Saturday, December 29, 2012

Style: Funeral for 2012

 ...is what my mother said I looked like. Actually, I just really liked Dolce and Gabbana's lace overlay dresses and blouses from fall/winter 2012 and wanted to create a look inspired by that. The purple cami underneath is a nice little bit of color and adds depth to all the inkiness.


Man, I love black on black. Thrifted lace blouse, Target lace-trim camisole, vintage belt, thrifted midi skirt, Talbot's stockings, Merona flats.


Charming Charlie sunglasses, my own necklace worn in a double loop. Relvon Super Lustrous Creme Lipstick in Black Cherry. I love Revlon's lipstick formula and colors- they're far and away my favorite drugstore brand.


In the last week and a half I worked six straight days with Sunday off, then this week only Christmas (my mother and I went to the movies to see Les Miserables, and it was amazing!) and Thursday off, which was full of housework and errands and working on a commissioned headdress. I've had some difficulty trying to get outfit photos for my blog with my schedule so crazy and me so exhausted. However with the new year I'll have a few less hours at work and more time for everything else. :)


Monday, December 17, 2012

Style: Stripey Jacket Glamour


Charming Charlie sunglasses, vintage snood, striped Walmart jacket, Target lace-trim tank, thrifted lace skirt, Talbot's hose, Merona flats.



Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Style: Something New

Working the red lippy... my go-to on rushed mornings, I always feel so chic and retro. Funny thing, until I had braces a while and they brought my teeth forward, I disliked my mouth: it looked almost pinched and the lips were flat and small. Now my mouth is one of my favorite features!

H&M rose clips, Claire's chandelier earrings, Talbot's blouse, tights; thrifted George lace skirt (I love it!), Merona flats.



Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Style: New-ish Ruffled Lace Top

I had to replace the buttons on this shirt when I brought it home from the thrift store. They used to be flat and shiny, utterly incongruous to the fabric. I bought new buttons to match the fabric, and I love the outcome!

Thrifted lace blouse, faux alligator belt, Talbot's pants, Merona flats.


Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Style: Grey

But that's okay with me, because silver is my favorite color! My skin looks better against grey than any other neutral, and I've found all my favorite hats are grey; I just don't look good with black on top of my face. However, that does not mean I'll stop wearing all-black any time soon!

I'm been battling early morning/ late evening chill and mid-day heat all in the same days! Bother. It makes dressing for work- where I take the bus, then freeze in an aggressively air-conditioned mall- tough.

*New* leopard print fedora from Walmart, Claire's earrings, self-made pearl necklace, Sam's Club tee, vintage belt, thrifted wool skirt, Merona flats.


Friday, November 9, 2012

Style: Lace In Layers

Claire's chandelier earrings, self-made necklace, thrifted lace vest, Talbot's lace front tank and dress pants, vintage belt, Trotter's lace applique loafers. (The loafers are new. My mother bought them for me at Nordstrom's Rack!)


Hey, look, I'm standing in a wind machine! This was the best photo, mostly I'm squinting from the blasts of dry sharp air. It's skin-shriveling Santa Ana season... last year I got so dried out my nose bled eleven times in one day, constantly it seemed; very horror-movie-ish. Fingers crossed that incident never repeats itself!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Style: Steampunk Gentleman


Although, as I am said gentleman...

Thrifted button-down, thrifted vest, Talbot's pants, Merona wedges, ancient snood, Claire's earrings, self-made compass charm necklace.

I suppose I am dressed as if I was a Victorian woman who had had to masquerade as a man to gain access to the fantastical Time Traveling Machine. Now, she's come to the modern age, and she's amazed (but delighted) to see women wearing pants like nobody's business. (Which of course is true.) Exploring, she enters an overgrown, enclosed plaza she landed near. In the stores within she finds many curiosities of technology, such as portable music devises, flat metal sheets you can read entire books from, and cameras that show the image on a screen as soon as it is taken! She even finds a little jewelry shop that caters to all sorts of tastes, where she picks out a pair of ornate earrings that remind her of her own time.
Wandering by a quaint antique shop, she stops. No one else seems to notice her or it among the modernity; at least, all walk by without a sideways glance. As she steps in, ringing an old bell above the door, a white haired man unbends from the counter he is arranging a row of tiny glass bottles on...

"My dear Ana," he smiles, looking surprised in spite of himself. "How have you been? Why, over one hundred years passed since you fell off our map."


I love, love this vest- I'm a sucker for a pretty vest- though since it's a man's, it's a little bulky in the waist. (When you're trying to look gentlemanly, that can certainly come in handy.)


