ALL THE STEALTH COSPLAYS! (...Or not.)

Hi, guys! I have ALL THE STEALTH COSPLAYS for you today-it'll be a pretty long and pic-heavy post, but I hope that you enjoy seeing my spins on the outfits as much as I am enjoying putting them together and wearing them. 

First, a little more sci-fi, to match my Doctor Who post:

Star Trek TOS uniform!
Red fishnet shirt-Buffalo Exchange

Black tank-Forever21

Red and black lace skirt-Repeat Boutique

Galaxy-print leggings-Cosmic
Black Doc Marten-alikes-Wal-Mart

Here's the original dress:

Those dresses were so short, all the ladies on the show wore matching bloomers because they pretty much couldn't have moved without flashing someone otherwise! 

Here's the next one, a little more loose, but inspired by Cosette from Les Miserables:

Black and white empire waist dress-Buffalo Exchange
White tights-Wal-Mart

Ghillies-Arc

Here's the original dress-it's a lot more elaborate. Cosette gets a bad rap, but I actually quite like her. I am very excited to see the Les Mis movie when it comes out, as I am a huge musical dork and love all the actors in the movie!

So not as close as some others, but the dress looks 1830s-ish, and the color palette is the same. It is a stealth cosplay, after all! :D

The final one is a little more obscure, but I feel like a lot of you would love (or possibly already do!) Alexia Tabarotti from Gail Carriger's Soulless:

Goggles-Goodwill

Black tank-Wal-Mart
Black velvet corset-Buffalo Exchange
Purple taffeta skirt-Made by me
Black ruffled underskirt-Buffalo Exchange
Chunky black shoes-Goodwill


Her being a book character, I don't have as much material to draw from-but I loved the purple color scheme on the cover, and I decided to base the outfit on that. This really is one of my favorite books-Alexa Tabarotti is a strongly constructed character, being by turns stubborn, brave, prickly, and dryly witty. The whole series is fantastic-great action, very funny, wonderful characters, and a really well-done romance. I highly recommend them if you haven't read them.
I was originally just going to do one week of stealth cosplays, but I find myself liking them so much that I think I shall continue them for at least a little while longer. Stay tuned for more tomorrow! And thanks for your patience with my irregular posting schedule, lovelies-I appreciate you all, and am so grateful to you for reading my blog. Cheers! 

Stripetember Participation Day Post!

WOW! Can I just say, I am simply OVERWHELMED by the response I had to my very first participation day? THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I LOVE YOU GUYS, YOU ARE MAKING ME TYPE IN ALL CAPS. THAT IS HOW AMAZING YOU ARE! Here's to all the lovely ladies who showed me their stripes:
1. VictorianKitty of SophistiqueNoir
2. Lesthi of Lesthi's Blog
3. Lynoire of Milking The Rolling Cow
4. Captain Cadaver of Bats and Cats
5. Katherine of In Pandaemonium
Thanks so much, ladies-you all rocked the stripes! :D
Here was my outfit for today: I went daring, and mixed my stripes up a little!

Black ruffled blouse-Forever21

Red and white striped vest-Made by me

Black and white striped skirt-Arc

Black leggings-Ross

Black faux Doc Martens-Wal-Mart

I like the look of this skirt, but unfortunately it wrinkle's like nobody's business. I might end up repurposing the fabric into something like a vest or a corset that won't wrinkle-we'll see! There is just not enough black and white striped stuff in this world, if you ask me. Thank you all again for participating, and keep your eyes peeled for next month's theme and theme day. After blogging for about 16 months, I finally feel like I'm really stretching my legs and coming further into the blog-o-sphere and I couldn't do that without all of you. :) 

Black And White Stripegavanza!

Hello, lovelies! Sorry I've been absent for a while but schoolwork and costume-making have combined to kick my ass pretty thoroughly for the past week. Never fear, though-I've got ALL THE BLACK AND WHITE STIPES for you! 

Pearl necklace-NZ Artist's market

Black and white striped shirt-Repeat Boutique

Black crinkly skirt-Arc

Black flats-Target

Today's fare-simple enough. A comfy black and white striped shirt that I just love, and my favorite three-fabric black crinkled Gypsy skirt. 

Striped blazer-Forever21

Black t-shirt-Forever21

White satin skirt with fishnet overlay-Paper Bag Princess

Black flowered flats-Recycle Boutique

I liked this combo. I initially wasn't sure how the stripes would work with the fishnet, but I ended up really liking the effect!

Black Lip Service dress-Buffalo Exchange

Black and white striped leggings-Recycle Boutique

Black flower slides-Recycle Boutique

I really like this dress, but it doesn't get worn much because it's shorter than I'm really comfortable with. Solution? These lovely leggings! Aren't they just the bee's knees? 

And finally-this probably looks a little costume-y, even for me. Probably because it's a costume!

White shirt-DAV thrift

Black and white striped vest-made by me

Black leggings-Wal-Mart

Black pirate boots-DAV thrift

Aren't the boots adorable? They inspired me to make a steampunk pirate costume for Nan Desu Kan. Sadly, they were also not that comfortable and I ended up swapping them out for my Doc-alikes from Wal-Mart before I left for the con proper. But they were fun to wear and I'm determined to build up my tolerance for 'em. Also sadly, the fact that the b/w striped fabric the vest is made of was 67 cents a yard on clearance at Wal-Mart definitely showed-it split along one of the seams just from raveling. But that's ok-the vest was fun while it lasted, and I finally found a b/w stripe cotton on EBay that I'm going to use to make another version of the same vest. It made a great "wearable muslin"-that is, cheap fabric you use to test a pattern and fit it, before you use good or expensive fabric! It'll be nice to have one that isn't so shiny. :) 

Changing My Stripes

As Stripe-Tember progresses, I want to move on to some of the Goth-iest of all stripes: black and white. This is a simple, elegant, and striking combo, and hard to find, especially in vertical or wider combinations. I like the latter because they're so pretty and elegant; they're also a recurring motif in the films of one of my favorite directors, Tim Burton. His costume designer, Colleen Atwood, who has designed every single one of his films, is a master of utilizing them in a way that is truly elegant and memorable.

