What I did on my summer vacation

Hello, Fabulous Readers!

First of all, please accept my deepest apologies for the long gap since the last post. The summer turned into a very hectic time for me - as well as an unpleasantly warm one. Some day, I'll figure out that trying to deny the existence of warm weather by refusing to buy clothing for it isn't a very productive strategy.

The other reason I haven't been posting is that I've decided to take this blog in a new direction. Rather than focusing on my own personal style with outfit-a-day postings - although I'll still be sharing some of those - I'm going to be focusing more on fashion knowledge, history and technology.

I'm also starting to offer my services for personal style consultation, wardrobe management, and fashion styling for photography, fashion shows, and special events. As my clients permit, I'll share my work in that arena as well.

All of this will be happening over at my shiny new Web site, Everybody Gets Dressed!

Link-tastic! 9 July 2010

My goodness, Fabulous Readers, it's Friday again already!

Franca at Oranges and Apples muses on gender divisions in the crafty world, and it's a subject that bears a lot of thought. The majority of top fashion designers are men, but men are very seldom thought of in terms of home or craft sewing, especially when it comes to making women's garments. There's a lot of history behind why some crafts are "men's" and some are "women's" (and some are perceived as relatively gender-neutral), but why do those divisions persist? Is the supposed lack of interest of fashion to men part of it? Is it related to the home/workplace divide?

WendyB breaks down the price of gold (literally!). Fabulous Husband also makes jewelry, albeit mainly in silver, and has the same issues: silver currently costs over $18 an ounce, but most people's mental total of "what silver jewelry should cost" is based on a price that's less than half that, from just a few years ago. What Wendy doesn't talk about (but has previously, if I recall) is how much time, effort and skill goes into making good jewelry - and how hazardous it is. In order to craft a piece of jewelry, a jeweler will work with 2000°F+ flames, highly toxic chemicals, and power tools that can cause some pretty serious injury.

Is white the answer to summer heat? Maybe not. Cheap JAP delves into history, science, and (of course) thrift stores to see if black is actually cooler. I'm eager to see what she finds to beat the heat!

Of course, if you can hit the beach (or the pool) in this weather, you can stay cool in a swimsuit. Read up on the history and culture of swimming clothes first at Worn Through.

Angie from You Look Fab talks about how to wear tops with skirts. With my skirt-centric wardrobe, I gleefully violate her first "rule" - I find it harder to match trousers and tops than skirts and tops! Of course, to her suggested ways to wear skirts, I'll add with a jacket and layered under a dress or tunic.

Great methodologies from Sal at Already Pretty: inventorying your wardrobe and honing your style and is it flattering? 

I'm very lucky that every single one of you Fabulous Readers is a kind, good-natured (or at least exceptionally polite) person who would never post a gratuitously nasty comment here. However, I know that other bloggers aren't so lucky. Minh-ha from threadbared and Gretchen from gretchen blogs both look at the unfortunate phenomenon of comments that go beyond disagreement or constructive criticism and into mean personal attacks.

Also from threadbared: Superman saves us from designer knockoffs! He may be the Man of Steel, but is he faster than a speeding fast-fashion merchandiser?

And a little bit of feminist thought to chew over for the weekend: Does Jezebel feed on women's insecurities as much as traditional fashion magazines - just in a different way? Not included in that article: the rebuttal to the original Jezebel post by its subjects.

Have a wonderful weekend, Fabulous Readers!

The Iron(ed) Blogger

So it appears that my new-found passion for ironed summer clothing is not widely shared. Worry not, Fabulous Readers: I have no intention of becoming an ironing evangelist, especially because a quick tour of my closet revealed that I had very few lightweight, loose-fitting wovens that would benefit from such treatment.

Here's one of the few:

Black-and-white stripy top, FDJ French Dressing, thrifted, remixed

Orange flower-print skirt, Gap, thrifted

Shoes, John Fluevog "Summertime: Haight," remixed

Silver necklace: depths of the jewelry box

The skirt, an XL/Tall, is way too big for me, and has some construction features that make me reluctant to take it in. Normally I'd leave at item that fit me this poorly on the rack, but the super print, lightweight all-cotton fabrication and pockets convinced me to take this one home.

I usually belt it at my waist for a paper-bag effect, but today I was more than happy to let it sit as low on my hips as it wanted and be drapey and airy. Proportions, in this weather, are the least of my concerns.

