearms in a very haute couture way as the party went on. I did indeed stay out of the chip bowl, but I did eat a bunch of chocolate-covered almonds! 

My friends all loved my copper jewelry - I always forget that they don't see the stuff I usually wear just to work. 

A matching purse. 

I had a black camisole on under the top. The weight of the necklace's chain dragged the top around a bit - I had to readjust it frequently, pulling the back down. 

The Unsafe Tiger was hugely popular amongst the party-goers - everyone tried it on! 

Hands off my tiger, you people! 

It was cold and windy, but I was snuggly warm. 

We cabbed there and back with Cat and Ross, arriving home at 1:30am. Yawn!

The stuff: 

Loved the gloves, would wear them again! My feet were tired after standing for close to 6 hours. 

• Leather purse - vintage, thrifted
• Gloves - consignment; purchased above for $25.00

Copper bling: 

It's always a good time to wear copper! 

• Earrings - vintage expo
• Ring - consignment
• Necklace - consignment
• Cuff - Renoir, vintage 50s, Grandma J's
• Cuff - Renoir vintage 50s, consignment

And now, my friends, I'm off to enjoy a day of good times with my guys (furry and human) while stormy winds rage outside. Stay warm and cozy yourselves, and thank you so much for swinging by.