Mega-Super Post of Awesomesauce

I've been a terrible blogger lately. Don't really have an excuse except that I've been busy enjoying some of my last days in New Zealand, but I've still been recording my outfits and want to share them, so I thought I would do that today with pithy comments! Nine days until I'm back in the States, I can hardly believe it. Time has really flown! And speaking of things that fly, look at these neat tights:

(See what I did there? :P)

Black sparkly sheer blouse-Paper Bag Princess

Black cami (underneath)-Arc

Black sparkly net skirt-Salvation Army

Feather print tights-Evolve

Black boots-The Warehouse

Loved this outfit, and really enjoyed wearing it. The beads on the skirt and blouse livened up the solid black, and I'm a sucker for a good feather print.  In fact, judging by my outfits (and my irregular blogging), one might say I've been a little bird-brained lately:

Black peacock-print dress-Fiji specialty shop

Black boots-The Warehouse

This dress makes me preen like a peacock. Ok, ok, I'll stop with the bad puns. (For now.) It is super-comfy and very easy to wear yet elegant, though. Like a nightgown for public consumption. But my love of wacky prints continues unabated:

Black lace shirt-Salvation Army

Japanese doll-print skirt-Salvation Army

Black tights-Wal-Mart

Flower wedges-Recycle Boutique

Here's a close-up of the print on the skirt, because it is unbelievably adorable:

If that doesn't make you want to smile, you have no soul. And speaking of soullessness, here was my attempt at a sexy, black-clad creature of the night look:

Black ruffled shrug-Love Culture

Black cami-Arc

Black-black striped underbust corset-The Crypt

Red velvet/black mesh skirt-Recycle Boutique

Black patterned fishnets-The Warehouse

Black satin heels-H&H New Zealand Clothing

Ok, this wasn't really an attempt at vampire cosplay. It just came out looking like one. Oops. Or not. I HAVE NO REGRETS! I also have no regrets about this skirt:

Black pinstripe jacket-H&H New Zealand Clothing

Gargoyle necklace-Repeat Boutique

Black tank-Forever 21

Silver underbust corset-Punk69

Black handwarmers-Forever 21

Ruffled multi-colored skirt-Paper Bag Princess

Black and green striped socks-New Zealand Sock Company

Black flower wedges-Recycle Boutique

This skirt, man. I saw it, I was drawn to it, but then I was like "It's too loud." But I kept thinking about it, so I went back and bought it. It was gloriously spinny and fun and perfect to wear swing dancing. One of my friends told me "It reminds me of when we used to do parachute in elementary school!" I think that's one of the most unique comments I've ever gotten on my clothing. It made me smile! 

Monthly Theme Day-Lace!

Hello, all! I'm going to celebrate my triumphant return to blogging with a two-outfit post on one of VictorianKitty's theme days-this time, lace. Here's the outfit I wore to last night's premier of my university's production of Almost, Maine, which I designed a scene for:

 

Black raschel lace blouse- Arc

Green and black lace corset-Fusion Federation

Black lace skirt-Forever 21

Black lace armwarmers-Claire's

Patent-toe Mary Jane heels-Ross 

 And here's today's outfit, the official October 1st Lace Outfit!

 

Black lace shrug-LoveCulture

Black and nude lace camisole-Arc

Lavender net and lace skirt-Repeat Boutique

Black chunky Mary Janes-Arc

So I basically have enough lace stuff in my wardrobe that I could probably do an entire month's worth of outfits, just made out of various lace items. These are just a few of my favorites. Even though the corset in the first one is a fashion corset rather than a real one, it's just so pretty that I forgive it its plastic boning and cheap busk-I love that particular shade of green, and black lace is my third biggest weakness, right after corsets and striped socks. Or, really, any color of lace. I have an especial love of lined stretch lace tops-in addition to this cami, I have an olive green one, two black ones (one of which is kind of falling apart because it's been worn so much...sadface), a purple one and a red one. They are so fun, subtly sexy, and easy to wear! I definitely like stretch lace better in tops, though-the skirt I'm wearing in the first outfit is cheap stretch lace, and it's definitely showing, with all the lovely plastic-y threads hanging out and fraying around the edges. Despite my current almost-moratorium on buying new stuff, I would definitely spring for a long non-stretch black lace skirt!

Black and Silver Day 1: Zippers and Schoolgirl Skrits

Trying a little less conventional color combo this week-black and silver! This was heavily inspired by the kick-ass new skirt I got two days ago while thrifting. I paid $4.50 for it, and it still had the original price tags on it:$69! Go me! It was from Bebe, a brand that I've liked, but only thrifted from because it's so expensive. Here's the outfit I put together around it:

 Heart/arrow necklace-Arc

Black lace blouse-Fusion Federation

Black cami (under blouse)-Wal-Mart

Silver pleated Bebe skirt-Arc 

Black opaque tights-Wal-Mart

You can't see my shoes, but they're my standard black Mary Janes with zippers, so you aren't missing anything! 