Oh, yes: the heat wave continues, with temperatures breaking 100° F for a second breezeless, sweltering day. The weather itself is becoming an endurance trial. We're really not accustomed to this weather in New York. Our houses aren't built for it (no AC in mine!) and neither are our wardrobes.

So braids again it was. Next up: gin and tonics and ice cream for dinner.

How do you cope with excessive heat? How do your clothing choices change when the mercury boils?

Too Darn Hot

I do not do well in hot weather.

Dress, Brooklyn Industries, "Kritti"

Shoes, John Fluevog "Laurelei," remixed

So I'm melting in the floatiest, most minimal dresses possible, drinking huge, icy beverages, and trying not to move much. It's even too hot to wear jewelry.

My hair, thankfully, is continuing its progress toward braidability. I still get wisps at the back of my neck, but at least I can get the majority up and off my skin.

This is the new-and-improved version of my favorite blue dress, in... a different color blue (although this one's also a bit shorter, which is nice). I usually don't buy multiples of anything: having two dresses of the same style in the same color family is nigh-unprecedented.

I've realized something pretty amazing in the past few days, though. Inspired by some conversation in a meandering thread on the fiber-arts site Ravelry, I tried substituting my tried-and-true summer staples - wee knit dresses like this one and knit camis and tanks - with crisply ironed natural-fiber wovens. Goodness gracious, Fabulous Readers, I was so much cooler.

I know everybody hates ironing. It's a practice that's very out of vogue, at least in my area. I'm finding, though, that it doesn't really take that long to press off a blouse and a skirt, or a little sundress, once you get in the habit of it. Do the clothes stay looking fresh-off-the-board crisp all day long? No, of course not. Does that really matter? The only down side I've really found is that on hot days, the last thing I want to do is be wreathed in a cloud of pressing steam!

I don't have too many summer-weight woven clothes, but the next time I go thrifting, I'm absolutely keeping my eye out for clothes I can press!

Do you iron, or is the very concept loathsome to you?

Link-tastic! 25 June 2010

It looks like the quest for stylish shoes is nothing new. Since this link came to me by way of the Fluevog Twitter account, I wonder if we'll be seeing an updated version in an upcoming season?

Andrea from a cat of impossible colour writes about why she blogs. I'm immersed enough in modern academic thought patterns to be truly intrigued by metatextuality, the whys and wherefores of even our most basic actions. At some level, that's why I blog: to examine the reasons that I, and other people, wear what they do.

As ethical, sustainable production becomes more of a social issue, we'll hopefully start seeing more companies like Oliberté, a footwear company devoted to making shoes entirely in Africa - while providing their employees with fair working conditions. The shoes look like they're well-made and, while they're not my usual style, are definitely on the list to consider if I ever need a pair of casual athletic-type shoes.

In response to a New York Times article on the fashion demands of the plus-size market, The Waves wonders if getting swept into the fashion industry's current dynamic of overabundance of mediocre products is what any woman needs.

I've been expending a fair amount of brainpower trying to figure out if I can knit Nubby Twiglet's elegantly destroyed sweater.

S. from academichic recaps her year in Europe with a deliberately limited wardrobe. I particularly love her comments on choosing items that allow for the most versatility, even if they're not always "perfect." I think we get far too caught up in trying to find "the perfect..." (shoes, bag, jacket, whatever) and end up with burgeoning closets full of possibly redundant near-duplicates. Of course, I'm a big proponent of "buy what you wear" - there's a lot of sense in knowing your favorite items and sticking to them - but there has to be a happy medium somewhere.

Imogen from Inside Out Style suggests a packing list for a two-week, multi-function trip. I'm not sure I agree with all her choices - I'd choose a jersey dress for travel rather than yoga pants! - but it's a departure point.* What do you think?
* That was totally inadvertent. Sorry.

For those who sew, Gertie has some great tips for making comfortable, cool summer garments.

Megarita of Fashionable Academics discusses a way to examine summer clothing: the CAFTAN scale, ranging from "Heck, I might even be found in a closed-toe shoe in a snappy color" to "There is no hair style to be had. There is no shoe that will feel ok. There is no fabric that can stand this."

Super Kawaii Mama comes up with some outfits for spending time with her favorite musicians. I'm not as musically inspired or linked as some - I cannot write with music in the background, for one - so I love seeing how others are inspired by their favorite tunes.

