A Ruffly Return

Hi, all! Sorry for my absence the last month, but first I was unpacking everything after coming back from New Zealand and then I was repacking everything to come back up to Denver and somehow blogging just got lost in the shuffle. I'm back at school and regularly mixing it up with cute outfits, though, so hopefully I'll be able to be the blogger you, my lovely readers, really deserve. Without further ado, here is today's outfit:

Skull necklace-Gift

Sailor collared blouse-Buffalo Exchange

White t-shirt-Wal-Mart

Ruffled two-layered plaid skirt-Buffalo Exchange

Navy kneesocks-K-mart

Heeled Mary Janes-Ross

I was told by a boy I ran into on campus that I looked like an anime character, and while I can definitely see that looking at the outfit, I was going more for turn-of-the-century sailor girl. I snatched up the blouse only to find that it was just a *bit* too small in the bust, so rather than wear it gaping and straining at the buttons all day, I just opted to wear it open over a t instead. I love the floppy collar and simple cut of the blouse, and hope to use it as a pattern to make more in different color combinations-lavender with plum trim, neon green with black, black with red...the possibilities are endless! Do any of you own an item of clothing you'd like to have in a ton of color variations? 

Monthly Theme Post: Outerwear AND Character Week, Day 4

Well, it was rather fortuitous indeed that today's Monthly Theme Post was outerwear-we just got a cold front here in CO, and I need to wear my nice heavy coat for the first time in about a week!

Here's my outfit with coat:

Like VictorianKitty's coat, mine was a very, very expensive coat that I got for a great deal. It's an Oleg Cassini coat, and the normal price on it was $300. For some reason, though, the Alco in my hometown got a massive shipment of them right as the store was closing, and reduced them to $30 to move them out. My mom and I each got one, and we've had them for...7 years now? It's a really lovely coat, wool with plaid trim, and deliciously warm-it keeps me toasty even in the coldest CO weather, like today. I also like that the cut is vaguely Victorian-I got it long before my Goth days, but it's eternally stylish!

And now for the straight-up outfit portion of the post:

Gold-and-pearl necklace-Inherited

Cream-colored empire-waist dress-Arc thrift

Black Doc Marten-alikes (hidden by the dress): Wal-Mart

As you've probably guessed by seeing the dress, I was going for a Jane Austen-inspired look today. Specifically, Northanger Abbey, which I feel is a severely underrated Gothic novel! Catherine Moreland is funny, snarky, and generally awesome, and I love the whole atmosphere of the book. I wanted to try for a Regency-inspired hairstyle to go with the dress, and this is what I came up with:

Apologies for the not-so-great pic, it's rather difficult to take pictures of the back of your own head. :) Considering how different the era looks from the rest of my clothing, I'm rather proud of this outfit:

Also, due to my wide hips, empire-waist dresses tend to make me look vaguely pregnant, so I was very glad to find that this one didn't. At last, I can swish around feeling very like Catherine (or Fanny Price, or Emma, or Elizabeth Bennett) without someone asking when I'm expecting-always a good thing. :D