Stripes, Parts Deux and Trois

Yes, more stripes from me. Are you surprised? I told you I was addicted! First up, this was my Chorale outfit two weeks ago, in which the correct answer to the old riddle "What's black and white and red all over?" is Jamie:

Black lace shrug-Love Culture

Skeleton hands necklace-Forever 21

Red tank top-Savers

Black and white striped corsetlet-Fusion Federation

Black and white striped arm warmers-Artsmyths

Black ruffled skirt-Goodwill

Red tights-Target

Ruby slippers-Hot Topic

I forgot to take a picture of the back of the shoes, but they actually have a black and white striped heel and are too adorable for words, even though they make my feet hurt. I felt very Tim Burton-esque in this outfit, which of course made me happy!

The next outfit was from last week, when I was in a purple sort of mood:

Black dragon necklace-Asian Gifts

Pinstripe blazer-Plato's Closet

Pink cami-Forever 21

Black/purple striped handwarmers-Claire's

Black overbust corset-Punk69

Black asymmetrical ruffle skirt-Goodwill

Purple striped tights-TJ Maxx

Vampire shoes-Hot Topic

Annoying Siamese who is affronted I interrupted her leisurely drink at the water bowl-Denver Dumb Friends League

Once again, cute shoes that make my brain and style sense happy and my feet sad. Are there any other kind? Actually, both these pairs of shoes were Hot Topic clearance-which is good, because $12 for the red ones and $15 for the vampire ones is a lot more acceptable to my excessively thrifty brain than $45-60 a pair regular price! I think I've become addicted to fingerless gloves/handwarmers/whatever-you-care-to-call-'ems-I've actually had a lot of mine for quite some time, but I've been making a concerted effort to actually wear them more. Since I'm going to New Zealand in less than 3 weeks (eek!), and I'm taking one large and one carry-on bag worth of clothes for five months (double eek!), so I've been practicing accessorizing with small, light things like jewelry and handwarmers. That way, when I have less clothes, I can still do a variety of fun outfits by changing up the details! Have any of you ever had to travel with a limited wardrobe? How did you work it out? 

Running Away To Join The Circus

Ok, I didn't actually run away to join the circus. I just looked like I was going to. Outfit from community band last Tuesday, complete with elephants, dancing ladies, and a mini top-hat:

Red mini top hat-Gift from a friend

Bronze medallion necklace-Downtown Duds

Red flowered blazer-Goodwill

Black ruffled camisole-Goodwill

Circus-print vintage skirt-Arc

Black lace handwarmers-Claire's

Red and black vertical striped tights-Hot Topic

Victorian heeled ankle boots-Ross

When I bought this skirt, I was a little worried that it might be a bit of a one-trick pony, so to speak-the print is so wild and distinctive that I thought I wouldn't really be able to wear it in a lot of ways. $4 for a vintage (I'd guess 1950s-1960s) skirt in near-perfect condition that actually fit me was too good to pass up, but I didn't know how often I would be able to wear it. However, I think I managed to make an appreciably different outfit with it this time than I did the last time I wore it, here. I think it has depths of versatility yet to be explored-who knows, maybe I'll end up wearing it all the time and end up being the crazy girl with the circus skirt! I think the problem is, in my mind versatility has pretty much always equaled plain, unadorned black. It isn't until recently that I have been able to see something patterned, printed, striped, or colored and go "Hey! That'll make a great basic, versatile piece!" I've been fighting with my fashion preconceptions lately, and I'm proud to say I'm winning. 

Down The Rabbit Hole, Or Character Week Day 3

I'm sorry to do it to you all, lovely readers, but I'm going to momentarily drop into the well of the cliche Goth again today, dressing as that Goth/Lolita/all-alternative-persons beloved wandering child, Miss Alice, of Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass fame. I will admit to simultaneously being an Alice fangirl and a bit of an Alice snob; I love the original books unconditionally, and I decently *like* many of the gajillions of adaptations of them, but the only two that I really LOVE are SyFy's Alice and (of course) Tim Burton's in-spirit 2010 sequel. Again, the incomparable Colleen Atwood's designs make me drool desperately and start eyeing my sewing patterns to see if I have anything that could make a decent facsimile. Alas, I haven't my sewing machine with me, so this was the Alice I pulled from my wardrobe:

 

Clock pendant-Thrifted

Black cardigan-Goodwill

Blue camisole-Ross

Blue taffeta underbust corset-Punk69

Black lace skirt-Arc

Blue and black striped socks-Buffalo Exchange

Black boots-Target

I thought I did a decent job combining the feel of this (whimsical, Victorian, and blue):

With this (modern and easy-to-wear):

I think it turned out pretty neat, having an "Alice-y" feel without being too costume-y. Although, costume-y be damned-if I could get ahold of/make this dress, I would wear it at least once a week. 

