Outfit Post - Striped Shrug

I bought this striped shrug last night at a store called Fred Meyer. It's a half grocery/half household goods and I almost never find anything there. They had 70% off clearance, so this shrug turned out to be $6.00!

I love the way it goes up the neck so high, its already giving me ideas for a new dress. 

My hair is finally long enough I can put it up into to braided buns. I haven't been able to do this since high school. In a little over a year I went from short hair to long and it is so much more fun!

New Fabric - Again

New Fabric - Again - Sorry Mindless!

On the left is fabric from Michael Levine. It was ALWAYS by favourite fabric store when I lived in LA. Sometimes I have nightmares that I'm on Maple St, and they're closing in 5 minutes and I just can't get to the front door in time. From them I bought skeleton toile, osteology in black and some dia di los muertos fabric.

On the right is some Ghastlies fabric, Michael Miller Nevermore in black and some super silly pink elephant fabric. It reminds me of the Pink Elephant Car Wash in Seattle.

On the left is flocked wool from fabric.com. The picture was awful on their site, I could not tell what those ladies looked like. But thankfully they are all vintage-y and sweet! On the right is assorted fabric from Jo-Anns, some Halloween, some for 1940's blouses. The beige & black lace is from MOOD, by boss brought it back from NY for me!

 On the left are some just some black & grays I bought for trimming & accents. The one with the spider on it is beautiful & I wish I would have bought more! Max is helping me with fabrics in the middle photo. On the right are some Tula Pink fabrics, and although they are not really in my color scheme, I still like them. The one on the bottom is called "Sea Of Tears".

Osteology Dress & Cyborg Cat

Above is my new dress, made with Alexander Henry Osteology fabric. The dress is a mix of patterns - Simplicity 1699 for the skirt, Simplicity 1651 for the bodice and McCalls 6278 for the modified sleeves. Simplicity 1651 is a new pattern and while it looked smooth and nice, it was not so. The shoulder seams were so out of whack! They might fit if my shoulders were 3 inches higher and sloped upwards towards my ears! The front sweetheart neckline was also way too wide, thank goodness I cut the bodice in lining first! You can't see, but there are self covered buttons with skulls on the sleeves.

 Max went to the vet to get his last round of boosters today. When I adopted his 2 years ago he weighed 10 pounds and he now weighs 12.5! When I was waiting for his I inquired about getting him micro chipped.after I heard some scary stats about missing kitties on tv. To my surprise it was only $40!

When I got home my boyfriend insisted on talking to him like a robot, now that he's a cyborg. Then he "forced" me to sing the theme song from Small Wonder to Max, which for some reason I know all the lyrics to...

CorpGoth Status Report - March Forward!

 I am fortunate enough to wear whatever shoes I want to work. My boss is a shoe fanatic who is constantly ordering from Nordstrom, and being an office job I can wear heels without killing myself standing on them all day. These are some of my non-boot related shoes that I wear to work.I have a penchant for flats or Victorian/Flapper-ish oxfords.

Outfit Post - Stretch Black Satin Dress With Mourning Pin

I bought this dress a year ago to wear to D-Day Ohio, and then promptly forgot about it! When all your clothes are double or triple hung, sometimes you lose something for a while... Yesterday I found it again! I'm wearing it with my new Victorian-era mourning pin. I've bid on a few in the past but they all went too pricey for me. Finally I got one! I know it's from a child's funeral, but how would they wear it? I picture it on a black armband. As much as I want to wear it that way, I don't think it'd be appropriate for work!

 LOVE IT!

Sophistique Noir Monthy Theme - Purple

To my amazement, when I looked through my closet today, I have NO purple clothing! I have three packed closets and no purple. And, after looking at all the lovely posts today, I definitely need to remedy this situation! Such beautiful shades of purple! Smokey gray,  eggplant, almost black purples...

The only purple I could find were socks - 10 pairs of them! Also pictures are my new marie melli undies. I have just discovered this brand, they fit so smooth!

Simplicity 1699 - Nevermore Dress

 I finally finished Simplicity 1699 this past week, right before my sewing machine went out of time. It's in the shop for another week, so frustrating! Overall I am happy with this dress, but it definitely had some strange quirks. I had to take at least 2 inches off the back neck. I added 1.5 inches to the length of the bodice, but I could have added another 2 inches at least. This is a dress patterned for short ladies! Also, I could never get the collar to lay properly, so I ended up taking it off. I had to mix three sizes together because my measurements are totally out of whack with Simplicity's. It has raglan sleeves which is nice for a girl with wide shoulders!

On another note my hair is finally long enough to braid up like a Swiss milkmaid. I saw Laura of Roses and Vellum do her hair this way recently, and her hair seemed as long as mine... I also hid the ends with flowers just like she did.

Happy Robbie Burns Night!

 As it is Robbie Burns' birthday, I dressed in my Scottish outfit for work today. Slightly, but not too crazy for an American office. My kilt and blouse are presents brought back from Scotland, there is a matching vest, but my boyfriend said I looked like a Golden Girl in it. I believe it is a Moffat tartan. I wish it was MacTavish! I made the ghilies from a leather skirt thrifted for $1.29, they were for my Mary Queen of Scots costume last year. My mum gave me the vintage sterling kilt pin for my birthday and my Victorian thistle pin is from Ebay. I have about 25 kilts I've collected over the years, they are all so lovely, but I look like a barrel in them.

