Of Orca Whales, Parliament, and Casual Attire

I need to preface these photos by stating for the record that I was wearing layers. Lots of layers. Beneath my sweater, I had a fitted long sleeve shirt, a fitted t-shirt, a camisole, and a long line bra. Hidden below my Freddies of Pinewood jeans, I has on long johns. So if things seem a bit bulky - or like the jeans are clinging to my legs in weird ways - that's why. Now, on with the show...err, photos!




Outfit details

1950s/60s abstract print scarf (worn on my head): Moon Walk Vintage (won as a lovely giveaway prize a while back on Va-Voom Vintage)
White plastic rose earrings: Claire's
Dark plastic tortoise shell sunglasses: DKNY (worn on the boat)
1950s beige rain coat (worn on the boot): Tootsie Vintage
Olive green-brown cable knit sweater: Forever 21
Hand painted vintage orca whale brooch: Vendor at the 2014 Victoria Vintage Expo
Black plastic rose stretch bracelet: Thrifted years ago from Value Village
1940s style side button jeans: Freddies of Pinewood
Sky blue vintage style cross body purse: eBay
White and black vintage style saddle shoes: eBay
Lip colour: Clinique Raspberry Glace
Nail colour: Essie Hide & Go Chic


DSLR and iPhone photography by Tony Cangiano 

(Me out on the water during our whale watching tour.)

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Last month we took a peak a what I wore during an awesome day of seal feeding while in Victoria at the start of autumn. This time around I'm shining the spotlight on what I sported on the day that we went out on a three-hour long whale watching excursion.

These photos (save for the one of me on the boat and the the ones taken of/on the high seas) were shot after we'd been out getting hit with surprisingly chilly, extremely strong winds for hours, so my make-up was half gone and my cheeks were more than a little flushed from the weather, the excitement, and certainly the happiness of that day.

Taking part in a whale watching adventure was something that I'd wanted to do since I was a small child, so I knew that even though it would be a bit of an investment, we had to do so while on our fabulous two week long Vancouver Island trip. We did a lot of research into the various companies that offered excursions of this nature and ultimately went with one from the Prince of Whales (love that pun-tastic name), as their boats were said to over smooth rides and have onboard washrooms - two absolute musts for me if I'm setting sail anywhere.

Both proved to be true and we had a marvelous time setting out into the vast blue Pacific Ocean, where we spotted orca whales, minke whales, seals, plenty of birds, and for all of about two seconds, I'm certain that I saw an adorable little otter diving around in the waves. The company offers a whale sighting guarantee, which means that if we hadn't seen any that day, we could have come back for free again a second time. Thankfully, though it did take about an hour and a half to see the majestic black and white orcas, we spotted plenty of wildlife that day, so one outing was all it took.

The staff on board were friendly and very knowledgeable and I had a great time talking with one female staff member in particular, who shared with me tons of great facts about orca whales, including that some of the oldest in the pod that live in those Pacific waters are thought to be at least a hundred years old.

Sadly, truly heartbreakingly actually, she also informed me that about half of the orca whales that are born today die at a young age due primarily to environmental factors (re: polluted waters). This number rattled me to my core and made me feel even more fortunate to get an opportunity to see the handful of these resplendently beautiful wild creatures that we did on that sun-kissed early fall afternoon.

The Price of Whales website had advised tour participants to dress warmly and in layers, so that is precisely what I did. Though my outfit wasn't as in-your-face vintage-y as some of mine certainly are, it was still old school enough to have most eyes on me as we boarded the boat and several people paid me lovely compliments, which is always touching to have happen in any setting.

While I was (barely) warm enough thanks to those four layers on top (five counting my jacket) and two on the bottom (plus thick cotton wool socks and my trusty orca coloured saddle shoes, which are surprisingly warm themselves), the wind was so strong that even with a scarf wrapped 1940s style around my locks, I still had to put a hand on my head many times when the boat picked up speed to avoid the risk of having my wig go flying off into the surf!

I really want to go whale watching again in the future so when we do, I'll either wear something that literally ties my wig to my head or sport a fitted hood that prevents it from going anywhere. Thankfully due to my diligence, it stayed put and I didn't have to deal with the embarrassment that would have come had the wind snatched it up!

We really had an amazing time out on the water and when we returned to dry land, we headed over to the provincial Parliament Building (aka, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia building), which is located on the waterfront, for a quick photo shoot before heading home to fill our famished tummies (being out on a boat in cold, windy weather really works up an appetite!).

This stately and truly gorgeous example of late Victorian architecture (it was completed in 1897) is one of the most breathtaking buildings to be had in this very new province of ours and is a location I'd been wanting to shot in for many years now. Despite the sunshine, there wasn't a lot of folks around, so we were able to take plenty of shots on the stairs and other spots on the backside of the building without other sightseers or locals crossing in front of our lens, as can often happen in popular public spots like this.

Without a doubt, this is one of the more casual outfits I've sported on my blog over the years. Were we not out whale watching, it's the kind of thing I might wear for a trip to the dog park with Annie or perhaps a fall time pumpkin picking excursion in a farmer's field. Delightfully, two pieces of this look were purchased mere days before while in Victoria: the classic cable knit sweater came from Forever 21 (I'd made a point to budget for a trip there as I hadn't stepped foot in one since we left Toronto at the start of 2012 and I'd really been missing it), and the adorable vintage (c. 1980s) orca whale brooch came from the Victoria Vintage Expo that I'd attended the very day before our whale watching adventure.

The rest of the items that made up my layered ensemble were from my closest back home and I couldn't help but love how well that happened to scarf matched my new sweater. I'm always on the lookout for comfy, classic knits like this that are wool-free (I'm allergic to wool) and don't break the bank, and this one delivered big time there (if memory serves me right, it was about $28.00). I'd definitely wear it again for outings like.

I've been rationing my sets of outfit photos from our time on the Island and this, I believe, is the second to last one that I have to share. The final photos, taken on the very rainy ferry boat ride back home to the mainland, will be appearing here in the near future.

Much like our afternoon of feeding the seals, this was an amazing experience and one that I feel very blessed to have been able to enjoy on our holiday. Should you ever get the chance to go out on a similar excursion yourself, I really can't recommend it highly enough! Tony and I both agreed that it was money extremely well spent and that we'd love to go again and again and... :)