A Rainbow of Ruffles

Continuing with my ruffle theme from yesterday, one of my favorite items from NZ:

Hello, Derp Face. Boy, I haven't missed you. Ah well, that aside:

Mini top hat-Ebay

Apache tear necklace-Inherited

Black peasant blouse-Arc

Black pinstriped vest-Goodwill

Ruffled multi-colored skirt-Paper Bag Princess

Tights-Hot Topic

Black slides-Recycle Boutique

You can't see it in the picture (silly flash washout) but the vest has a fine silver pinstripe on it. I love it. I really like this skirt-it's so bright and colorful, and the ruffles give it a lot of motion. Basically, this outfit makes me really happy for no discernable reason except FUN! I want to make several skirts like this with some pretty taffetas I have. Can't wait to start sewing on them! 

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. 

Catching Up To Do Or, Leftovers Week, Day 1

Hello, readers! Since I'm on Thanksgiving break and not wearing anything more impressive than sweats and old T-shirts, I thought I would use this week to catch up on outfits that I wore but didn't have a chance to blog. I wanted to go ahead and finish off my Goth (Stereo)Types from last week today, followed by the undone outfits from my Black and Green Week tomorrow and a couple of other assorted randoms for the rest of the week. So you'll have the great privilege of two (or more) outfits per post for the next few days, you lucky dogs! I really do promise to try and be more regular about updating-it's just my teachers seem to looove to give more homework on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and as much as I love blogging and all of you, my schoolwork does take slight precedence. But seeing as I don't have any this week, I've got no excuses, so here are the outfits! This was Wednesday's; I was going to a Cherie Priest  booksigning, so it seemed only appropriate I should wear Steampunk Goth.

Image copyright Megan Balanck

I do love her outfit-it is quite nice. But I not having my browns at school with me, this was my take on Steampunk Goth:

Pearl choker-Inherited

Cream-colored mini top hat-eBay

Black lacy blouse-Goodwill

Cream t-shirt (underneath)-Goodwill

Black and cream ruffled underbust corset-Punk69

Layered black knee-length skirt-Arc

Cream-colored petticoat-Buffalo Exchange

Lace leggings-Claires

Combat boots-Ross

I had bustled both sides of the black skirt initially, but lost one of the pins holding it up before I took the picture and didn't realize. I got a lot of nice comments on this outfit-one of my friends at work said I looked like a little Victorian china doll, a classmate told me it was "so far beyond adorable", and my boss said she never tires of seeing my inventive new combinations of clothes. I like to think the boots kept it from being too precious or girly, but even if it was, who says being girly is a bad thing? I thought about doing Victorian Goth, but that requires a modicum of historical accuracy, which requires wearing your corset UNDER your clothes, and I just can't do that-my corsets are so pretty, they deserve to be shown off! Fortunately, steampunk, bless its anachronistic little heart, has no such compunctions.  

I did change a little bit before going to the book signing, swapping out the skirt for a long one (because it was COLD!) and wearing the cream-colored blouse with a black lace shrug instead. Here's me with the amazing Ms. Priest at the signing-she was so nice and fun to listen to!

Thursday seemed almost kind of anti-climactic after the fun of Wednesday's book signing, but I decided to take a little risk and do a SFS (safe for school!) version of Fetish Goth.

Now, that probably sounds fairly contradictory, but I like to think I accomplished it! Apologies for the slightly blurry pic, my mom took it when we were in somewhat of a hurry:

Black sweater-Goodwill

Red PVC corset-The Crypt

Red lace skirt-Arc

Bow-patterned fishnets-TJ Maxx

Demonia heels-The Crypt

The heels were my 20th birthday present to myself-they were $44, which is A LOT (like, anywhere from 4-10 times as much) more than I usually spend on one pair of shoes, but they were so pretty, I couldn't resist. I wore the sweater because the corset is EXTREMELY fetish-y, with the side buckles, front lacing, and PVC materials, and gives pretty deep cleavage, considering my rather modest bust. For someone who is basically pretty shy when it comes to matters of sex (I have a close girlfriend who likes to tease me by going into stories of her sexual exploits, just so I'll turn bright red and mutter about smelling dinner burning before running off), I do often find myself strangely drawn to the fetish-y side of Goth. I love the look and feel of PVC and latex, and find a lot of the shapes/structures associated with fetishwear aesthetically pleasing. I guess my corsets make me more dominatrix-y than I knew-when I dressed as a hippie for a walk-on role in a classmate's movie, another classmate on the shoot commented "Wow, you look really un-dominatrix-y today!" It must be the corsets. Oh well-it adds to a sense of mystery, I guess, and lord knows I could always use more of that!

Black and Red Week Day 3

Sorry, no continue on the DIY on account of some things unexpectedly coming up today, but I do have an outfit post!

 Mini top hat-eBay
Necklace-Repeat Boutique
Sparkly black dress-Thrifted
Red and black corset-Punk69
Fishnets-Walmart
Black sling-back patent shoes-Savers

 Here's a better picture of the main part of the outfit-I apologize for looking so sulky in both these pictures, I have no idea why I have that expression on my face-I'm really quite a cheerful person, generally! And I know some people hate tiny top hats for whatever reason, but I love them, and they make me happy, so I continue to wear them.

 Sorry for the blurry pic, I'll try to get a better one later on-you'll be seeing this necklace A LOT, since I adore it and wear it all the time. it's a little goblin with the most mischievous expression on his face. Plus, some of the old fuddy-duddies in my hometown think it's a demon, and this upsets them, so I carry on wearing it with my most cheerful smile. (Yes, I can be somewhat evil at times. But only to people who make snide and totally unwarranted comments about my outfits.)

Here's my attempt at a detail shot on the dress-it really doesn't do it justice. It has these great sparkly sequin patterns, and tons of little mesh flowers, and I adore it-along with my two ruffly black jersey dresses it is one of the essentials of my wardrobe. It's cute, fun, unique, and flirty-and super comfy, always a plus.
Hope this makes for a sufficient red and black outfit-I wore it to band, and got one snide "What are you supposed to be?" and three "You look really good"s, so overall, I think I'm doing pretty well, considering I live in Redneckville, USA, where anything other than jeans and a t-shirt gets you tons of funny looks, if not outright verbal abuse. I'm actually not really going anywhere for the rest of the week, but I kind of want to put together some other cool red and black outfits, just because I enjoy doing it. I love the idea of theme weeks personally, since I kind of do it unofficially myself during the school year-on Sunday I decide what color I'm going to wear (well, what color and black!), paint my nails to match, and then have my outfits all set up in a general-ish fashion. You'll all see this if you have the patience with me to read through to the middle of next August-the only reason I didn't do it in May was because I had really limited space (living somewhat illegally in a friend's campus housing makes for fun adventures!), so it was basically whatever stuff I could fit into a suitcase + whatever stuff I picked up while thrifting. It worked out, though- I am very bad at "packing light", so to speak, and it was definitely an interesting exercise for me!