This iconic dress from Sleepy Hollow actually only appears very briefly at the end of the film, but it is so gorgeous and striking that you can buy replicas of it and anyone who has seen the movie tends to associate the dress (and pattern!) with it. My first day of b/w stripes is not so dramatic; think of it as a small transition from the subtle stripes to the bold.

Black and white striped blouse-Arc

Back net skirt-Salvation Army

Red tights-Target

Black Mary Janes-Wal-Mart

I love the b-w-r combo, and I bought this top in no small part because of how much I loved the contrast of the red trim and buttons against the black and white stripes. I felt very girly and swirly today, and I loved it! The skirt has little gems on the netting, and they catch the light just enough to add some great sparkle to what's otherwise a pretty simple little skirt. Altogether just fun!

Stripes and Plaids

It's a good thing my friends are motivating me to do things like go out to get pizza and play bar trivia games, because otherwise all of my blog posts would be me in my pajamas. Not having class makes me reluctant to put on real clothes, it seems!

Black obsidian necklace-Inherited

Cropped shrug-Paper Bag Princess

Lacy cami-Ross

Black-stripe underbust buckled corset-The Crypt

Laced black fingerless gloves-Claire's

Ruffled black skirt-Paper Bag Princess

Tartan tights-Equip

Black wedge slides-Recycle Boutique

Yes, it is The Best Skirt In The Universe again. If nothing else, I'm glad I came to New Zealand just because it allowed me to get this skirt! (Ok, and the wonderful university experience, great new friends, and exciting scenic adventures I've had also make me glad. But the skirt's a nice bonus!) I like the tartan tights, even if they don't exactly lie straight on my legs. Overall, just a fun outfit for a fun night out doing bar trivia with my girls. I can't wait until I get back home and have more than one pair of dressy shoes, though-I feel like I'm wearing these shoes in 4 out of 5 posts nowadays. They're nice, and pretty comfortable, but darn if I'm not longing terribly for my heels and pumps.

This was a little more casual outfit, just for going out and about and shopping:

Playing card necklace-Gift from a friend

Black and white striped dress-Salvation Army

Black tights-Wal-Mart

Black boots-The Warehouse

There is just something about black and white horizontal stripes that feels terribly Parisian to me. I felt like an extra in a Godard film in this outfit! As opposed to black and white vertical stripes, which as any fool knows make one feel like an extra in a Tim Burton film. Simple outfit, but very comfortable. I've been trying not to buy any more clothes here because I'm fairly certain I'm going to have to ship at least one box home already, but I just couldn't resist this dress in all its wide-necked, full-skirted glory. What can I say? Hello, my name is Jamie and I'm addicted to clothes shopping. :)

Corset-y Long-Skirt-Y Goodness, Two-For-One Edition

Sorry for my absence, I've been a busy bee lately! I didn't really have a specific theme in mind for this week, but by pure coincidence (and probably because the fall weather is finally showing its face here in Wellington and it's been chilly) my outfits yesterday and today both had a long skirt/corset in them, so I'm taking it and running:

Kimono-sleeved top-Paper Bag Princess

Red overbust corset-Punk69

Pleated chiffon skirt-Arc

Black boots-The Warehoue

Black arrow necklace-Arc

Black shrug-Paper Bag Princess

White tank top-Wal-Mart

Striped arm warmers-Artsmyths

Black corset-Punk69

Fishnet and satin skirt-Paper Bag Princess

Black boots-Ross

I've found that these make really good rainy-weather outfits-they look elegant and put together while allowing me to hide a multitude of tights and thermal leggings under them! I still can't get over the fact that May means I need to start dressing warmer-this reversed seasons thing is going to take me a while to get used to, that's for sure. And to think, when I go home (2 months and 5 days, time has flown!) I'll go from winter to dead summer...too strange. Good thing my vast wardrobe can accommodate all seasons with careful layering. :) Also, it's my Un-Birthday-6 months until the big 2-1! 

What's Black and White And Striped All Over?

Answer: Me. Duh. I'll just let today's outfit speak for itself:

Faux pearl necklace-inherited

Black t-shirt (under blouse)-Forever21

Black and white striped blouse-Arc

Black taffeta underbust corset-Punk69

Black and white handwarmers-Hot topic

Black and white striped skirt-Salvation Army

Leggings-Wal-Mart

Buckle boots-Ross

Yes, I am very aware that this is A LOT of stripes. But when I saw the skirt at the Salvation Army in Wellington and remembered the blouse, I knew I had to have it! Several people complimented me on my "dress", so I think they matched very closely-it's hard to see in the picture, but the black stripes in the blouse are just a bit wider, and the white stripes in the skirt are the same, so they don't match exactly-but the corset broke up the patterns enough so people didn't notice, much like my red corset did for the polka dot blouse and skirt in this outfit. For some reason, almost-matching skirts and blouses from different places make me absurdly happy. Go figure. Do any of you have weird fashion tics that give you large amounts of joy for no particular reason?