Some musings on veils, modesty, and hot weather, from Worn Through. I'm not sure what I think about this, to be honest - is it possible to fully separate extreme modest dress (i.e., full-body veiling)  from the cultures of oppression, violence, and subjugation that often come with it? (And on a related note, has anyone ever looked into dress cultures and gender relations of the Tuareg, a nomadic group from Northern Africa whose traditional dress includes veils for men? Where does that fit in the current European/American dialect of the veiled woman as oppressed other?) Do the benefits of modest dress taken to extremis outweigh the possible health risks, i.e. heatstroke?

Audi discovers the secret to success, and it's thigh-high socks. I knew it!

Have a lovely weekend, Fabulous Readers!

My Two Wardrobes

Tie-dyed shirt, thrifted

Butterfly pendant, estate sale, remixed

I've been thinking a lot about this post recently, and the significance of editing - the self-editing just about every blogger does.

I don't show you all my clothes, Fabulous Readers. You don't see my gardening/scrubbing/home construction grubbies, the baggy board shorts I go kayaking in, my lounge-around-the-house-in-a-funk pajamas, my ad-hoc workout wear. You also don't see outfits on days, like today, where after half an hour with the camera I haven't been able to get a single photo that looks decent, that approximates what I see in the mirror.

Is that vain? Absolutely. But there are a lot of facets of me that I don't discuss on this blog: my politics, my religious views, my other areas of interest, what I had for dinner. That's not why you come here, which is also the reason I don't attempt to encyclopedically document every single thing that I put on my body, in some mad quest to be fashion blogging's answer to Samuel Pepys. You read my blog, I hope, to see and hear about my particular (peculiar?) perspective on fashion, its whys and wherefores - and hows.

Clothing might not shape our self-image in toto, but it does help define it to the world at large. I don't expect my clothes to express the sum of my personality to the world at large: instead, they present a carefully-edited version of myself, the parts of me I choose to show.
That process of editing, of choice, is what really fascinates me about fashion. Why do we make the choices we do? What determines why I find one shirt cute and another so unflattering as to only be suitable for the most menial of tasks? Why do we emphasize some parts of our bodies and desperately try to camouflage others?

It's easy to say "because of the dominant social paradigm" in response to all of these questions, but I think that's too simple an answer, and maybe even a bit of a cop-out. What are the forces that drive that paradigm? Where do they come from and what influences them? And what about the people who stray from that paradigm, by degrees minuscule or dramatic? What inspires them?

What do you think? Should style blogging be encyclopedic, a comprehensive catalog of what one person (or several) wears, or would you rather see a carefully thought-out selection of outfits a blogger thinks are interesting, inspiring, or attractive? What degree of (self-) editing is all right before a blogger loses authenticity and thus authority - some? None? Lots? No upper limit? Are style blogs more like diaries or one-person fashion magazines?

PS. Apologies to all you Fabulous Readers who subscribe via RSS: I don't know why this published while I was halfway through writing it!

Reader Request:: Surviving Brutal Summers

Fabulous Reader Mindfulranter asks:

"Hey can you think of some looks for a seasoned (nearly 50) full figured woman who lives in Phoenix? Summers are brutal, would love to figure out simple, flattering, comfortable outfits to wear!"

I'm immensely flattered by this request! I've lived in the northeastern US all my life, where summers are a bit cooler and much more humid than the Southwest, so I'm working from theory rather than personal experience.

I don't know anything about Mindfulranter's figure type, complexion, or financial circumstances, so what follows are general ideas and suggestions, rather than specific recommendations for garments to buy.

Learn to love linen. Linen has a bad rep: people think that it's hard to care for, wrinkles easily, and needs to be dry cleaned. That's true if you expect linen to act like a suiting material and be crisp, shiny, and have a hard hand. Linen was the fabric of choice for undergarments in Europe for centuries for a reason, though, and not just because it grew easily all over the continent: when washed, linen becomes soft, drapey, and develops a gentle hammered texture. It's also one of the coolest fibers you can wear: unlike cotton, it doesn't "swamp" when it gets damp, and it's much more breathable than any synthetic. Look for linen garments that can be machine washed and dried, whether the tag says so or not: avoid acetate linings (which ruin the cool comfort, anyway), hand-wash-only trims, and structured garments like blazers. Other good fibers to look for are ramie, cotton, silk, bamboo, hemp, and rayon. Avoid polyester, nylon, and synthetic blends: they trap heat and moisture. Fabrics like seersucker, chambray, gauze and voile are all good choices: these are lighter, more open weaves that allow for more air flow. Lighter colors are generally more comfortable, but some dark hues in your summer wardrobe are just fine.