 

 Since I don't eat beef, Burns Night has always been a bit of a problem for me. No one wants to drag along (or pay for) someone who won't eat the main course! So.. this year it's I made what I wanted at home! Dinner was Highland whisky cream chicken, not-quite-clapshot,  mashed tatties and gravy and chocolate chip shortbread. I had intentions of making a much more elaborate meal, but I wrenched my shoulder  so it was this or nothing!

Cute Shoes!

1. Isabel Toledo Mary Wedge from Payless $54.99 2. Irregular Choice Bowtiful from 6PM $79.99
3. Dana Buchman Dress Wedges from Kohls  $42.99 
4. Bass Rachel Antonoff Lady Oxford Pump from DSW $49.95
5. Womens Bamboo by Journee Studded Mid-heel Bootie from Target $39.99
6. Qupid Women's Embrace from Kmart  $19.99

 These sandals showed up on Payless's site after I put all the above shoes together. I liked them so much I bought them! BTW - Payless is having a BOGO sale right now!

More New Shoes!

 I've never had this many new shoes at once! I have only online sales & free shipping to thank!

 The first two are Betsey Johnson, I've always wanted a pair since I was in middle school. The pair on the left are suede with metallic cut out hearts on the toe & heel. The pair on the left are sort of a canvas with metallic polka dots & a bow. Unfortunately, they are summer shoes and will have to wait some time before I can wear them. It is below freezing outside right now!

 

The next two are from Payless. The flats on the left are Isobel Toledo. I had been looking at them online for months- and then they kindly went on sale and could be part of their BOGO sale. The shoes on the right I bought for when I need to do a lot of walking in the summer. They have cut out heels, memory gel and are not all that bad for "comfort" shoes. 

Outfit Post - November 1 Theme: Hosiery

These are currently my favourite tights, but it is too cold to wear them nowadays, so I layered them over some charcoal gray tights. I think they are Chinese Laundry.

I have way too many pairs of nylons, stockings and tights. Since I've been 11 or so I've been buying vintage stockings at thrift stores. I think I have over 300 pairs by now. Here are 2 storage tubs of stockings. Although they seem overwhelming in number, I'm glad I bought them, you rarely see them anymore. Not pictured are the cabinets, drawers and boxes of modern tights.

Closeup of some nice ones. Some I collected because of their graphics, others because they were oddities. Check out the crotchless, buckle at the waist ones on the right.

Happy Halloween From Mary Queen Of Scots

My boss was all for me dressing up at work today, so I came as Mary Queen Of Scots. This costume took me 4 months or so to make. I hand embroidered and beaded almost all of it. Most of the fabric is curtains from Goodwill, which was so cheap it was almost free.  The partlet & veil are curtain lining from JoAnn.

Mary's book of hours. Its tooled & painted leather, with images that I found on a museum website inside.  

Closeup of the embroidery. I wanted a vine pattern with thistles, but then added the fleur de lis becaseu she was the Queen of France as well... My girdle is made from connector pieces I found on ebay. I glued red crystals and pearls to match the outfit. Inside the locket is a painting of Mary & her first husband.

Halloween Nails

This week I did my nails black and orange for Halloween. On top is multi-sized orange glitter from Forever 21 and underneath is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Blackout. I love glitter on top of polish, it lasts and lasts until I get sick of it!

Outfit Post - Lots Of Chiffon

I wore this outfit yesterday to work. I have on a multilayer chiffon skirt and a sheer chiffon top that I made. The top has a long tie on the side and beading over the stomach. The lace tights are from JC Penney.

When I got home from work, my kitty did not come running like he usually does. Probably because he did not recognize my rental car. Some woman who was fighting with her husband backed into my car at such a speed, my bumper cracked and it is pulling to the right. Anyway, I put on my cherry print rubber boots to go look for Max. Below my house is a meadow/peatbog where he likes to hang out. In one end of the meadow were several 8 year old girls busy screaming, swearing and hitting each other. When they saw me at the other end of the meadow, they started screaming at me "She's a witch!" with various swears thrown in. Nice. I would have gone over there to say something, but I did not want them to associate me with my cat, as I do not trust them at all.

Outfit Post- Alexander McQueen Dress

I usually do not like the colour blue, but his dress is an exception! It is Alexander McQueen for Target, it was the last dress left on the rack and it was my size. It has a swirly tattoo print with a built-in petticoat. I'm wearing it with a velvet blazer from Kohls and shoes from Fred Meyer. I love Alexander McQueen so much, it was just shocking when he killed himself. I've even copied one of his Widows of Culloden dresses!

Outfit Post - Spiderweb Skirt

Since it is almost October, I feel like I can wear more of my Halloween themed clothing and not feel too weird about it. I embroidered this skirt about 5 years ago. The wool early 80's skirt was $1.00 at the thrift store. The little spider is beaded with Victorian glass beads I took off some rotting funeral trim. My shirt and cardigan are Forever 21 and my shoes are from Target.