Made this! I love the compasses, though I rarely get to use one. I have a fairly good sense of direction that serves me well in getting back to camp if I'm separated. I always carry one in the wilderness, though, just in case!

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Monthly Theme: Hosiery...


...And How To Wear Crazy Legwear At Work!


I really love this pair of hose- it's sheer black with black diamonds connected with dots, and very subtle.
Merona hat, self-made jet bead necklace, thrifted velvet top, thrifted skirt, Talbot's hose, Merona shoes.


These are new and very, very bright red! It's nice to have a splash of color in an unexpected place.
Talbot's scarf (it has tiny high heels printed all over it, I love it), Land's End shirt, thrifted skirt, Merona tights and shoes.


Monday, October 15, 2012

Style: For Errands

It was cold and raining around here last Thursday, when I took this outfit shot. Since then it's heated right back to nearly 90*F! (Sorry, can't make that little circle. Too tired to figure out how.) I had to run a bunch of errands- Thursday is shopping day- and needed to be comfortable.

No makeup, since I was worried it would get smeared or smudged, and my skin was clear anyhow.

Merona tee, Claire's fingerless mesh gloves, thrifted skirt, grey Merona tights underneath for warmth, Merona boots.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Style: Shish Kebabing Shoes and Pretty Velvet Skirt

I meant to make a post yesterday, but I got food poisoning instead. No fun!

Today I'm wearing a new thrifted skirt, a Susie Rose button-down, Claire's earrings and choker, my own bead ring, and thrifted stilettos. Stilettos with very pointed toes.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Style: Very Stripey

Work look again! I like to push the boundaries between "conservative" and "extra from a Tim Burton movie."
My only beef with my new pants is the very, very low waist. I prefer higher. But! Pinstripes!
Thrifted H&M vest, Walmart tee, unknown belt, thrifted Limited pinstriped pants, thrifted Gucci purse, Merona watch, Claire's rose cuff, Merona wedge booties.



Friday, September 14, 2012

Style: Stripes and Spiderwebs

It was too dark to take photos outside so this is my room. DIY'ed bat decals on the walls, with a sewing machine desk on the right and my bookshelf on the left... see my POE?

IT'S SO HOT OUTSIDE. GAAAAAH. Makes black-and-covered-up... difficult. But I wore my brand-new tights, with a pattern reminiscent of large webs, anyway.

Claire's choker, Wal-Mart tee, Saver's shorts, Merona tights and ankle booties.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Jewelry: Cage the Moon

This has been a Really Good Week. Wednesday my mother and I tried on clothes at work. And bought some. For me, the most elegant, beautiful, cape-sleeve, drape-back, above-knee, lavender dress I have ever seen. Thursday I went to the library. Friday I went on a bunch of errands including Roger's Gardens and found wonderfully done lenticular photographs and a Tim Burton-ish not-real-pumpkin squashed albino jack-o-lantern, and then a REAL, small, pumpkin utterly abandoned in the parking lot that I adopted. I actually hopped out of the car to rescue the poor thing. Saturday, my dad's birthday (homemade cake!), birthday shopping for my mother's birthday in three weeks, and I finally worked up the courage to ask a co-worker if she is Goth (she is!).

Also, I redid an old necklace I had never gotten to look quite the way I imagined, like I had trapped drops of moonlight or water in a delicate beaded cage. Now, I have, by switching in white pearls and using a four color gradient in the seed bead strands.


Saturday, September 1, 2012

Monthly Theme Post: Someone Special + DIY


Woot! The Monthly Theme icon linky works! Yay!
So this will be me and my brother 'Gloombat,' who is one of my best friends. We're very, very close. We usually complete each others' sentences, and if one of us trips up on words the other can finish!
We are both wearing striped shirts layered under black add-ons and black jeans. He has sneakers, I have Merona heels, an H&M rose in my hair, and Claire's rose earrings.


Sorry, both outfit shots are blurry. We were using the timer function!


 The makeup was inspired by this drawing I made, which was in turn inspired by my braces:


The face shots turned out great- probably because we could switch to taking each others' photo!


I did both of our faces in matching lipstitches; he has an extra stitch over one eye, I have pink and purple shadow and caked on mascara to achieve a Dead Doll look.


Here's the DIY:
I have one pair of black jeans and I love them, but they were boring me... and since I can't wear jeans to work, I didn't have to leave them 'nice,' so into the workshop they went!
I sliced horizontally in one-inch increments, all the way from the hem to mid thigh.
Then I ran water over them and threw them into the dryer, which is how you fray destroyed jeans, and which resulted in the texture shown in the photos above.

Half done!
Otherwise they would stay all smooth like this.