Dresses are the best. What could be better in the summer than a cool, breezy dress? Look for styles that skim the body rather than cling in lightweight fabrics. Don't fear maxi dresses whether you're full-figured or slender: just choose them carefully for your figure type. The extra length can provide a bit of shade and trap breezes. Keep accessories light and minimal: broad belts and giant statement necklaces can be oppressive in the summer heat. Skirts are great, too, when you want separates.

Flowing tunics are great, too. Pair them with cropped leggings, harem pants, and knee-length or maxi skirts. Again, keep the fabrics light, and choose wovens over knits: knitted materials seem to absorb and retain more moisture, trapping heat with it. A super-light summer scarf, wrapped loosely, can add color and style without getting too schvitzy. Soak it in cool water, cowboy-style, to help cool off if the temperature's unbearable.

Don't forget your hat. Broad-brimmed hats are ideal for sunny, hot climates: what's not to like about portable shade? Fuller-figured women often have the body scale to carry off broad brims with style. Look for straw or canvas styles, and pair them with just about anything in your wardrobe.

One thing I don't think works well for hot, dry climates are shorts. Those are better in hot humid weather, where excess fabric can cling and stick. However, when it's hot and dry, a loose, drapey longer garment can provide a bit of protection from the sun and trap stray breezes.

Any Fabulous Readers from desert climates have any suggestions or further ideas? I'd love some feedback!

Link-tastic! 19 June 2010 (Better late than never)

I usually try to get the week's roundup of links posted by Friday night, but the last two days have been seriously discombobulated. My apologies, Fabulous Readers, and enjoy...

Two great theory-based posts from academichic: one from S. about the metatext of blogging in the context of creativity and a limited wardrobe, and one from E. about the intersection of style and functionality.

Speaking of limited wardrobes, Kasmira at What I Wore Today has some great tips for assembling a capsule wardrobe. While she places them within the context of capsule wardrobe challenges (I've never done one of those and am quite frankly a little intimidated by them!), the same process could easily be applied to selecting clothing for a trip or even, on a larger scale, to building a well-edited and compact wardrobe.

La Historidora de Moda is now Doctor La Historiadora de Moda (and she looked smashing when she defended her dissertation, too)!


Another set of posts on a theme: fashion, consumption, ethics, and sustainability, as seen by Sal at Already Pretty and Andrea at a cat of impossible colour.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Rock and Roll

Sometimes, I just want to feel tough. Don't-mess-with-me tough. Usually, when I do, I reach for a vintage military inspired look: laced boots, fatigues-inspired jackets. Sometime, however, I prefer to draw from the style vocabulary of classic, badass rock: jeans, leather, studs.

Sheer black blouse: Ann Taylor Loft

Jeans: Ann Taylor Loft "Curvy Boot"

Belt: Gap, thrifted, remixed

Socks: Sock Dreams, "O Chevrons"

Shoes: John Fluevog, "Summertime: Sunshine," remixed

Woven leather cuff: Urban Outfitters, remixed

Black headband: Sephora, remixed

Key necklace: Key from antique store

Of course I put my own twist on it: a sheer blouse with smocking details and lacy OTK socks.

I like these jeans much better cuffed to capri length than unrolled: I have better-fitting full-length jeans aplenty, plus I'm not terribly into bootcut jeans right now. I may cut them down to mid-calf length: then I could wear them like this or cuffed further into Bermuda shorts.

After last week's Black-Out, it feels refreshing and calming to wear this dark, neutral-heavy combination. I love black and brown together, and until recently felt very uncomfortable in bright colors, especially in combination. Eschewing black, a fashion baseline for me, really helped me refocus on its strength and simultaneous connotations of power and loss. I was feeling very distanced from the black items in my closet. Now, after a week of forcing myself to work with everything else, I can contemplate the dark half of my closet with clear eyes again.

What are the unsung workhorses of your closet? Have you ever identified - or had trouble identifying - with a certain color or style?

Summertime, and the Living is Easy

On a technicality, it's not summer yet - not until the 20th. Long, warm, sunny days make it hard to remember that it's still spring by the calendar.