A girl at Starfest last year had made a pretty close replica, and I was so jealous of her. Not only did she have mad skills, she had a boyfriend who was willing to dress up as the Mad Hatter with her. They were both incredibly awesome, and I loved getting to hang out with them. 

Also, I don't doubt that most of you have seen Tim Burton's version, but if you haven't seen the SyFy one with Caterina Scorsone, please get ahold of a copy. It's well written and interesting, and it has a really fantastic cast. (No, seriously-Kathy Bates, Colm Meany, Caterina Scorsone...it's awesome.) 

And now for a bit of literary nerd-anger, if you'll allow me: My only big issue with both it, and Tim Burton's, is that they combine the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts into one person. THEY ARE TWO COMPLETELY SEPARATE CHARACTERS! No, really. Other than Alice, there is no crossover in the books as to characters. The wold of the Looking Glass is separate from Wonderland, and though I'm ok with them being combined for storytelling purposes (neither book is really long enough to turn into a movie on its own), it really irks me when people act like the Red Queen and the Queen of Hearts are interchangeable. This is the Queen of Hearts:

"

This is the Red Queen:

YOU SEE? TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PEOPLE! Not to mention, the Queen of Hearts is evil, crazy, and generally prone to decapitations, while the Red Queen is kind in a loopy sort of way and welcomes Alice to be a queen when she finally makes her way across the chessboard. In fact, one of my favorite parts of the book is the absolutely insane conversation Alice has with the Red Queen and the White Queen when she finally arrives at the end of the chessboard. One of my favorite bits:

Here the Red Queen began again. 'Can you answer useful questions?' she said. 'How is bread made?'

'I know THAT!' Alice cried eagerly. 'You take some flour—'

'Where do you pick the flower?' the White Queen asked. 'In a garden, or in the hedges?'

'Well, it isn't PICKED at all,' Alice explained: 'it's GROUND—'

'How many acres of ground?' said the White Queen. 'You mustn't leave out so many things.'

'Fan her head!' the Red Queen anxiously interrupted. 'She'll be feverish after so much thinking.' So they set to work and fanned her with bunches of leaves, till she had to beg them to leave off, it blew her hair about so.

Now, I'd say fanning someone's head with leaves is rather the opposite of ordering it lopped off, wouldn't you? :)

For more literary nerdery + outfit awesomeness, come back tomorrow to see me venture back about forty years before Alice and company to the time (and books) of one of my absolute favorite authors.

The Worst Pies in London, or (unofficial) Movie Monday

Hello, and sorry that last week kind of fizzled-but I'm hoping that this week will make up for it! Today, I decided to participate in Sal Kaye's Movie Monday for the first time-and to kick it off, I wanted to use one of my absolute favorite movies, Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd. And then I realized it wasn't official Movie Monday, but I decided to do it anyway and carry on the tradition. I know it's a total cliche, but I love that movie so much-the music is gorgeous, it's beautifully shot and acted, and holy crap, does it look good. All the costumes are flawless, thanks to the amazing Colleen Atwood, who is kind of my role model as a costumer. I would seriously wear them every day if I had the money; I mean look at this:

And this:

Holy crap, I want that swimsuit so friggin' bad.

Alas, I haven't the resources of a large movie budget, so here's my humble attempt to replicate the awesomeness of the movie's costumes from my wardrobe:

Necklace-Inherited

Black lace blouse-DAV thrift

Black cami-Arc

Black and white pinstripe underbust corset-Punk69

Green, red, and blue plaid skirt-Arc

Black lacy skirt-re-made by me from thrifted prom dress

Aaand, because you just can't have a Tim Burton movie without stripey tights, I wore mine today. No one could see them, but I knew they were there, and that's what counts, right? :)

Black and white striped tights-Target

Black Doc Marten-alikes-Wal-Mart

I really enjoyed wearing this outfit-it was like having my own little secret identity, a joke that no one was in on but me. I spent the day humming The Worst Pies In London and Nothing's Gonna Harm you under my breath. I love the character of Mrs. Lovett so much; she is a total bad girl, and I love her shamelessly disgusting practicality and the way she takes advantage of every situation. Plus, I might be a little biased because, as an alto, she's one of the few female leads I can actually sing! She's not an admirable character, but she is intriguing, and I love the way HBC played her. No one can ever replace the inimitable Angela Lansbury, but I think HBC made a great Mrs. Lovett.