And not look awesome like this.


The inspiration:

Maison Martin Margiela jeans

Monday, August 27, 2012

DIY Safety Pin Cuff Bracelet

I was browsing through my blog roll a few weeks ago when I came across this post on Asylum Alice's blog, Aversion to Color. I loved the safety pin bracelet and had to make one of my own!

The photos don't really do it justice... I will have to see if I can take some better ones.

I really liked to part where I put beads on the actual pins. I never would have though of that.


Saturday, August 25, 2012

Style- Mixed Textures/Prints

Do I look... startled? I was trying to look like a curious brought-to-life doll!
I really like mixing prints. I'm not quite sure if a lace overlay skirt technically counts, but I'm using it as a black-and-white anyway. And the rose was a serendipitous touch that really worked!
Other people liked it so much too that I got a couple comments from not-creepy, young people on the bus. So that was nice.

Yes, anyway- in conclusion of today's lesson: to achieve good looking outfit with mixed prints, make sure your prints share two or more colors!

Walmart tee, H&M rose pinned to neckline, safety pin bracelet, no name belt, Talbot's lace skirt, Merona watch and heels.


Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Style- New Black Lace; Patterned Stockings

DEFINITELY one of my best FusionGoth looks! Originally I had spiderwebby fingerless gloves, which they let me wear (surprise!) but I think those may have been startling the (older) clientele so I removed them.

I bought the black lace tank and patterned hose from Talbot's last week, worn with Talbot's necklace, no name belt, Merona watch, Brooks Brothers skirt, and new four inch heels I scooped up for 8 bucks+ tax at a Target clearance. I like them.


Saturday, August 18, 2012

Makeup- Inspired by Willy

 I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory today, and may have figured out a reason I love top hats and frock coats so much... watching Willy Wonka in my youth. I really like his style!

Since my hair looks a bit like Johnny's from the movie right now, I decided to create a look inspired by the character, with bold brows and deep purple lips, a scarf looped round my neck. The brows I'm keeping for everyday- I really like the strength and dimension they give my face.



Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Style- Autumn is coming! Autumn is coming!

How do I know? Because my store has the September clothing line in, an it's replete with black, lace, black, black-and-pine green foilage patterns, black, capes, and more black.

What it boils down to is- now I can wear black at work! Woo-hoo! And I want to buy their pretty, pretty clothes!

(Note- I didn't wear the black lipstick until I got off work, because I didn't want to scare anyone. I also didn't wear my hat during work hours, but there was squealing when I put it on to leave. :-P)

Talbot's top and necklace, thrifted Cato skirt, "stolen" Aerosoles pumps, Merona watch.


Um, anyway... sorry I haven't posted in over a week! I took some extra shifts at work, I've been DIYing, and I'm drafting a long wordy post that's coming out, hopefully, within the month.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Gravestone Headboard DIY

I lost all my original photos form the crafts I've been doing to a Mama glitch, so I had to start over. Thankfully, I hadn't begun painting with black yet, so you can get the general idea of how I started.

My dad saves large sheets of cardboard to turn into targets, so he let me have one to use.
I also used a pencil,
eraser,
sheets of paper,
tape measures,
an X-acto knife,
nitrile gloves,
a can of grey spray paint,
a can of black spray paint.

I cut the top of the cardboard freehand into an arch. Then I took it outside and gave it several coats of grey paint for full opacity. It sat in the garage a few weeks while I did the stencils.


I'm a perfectionist, so I measured everything to find the best size for the letters. Each capital letter is two inches tall and one to one-and-a-half inches wide, each lower case letter is one to two inches tall and one inch wide. I drew out the letters in the back of my sketchbook and cut them out with an X-acto Knife.

Here are two completed stencils:


The stencils were then spaced approximately four inches from the outer edge of the cardboard...


...and spray painted. HERE was my first word and got a little gloopy, but I quickly figured out the correct distance and angle to hold my paint can. My name was the next stencil and is blocked out to protect my identity.


Completed! I wore nitrile gloves through the whole project to protect my hands from paint stains.


Saturday, August 4, 2012

Style: A Self-Serving 'New Loot' Post

I bought a new skirt at work on Thursday. Thanks to patience and an end-of-season clearance, it was 30 bucks... $100 off the original price! It is black lace overlay on an icy pale pink skirt shell. Even though I usually wear a US size 6 and it's a 4, it's a wee bit loose- I guess it just runs large or something.
I love it!

Worn with elbow-sleeve button down, black patent faux croc belt, and Merona bracelet watch and shoes.


Worn to work with altered, sleeveless ruffled blouse and my own pearl-and-cameo necklace.


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