Friends, while I was away on holidays the shop filled up with all of my favourites!!! It’s like being welcomed back by, um, all your favourite clothes.

You will not believe this. Like, I barely believe it and I’m looking at it right now! From our dearest heartbreak….

….. a Nokomois ROMPER!

I mean. Gah. How ahead of their time was Nokomis?! This romper (which still has it’s new tags! The tags alone should be in a musem! Sniff) is incredible. And not only is it a romper, but it has all the pleats which are so cool right now. How did they do this? Were THEY the ones from the future and now we are catching up to their timeline? Does this mean that we will meet them again soon? And will they share their time-traveling technology?

A few weeks ago one of my favourite consignors came in to shop -not to consign- and she mentioned to me that her consignment appointment was coming up and then mysteriously said “yeah, there are a few things that you are going to like”. And lo and behold: a Birds of North America dress!! Friends, I looooooooove Birds of North America! I have a red dress from them that I refer to in my head as my Funeral Dress because I will be buried in that dress (I mentioned this totally creepy fact to the consignor in question, which is probably why she mentioned I would like some of her stuff this round, even though that was such a weird thing of me to say!). They are a Canadian brand (Nokomis carried them!), and their garments have that hand-made quality that was similar to Nokomis as well.

Birds of North America dress; Size 10, $42

They also often use great patterned fabric! Like candies!

This one has a nice, geometric triangle keyhole in the back!

And even the wee button is covered in the candy-print fabric! This is such a small detail, friends, but it really says alot about their pride of caftship and the loving attention put into each garment.

(You can find Birds of North America at Arturo Denim on 124 st!)

Oooooooooooo, EVERYONE gets excited when we get Poppy Barley shoes in the shop!

Obviously because they are Poppy Barley they are standing the test of time, but I actually love the light patina against the preppy and traditional design of their d’orsays.

From our local faves Oak+Fort! I don;t know what it is, but there is something deliciously retro about the beige falling leaves pattern on the fabric.

And you know I love micro-pleats!

Plus, this one is a camouflaged faux-wrap skirt, so this front piece will swish when you move and surprise everyone!

Our special treat this week is a Ted Baker top!

I think this print is secretly a floral print?

Vintage alert! How cool is this belt?! The shape of that scalloped, gold buckle is so perfectly 80’s. This one is labeled “L” for large, but I forgot to try it on for you to see how an 80’s L translates for today.

Friends, I have this exact same J Crew dress!! Mine is burgundy, and in my head I call it my Flight Attendant Dress. Believe me, it is gorgeous. The material is wool crêpe so the drape is amaze.

And this bow at the collar with the contrasting piping is probably what makes it vintage Flight Attendant to me…..which is also the reason I love it! Friends, I am having a serious inner battle about whether or not I need TWO Flight Attendant Dresses in my life. This green is just so awesome, and I love green, and I don’t have a lot of green in my wardrobe, and if I promise to wear it every day, can I have it?

So, as much as I love (LOVE) that vintage shape like in that J Crew dress (executed perfectly in the Flight Attendant Dress), I am also a big fan on this boxy, mod shape. It’s like a lab coat that isn’t open in the front! I love it for it’s simplicity, which is necessary here because…..

…..this dress is all about the hedgehogs! And not just regular hedgehogs, fancy hedgehogs in bowler hats!! How adorable is this?? Now, a note about the colour of this dress: it’s more of a dark green and blue. In this pic it looks blue, but there is more of a deep green happening here.

Friends, I have been on the hunt for a great statement ring for myself. This red ring is just the thing (except it doesn’t fit my boney, alien fingers)!

There’s this cool, miniature flower detailing on the band:

The orangey-red stone is HUGE and dramatic! This is such a great piece, you have to check it out in real life!

I pulled this one out of the men’s section, and then went downstairs to our neighbors at the Acoustic Music Shop to confirm with the boys that this is very cool and not, um, supremely geeky.

Vitruvian man playing guitar!!! From Da Vinci’s imagination to your hoodie! (Penis not included.)

This scarf is perfect for wearing when you need to pretend to be an adult.

And there is more Oak+Fort waiting for you in our sale section! Friends, I’ve always loved this sweater (which is not my size), and I really want to see it go to a good home.

Oak + Fort; Size S, $30 (on sale for $15)

See? Same dress! The in-flight meal today is lobster!

I also top it with a cropped cardi and vintage pin:

And now, friends, we are going to have a serious talk about Avenue Clothing Co.

Avenue Clothing Co. is closing down. Friends, Polly Magoos, Polly Magoos Black/White, Divine, Bamboo Stockroom, Lucid, Loft 82/Noul, half of C’est Sera, Etzio and now Avenue Clothing Co.; in the game of Battleship that is Whyte Ave, losing Avenue Clothing Co. feels like we have lost our Aircraft Carrier (and for the purposes of this analogy, Bamboo Ballroom is, of course, forever our Battleship). I think that a lot of the heartache we feel about Avenue Clothing Co. shutting down is not only because it’s a GREAT clothing store, but because it’s one of the independent, locally--owned shops that feel like the beating heart of Whyte ave, and there are fewer and fewer of them left. Yikes, I’m mixing my analogies….maybe because MY BEATING HEART HAS BEEN CUT OUT. (Speaking of my beating heart, here I will quickly add that just a few years ago there were FOUR independent guitar stores on Whtye, and now there is only The Battleship left.) Avenue Clothing Co is open until November, so there is still time to show them love and support! And, as always, let’s all keep supporting local independent shops when we can.

Soooooooooooo, ANYWAYS. We had a lovely holiday in the Shuswaps! I even swam in a lake, in the actual water, and swam all the way out to the dock! It was about 2 meters away, and I am still recovering from that swim/thrashing-about-until-my-7-year old passed-me-a-pool-noodle.

Ain’t no vacay without a visit to a local yarn shop! They had locally died yarns from “Fat Marmot Knits”! You know I love it when people bring their name game to their brands, so naturally I had to pick some up!

Rod (my spouse, BTW) has never read any of the Harry Potter books, so I brought along the first book for him to read. He was burning through it and would make comments like “This is a really good book! Have other people heard of it?” Pfffttt, haha! Not as funny, however, was his comment about Neville Longbottom, “He’s so whiny, what is he doing in Gryffindor?”. I KNOW. I immediately called my divorce lawyer (still on speed dial from that time we were going to “build the garage ourselves”).

There was also alot of this, so everyone had fun:

Friends, I have missed you! I will be in on Saturday, so you HAVE to come in. We can have a BIG talk about the changing face of Whyte Avenue, explore all the new things that have come into Red Pony together and discuss if it’s worth it for me to cut processed sugar from my diet, or will I just be more miserable without chocolate. I can’t wait to see you!