Even though I hate getting dressed in summery weather, every so often I hit a perfect, simple sweet spot. Some summer outfits are like gin and tonics, on-the-rare-side grilled steak, or a bowlful of sweet strawberries - ideal in their simplicity.

Dress: Brooklyn Industries "Kritti" (last summer's colorway)

Shoes: John Fluevog "Summertime: Haight," remixed

Oceanic necklace: gift

Silvertone and "pearl" cuff: antique store

Dress, sandals, statement-y accessories. Minimal makeup, air-dry hair. Done. I tend to over-think and over-do things, but this is just right in its simplicity, comfort, and ease.

A big part of that's this dress. I love it: it's simple, comfy as all get-out, and cut just right for me. I'm so-so on a lot of Brooklyn Industries' stuff: for the most part, I think my body type is completely out of their designers' frame of reference.

I'm so fond of this one dress, though, that I'm thinking of getting this season's version - in a vivid turquoise!

Do you have a "perfect" piece of clothing?

Link-tastic! 11 June 2010

Goodness gracious, Fabulous Readers, it's Friday again already!

I was featured, along with quite a few other fabulous bloggers, in the Fashionable Academics' Annotated Bibliography of Tattoos. I loved seeing the different styles of tattoos and reading the stories behind them!


I know that there are significant differences in clothing terms among American, British, and Australian English. Here's a guide to some Aussie terms for fashion and more.

Win a pair of covet-worthy Jeffrey Campbell sandals from Nubby Twiglet. I'd love to wear these with jeans or a floaty sundress!

If you're not comfortable with wearing patterns (and nobody says you have to be!), here are a few great suggestions for introducing them into your wardrobe.

The Waves examines fashion and identity, in two parts. I'm still mulling over my thoughts on this issue: they're deep and complex, and I want to give her the well-thought-out response she deserves for writing so intelligently on such a complex topic.

How much does your posture affect how your clothes look? After years of yoga and dance, and some time in the weight room (you get very aware of your posture when you've got an 85lb. barbell on your shoulders!), I've become much more aware of the alignment of my back, hips and shoulders. I don't have picture-perfect posture every moment of the day or anything, but I am more aware when I do start to slouch and quicker to correct it - and yes, it does make my clothing fit better!

Have a great weekend, Fabulous Readers!

Summer Black-Out, Day 5: Strawberry Fields Forever

Thank you for your wonderful comments on yesterday's post, Fabulous Readers! It was great to hear from several other people who feel the same way I do.

However, the Goth Without Black outfit got put on hold a bit. Today is Fabulous Husband's birthday, so we went out to get his favorite treat - fresh-picked strawberries. There's a pick-your-own farm right down the road from us.

There's nothing in this world quite as delicious as fresh-picked strawberries, still warm from the sun. They'll be transformed into daiquiris, strawberry shortcake, and preserves as well as eaten just the way they are. I'm a huge proponent of fresh, local food - in addition to being more ecologically responsible (those strawberries have traveled maybe 10 miles from where they were grown), it just tastes better!

I wanted something casual and comfy for kneeling on the ground while picking strawberries, so this is that super-rare outfit for me - jeans, a casual top and - can you believe it - sneakers!

Striped tank: Alternative Apparel, thrifted

Suede vest: thrifted

Brown braided belt: Gap, thrifted

Jeans: Victoria's Secret, remixed

Sneakers: Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars Hightops, TJMaxx
Scarf in hair: Mommed

Leather flower necklace: mall accessory store

Cream beaded necklace worn as bracelet, brown beaded mala bracelet: depths of the jewelry drawer

Macrame leather bracelet: gift from a friend

I usually like my vests buttoned up, fitted, and Victorianesque, and my original intent when I bought this vest was to alter it into something more... girl-shaped. I haven't gotten around to that yet, though - story of my life.

Tossed over the striped top with flared jeans and a scarf in my hair, though, it had a kind of happy hippie-chic vibe to it. I might live less than an hour from Woodstock, but that's never really been my thing. I was not unhappy with the results, though. Even though this isn't a "me" look, it was perfect for the day's activities.

Strawberry-stained hands - a sure sign of summer.

Do you ever wear looks that don't fit into your normal style vocabulary? Do you feel uncomfortable (or not) doing so?

Summer Black-Out, Day 4: Oceanic

Tea with the ever-fabulous Jen Kiaba on a cool, rainy day meant a dress and heels for me today.