Here's my mani for the week-I alternated silver with black crackle polish and a light coating of silver sparkle over black. It came out very pretty, and I am rather proud of it! It might be black and gray rather than black and silver a couple of days, but same diff, right? Stay tuned, this week's outfits are gonna be fun!

Black and Purple, and Better Pictures

Sorry for the unannounced hiatus last week, but I hadn't a camera with which to take pictures! Fortunately, that problem was remedied as of Friday, so now I will be back to daily (or twofer-every-other-day) posting-aaannnd my new camera has a front LCD, so I will actually be able to see what it's doing! Yay! This week, I'm doing black and purple, one of my favorite color combos-cliche, I know, but it's soooooo pretty. And here is Day One!

Black cropped shrug-Rainbow

Purple ruffled blouse-Arc (?) 

Black lace skirt-By me

Black zippered Mary Janes (even though you can't see 'em)-Arc

I normally remember where I got almost everything in my wardrobe, but I've had this blouse for about six or seven years, so where exactly I bought it escapes me. I'm actually rather proud of this skirt-you can't see it very well in the picture, but it has two big rows of lace on the bottom and is quite full, giving it a wonderful Victorian feel. It was actually the underskirt in a slightly horrible silvery-purple taffeta '80s prom gown-I took the gown apart, re-gathered the quite pretty underskirt (really, the only salvageable part of the dress-it was quite a monstrosity, to be honest!), and attached it to an elastic waistband. Simple, elegant, and cheap-I think I gave $6 for the dress and used about 50 cents worth of elastic. Not bad for a very similar skirt to this one from GoodGoth, that runs $65-mine doesn't have the lacing, but next time I have my sewing machine and a good 20 minutes, that will be remedied. Have any of you ever made a cheap replica of a much more expensive piece of clothing?

Pretty(ish) In Pink

Yay! Tons and tons of PINK! I felt in a very sprightly mood today for no particular reason, so I pulled out all my hot pink and black stuff and went to town:

 Black t-shirt-Savers
Pink cami-Forever 21
Pink tapestry corset-Punk69
Black and petticoat skirt-Tripp via Buffalo Exchange
Lace leggings-Claires
Iron Fist Bela's Dead shoes-Hot Topic

 Side view, because the skirt is so gloriously fluffy and its fluffiness must be celebrated.

Here's a side view of the shoes. They are so awesome. I wanted them ever since I first laid eyes on them at Hot Topic, but I didn't really want to shell out $45 for one pair of shoes. I waited 'till they went on clearance, then nabbed them for $12 on one of HT's frequent half-off clearance sale. 

I mean, they have vampire fangs on them! They are awesome, even if they make me want to chop off my feet at the ankles. Oh, Hot Topic, continually putting adorable but excessively uncomfortable shoes on sale at such a low price that I cannot resist them. I wish I could like the leggings more-they're black lace, and a pretty pattern, but they have a really low spandex content, so rather than stretching comfortably, they tend to sag. Usually I'm pretty happy with the tights and leggings I've bought at Claire's (and as a poor-ish college student, I've bought a lot of stuff there), but this pair tends to go on crooked and look like elephant knees around the ankle if I don't pull them up every five minutes. They're wearable with boots, but not much else. I don't really love that they're footless, either-I'm much more a fan of plain tights, since they don't ride up nearly as much as footless ones do. I need to find a really good, affordable pair of black lace tights-any suggestions? 

Red and Black Week Day 1, and an apology

Hey, guys-sorry for my absence, but I've been crazy busy moving back home from Denver, so I haven't had either spectacular outfits or the time to blog about them today. Here's my (late, but still there!) post for day 1 of the lovely VictorianKitty's Red and Black week-a blogging challenge I accepted with gusto, those of course being two of my fave colors. This is also my first Churchgoing Goth post-i.e., what a Goth girl wears to church, being true to both her respect for her faith and the people in it and her dark and spooky self. It's really not as hard as you might think!

Black lace blouse-Fusion Federation

Red camisole-Somewhere in New York

Black and red patchwork skirt-Savers

Sandals-Demonia via Goodwill

I love this skirt-it is so fun, gorgeous, and unique, and never fails to get compliments every time I wear it.

Here's a close-up of some of the different fabrics in it-it's three tiered bands of patches. In other words, awesome!

One of the last things I did with my best girlfriends before leaving Denver (sniffle) was redo my nails, specifically for Red and Black week:

Both these polishes were filched from my friend Kira-the under is just a drugstore red, and the black is the OPI crackle polish, which I'd wanted to try but didn't want to spring for. I like the effect, but I don't know if I like it enough to spend $8 on a bottle of polish for it. I tend to pick up the $2.00 store brand polish at Walgreens-when you have my job (costumer for the university theater program), polish chips and flakes off so fast -even when I've picked up nicer polish on sale, it still gets scratched off by pins or chips when I pick up bins of fabric. It just seems silly to spend a lot on something that'll only look good for a couple days. I enjoy painting my nails, I just don't spend a lot on it because it's hard for me to maintain. Do any of you have beauty habits that you enjoy but don't particularly indulge in financially for whatever reason?