By the way, I liked the idea of dressing like a character from a movie or book so much that I decided to do it this week as my weekly theme. Tune in tomorrow to see my spin on my favorite Disney princess!

Black And Orange, or Halloween Week Day 1

Well, the title kinda says it all! I'm going to be doing faux-costumes for the res of the week, but I figured the inaugural day really ought to be those two gorgeous and highly under-utilized colors, black and orange!

Black lace front button-down-Goodwill

Orange cami-Fusion Federation

Black Tripp skirt-Buffalo Exchange

Orange striped tights-Wal-Mart

Chunky black sneakers-Arc

Though I do love this color combo, I recognize that it can be a bit overwhelming, especially in the florescent shade I wore today-hence the employment of the black button down to give just a hint of the orange cami underneath. I love, love love this button-down and have no idea why I don't wear it more often-maybe because it wrinkles and I am lazy and don't want to iron a lot of stuff! Until tomorrow (Day 2 of the week, Day 1 of my faux-costumes), darkly yours, Jamie!

Stripey Socks and Skulls-Skull Week, Day 2

So, my outfit ended up taking a bit of an unexpected twist today; I was originally wearing plain black tights, but they imploded into a mass of strings around the thigh area two hours into my day. Fortunately, I was on 16th Street Mall and could buy some new ones, but given the choice between a $10 pair of plain black tights and a $4 pair of stripey tights, I of course had to go with the stripes. I don't usually mix patterns, but I kinda like this:

 

Black jersey shrug-Rainbow

Skull-print chiffon dress-Hot Topic

Skull bangle-GoodGoth 

Purple and black stripe tights-TJ Maxx

Victorian-style boots-Ross

 I do love this dress-considering how pricey (relatively-remember, I'm on a college student budget!) most stuff at Hot Topic is, I've almost never bought anything there at full price, but when I saw this I had to have it, regardless of the $60 price tag. It is such a fun, flirty, and versatile dress-after I bought it I worried that such a distinctive piece might not get a lot of wear, but it's surprisingly easy to style into a lot of different outfits. I especially like it with the stripes, which is something I don't think I would have done on purpose for fear of clashing patterns/prints-I'm a wee bit anal retentive and like everything to match, so sometimes I will be a bit hesitant about putting more than one bold pattern into an outfit-but after how this turned out, I might have to try more! How do you all feel about mixing prints?

Fangs For the Memories

Pardon the awful pun. I'm genetically incapable of resisting them. Anyway, today I went a bit stereotypical mallgoth on you all, but I think it came out pretty cute. I went thrifting yesterday, and ended up stopping by The Crypt, an awesome sex shop on Broadway, where they just so happened to have their accessories on sale, including socks-and I am also genetically incapable of passing up cute, funky socks when they're on sale. And then, of course, I have to build an outfit around the cute, funky socks.

Ruby Gloom T-Goodwill
Black pleated satiny skirt-Goodwill
Vampire Fang Socks-The Crypt
Chunky black shoes-Repeat Boutique

Detail of the t. I don't normally buy or wear t-shirts, hence I don't usually look at the t-shirt section in Goodwill-but this one was in with the blouses, so I took it as a sign I was supposed to find it and buy it. How adorable is it?

THEY HAVE VAMPIRE FANGS ON THEM!!!!! These socks make me unreasonably happy. I love them. Life is simply too short to not wear fabulous socks-they are totally my Kryptonite. If an evil dictator kidnapped me and wanted me to make a sympathetic propaganda film justifying his heinous crimes, the conversation would go like this:
Evil Dictator: I'll torture you!
Jamie: Never!
Evil Dictator: I'll make you eat unpleasant things!
Jamie: Not in a million years!
Evil Dictator: I'll give you a lifetime supply of stripey and novelty socks!
Jamie:...Where do I sign?
I would also accept a lifetime supply of corsets. Shh. Don't tell any evil dictators. Do any of you have clothing items that you are simply helpless to resist?