Aqua dress: H&M

Military-style jacket: Ann Taylor Loft, remixed

Green lace-up pumps: John Fluevog, "Teapots: Darjeeling," remixed

Larimar pendant, purchased from artist in St. Thomas

Orange bangle, thrifted, remixed

This dress, which I've had for ages, has always reminded me of the ocean. I picked up the olive tones in the pattern with the jacket and shoes, and the aqua ones with the pendant.

With the atmosphere so watery and dense, it felt a bit like we were underwater all day, so the oceanic theme was apropos, at least.

Of course, what's the natural choice for a hit of contrasting color? A bright, coral-y red-orange in the bangle and my eyeshadow. The aqua and green are an analogous color combination, while the red-orange is the aqua's compliment, making this an accented analogic color scheme.

I promise that I really didn't intentionally wear a pair of "Teapots" shoes to go out for tea! We had Lapsang Souchong, not Darjeeling...

photos: Fabulous Husband

My hair was terribly uncooperative after I washed it this morning. I do my best to only wash it twice a week or so, because it's really at its nicest two or three days after a shampoo - right after I wash it, no matter how aggressively I blow it out, it's far too feathery and poofy for my tastes. Years of having super-long hair taught me to go easy on heat styling and products, so I usually resort to some sort of updo on wash days.

I was going to go for double French braids, but I didn't like the effect with this dress. Instead, I went with one of my old Goth-girl standbys, high pigtails. I wonder, sometimes, if I'm too old for this style, but I'm still in love with the way it looks on me.

The hair made me think, though. I define myself as a Goth, at least in part, despite the fact that I wear bright colors and have been on a no-black shopping ban for months. For me, being Goth is more about a mindset - a darkly romantic sensibility, a somewhat morbid sense of humor, and a loving acceptance of death as a natural part of life - than it is about wearing any particular hue or style. I've had an idea in my head for a black-free Gothic bellydance ensemble for a while. Today, I'm wondering if I could come up with a street-style outfit in the same vein:* Gothic without black. I may try for it tomorrow.
* Vampire pun unintentional. Promise. Apparently that's just where my head is today. My deepest apologies.

Do you consider yourself part of a style-identified subculture? If so, do you always dress in that subculture's style? Do you think that style or philosophy is a more important factor in aligning one's self with a particular group?

Summer Black-Out, Day 3: POetry

There's a poem entitled "Warning," by Jenny Joseph, that I'm sure you've heard. It begins:

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

(full text here)

I've always kind of disliked it.

For one thing, why should we "wear things that [don't] suit [us]" just because we're no longer young, or that being younger means dressing with sobriety?

For another thing, it has effectively devalued the wonderful analogous combination of red and purple, making it the province of middle-age women who do... what, exactly? I'm not entirely sure. As far as I'm concerned, you don't need a uniform to be uninhibited and have fun.

Red and purple look do "go," anyway. Beautifully.

Dress: BCBG Max Azria, TJMaxx

Cardigan: Design History, TJMaxx, remixed

Boots: United Nude "Pocket Hi," remixed

Sugar skull pendant, Jenn Feldman Glass, remixed

Although I didn't necessarily plan this outfit this way. Originally, I woke up to a chilly, rainy morning and wanted to wear my United Nude boots.

I don't really have words to describe how much I love these boots, even if their narrow shaft means I can't pull them over my calf. They've got straps and D-rings and pockets and little tags that say "Remove Before Flight," just like an airplane:

I decided I'd highlight those tags by pairing them with the red dress. Which was fine, until I spent five minutes in the outfit - brr! It was too chilly today for a short-sleeved dress!

I've worn these boots with a grey wrap cardi, but I didn't think it would work with this dress: the dress's sleeves are too full and the cardi's too thin and tight. So my only other non-black cardigan was this one. Red and purple are a bit vivid, but on such a grey day, vivid sounded good.

Purple crown compact, Papyrus, gift from my friend Emily

My beloved sugar skull necklace was the perfect highlight.

photos: Fabulous Husband

Do you ever wear colors that "don't go?"

Summer Black-Out, Day 2: In the Garden

I'm sorry I'm posting this now, Fabulous Readers, instead of yesterday. Fabulous Husband and I went down to visit my parents and, of course, took advantage of their amazing garden as a photo location. Unfortunately, by the time we were done with photos, it was time to go out for sushi! I decided a slightly delayed blog post was the better part of valor.

Bodhisattva tee: Lucky Brand, Marshall's

Brown belt: thrifted, remixed

Blue ruffled skirt: Marshall's, remixed

Boots: John Fluevog, "Bellevues: Libby Smith"

Art Nouveau necklace: depths of the jewelry box

Tiny mandala beaded earrings: self-made

Braided silver bracelet: Anima Perdita, remixed

Continuing with this week's ancillary theme of dredging my wardrobe for seldom-used items, I wore these boots. They're a bit of a challenge to work into an outfit: they're an odd height for such a fitted boot, and distressingly close in color to my legs. Given their Victorian styling, I keep wanting to wear them with floor-sweeping skirts. Pairing them with a knee-length skirt, especially without stockings to give some visual contrast between the boot top and my leg, was a bit of a stretch for me - but I think it worked.

The boots weren't the inspiration for this outfit, though. That honor goes to this pretty bodhisattva:

I'm not usually a graphic-tee kind of girl, but I fell in love with this top. The graphic reminds me of Yuan and Ming Dynasty ink paintings, with its calligraphic lines and washes of gentle color. I picked up the bluish-purples and the floral motif with the skirt, which resembles a folded lotus or peony bloom, and the necklace: the tiny mandala earrings were also a perfect match both in theme and in color. The red buttons on the boots would have been a bit jarring with the delicate pinks if they were in closer proximity, but distance - and the dominance of the cream color in both tee and boots - kept them from clashing excessively.

I usually don't tuck-and-belt, and you can see why here. I am very short-waisted indeed! The belt, which narrows to about 2 1/2" on the sides, is hitting both the bottom of my ribs and the top of my hipbones. The proportions of this outfit ended up being a little strange as a result. Trust me, it looked even stranger with the tee untucked!

photos: Fabulous Husband

Are you willing to surrender "normal" proportions to create an otherwise great outfit, or does proportion trump all for you?

Summer Black-Out, Day 1: Fun With Sleeves

Thank you so much for all your sympathetic comments and helpful suggestions on my last post, Fabulous Readers. I'm still struggling to get my wardrobe mojo back in gear, though a break in the weather has helped a bit. So, too, has a style challenge: I often find that when free-form creativity lets me down, a bit of structure can help me direct my energies.

Therefore, I'm participating in the Already Pretty Summer Black-Out. Sal's going to try to not wear black until sometime in August. I recognize and respect my Gothy roots, so I'm taking the lesser form of the challenge: no black all this week. Workout clothes are excepted, as are accessories and black in patterns (as long as it doesn't dominate). I'm also going to give myself a free pass for any funerals, job interviews, and ninja expeditions* that may occur this week.
*None of which are all that likely, but I like to leave my options open.

Will this be a challenge? Oh yeah. With black skirts outnumbering all other colors two-to-one in my closet, a ratio that is pretty consistent across all my clothing categories, I'll be stretching the boundaries of my outfit-making skills and pulling out pieces that don't see the light of day that often.

Like this one:

Kimono-sleeve red top, Natori, TJMaxx

Orange scarf, TJMaxx, remixed

Webbing belt, thrifted

Suede skirt, Daisy Fuentes, thrifted

Socks: depths of the drawer, remixed

Shoes, John Fluevog, "Mini: Dollface," remixed

I love this top, with its sleeves cut like a traditional kimono's (including the opening under the arm!) Not only is it buttery soft, the sleeves are a lot of fun to wear...

...even if theyare prone to getting in the way whenever I try to do anything. Cooking becomes an adventure!
Fortunately, traditional Japanese clothing gives us an answer: a long cord called a tasuki can be tied across the shoulders, holding the sleeves back. The scarf I'm wearing is long enough for that, and also changes the shape of the top's boat neckline a bit into something a bit more flattering.

I almost feel like I might take flight if I flap my arms hard enough!

My cute Loli-ish Dollfaces continue the quasi-Japanese theme, picking up on an entirely different aspect of Japanese fashion culture. I love the aesthetics of Lolita fashion, with its over-the-top ruffles and bows, although I wonder about the psycho-sexual connotations of a movement named for a literary target of pedophilia that encourages young women to dress like little girls - or life-size dolls. Despite my fondness for frills, lace, and voluminous petticoats, I don't think I'll be sporting any full-on Loli looks any time soon...