OzzOn, not dozin'

Hey, did you know that cold brewing tea doesn't really lower caffeine content? It's 5 am and I learned this four sleepless hours ago.

Well, there's always blogging. Behold, the most leg I will ever show on this blog:

Dress: OzzOn Japan, Ozz Oneste (secondhand, Japan)

Platform sandals: BonSens (borrowed from Mom)

What are the rules on repeating outfits? I love (LOVE) this OzzOn Asian style punk dress and I certainly plan to wear it more than once, but I featured it on the blog back when I got it in December. In fact, that post got the Sal bump from Already Pretty, which is always a huge exciting honor, so it's at the top of my blog's popular posts, probably forever.

I wanted to take pictures with more even lighting though, and without an underskirt (I wore exercise shorts, instead.)

Here are the original photos of the dress I found randomly on the Internet. I was super fortunate to find it (sans gloves) a year later on a Japanese auction site, and my mother bought it for me and had it sent to my grandmother's in Japan.

Sheila brought up that if I can't wear it without something under it, it's more of a tunic. I think it's meant to be a dress, with the caveat that the diagonal zipper has two heads, so you can wear it closed or open wherever you like, and there are some very risky spots that I'm convinced upsell matching leggings or something.

I didn't wear this out, and when I do I'll definitely be wearing leggings, a skirt, or some shorts longer than these under it. Behold, alarming dress areas:

Still, if this isn't the climate to experiment with wearing inappropriately breezy jagged skirts, what is? Also, I gotta find a jacket for this thing. Something mostly plain with structured lines in black, I think. Thoughts?

Ozz Oneste dress

  I'm headed home today! Drop-kicking a quick post out of my new OzzOn dress onto the Internet before I go. :D

Dress: Ozz Oneste (Japan, gift from Mom)

Skirt: For Joseph (borrowed from Mom)

Boots: ALDO (thrifted)

  SoCal sun sure takes some getting used to, photographing-wise! You can see details of the Ozz Oneste black dress, though I'm a little blown out. Still, this feels like a highly visible dress, so I'm linking to Patti's Visible Monday!

Here's a look at the skirt I borrowed to wear under the dress, since there are areas where it's cut really high:

  I feel very badass in it, though going out and people-watching while down here has made me realize my personal style is quite unlike anybody else I've seen in California's. I kind of live in a little bubble in San Francisco, where anything goes. :D Still, I got lots of compliments on my coat and boots, even here in conservative wealthy Orange County. I like to think I'm setting a precedent.

  What informs your personal style? Is it lifestyle, personality, geographical location, or other things?

Style or Die! challenge: Jolt blazer & 52 Pick-me-up: Trend Salad

  I could have timed this better, but I really wanted to participate in Spygirl's 52 Pick-me-up challenge this week: Trend Salad. Wear as many trends as you can in one outfit! It's open for several days; feel free to try it or check it out!

  So you all get sort of a twofer: pile on trends outfit, and the Jolt blazer over said outfit.

  I searched through some clickbait sites for trends, which yielded contradictory and confusing results, and came up with three I could do: punk, animal print, and pink coat. Let's toss in lace because that's still in since Chanel revived it, right? Oh, and layers. That's a Thing.

I feel kinda 80s

Pink leather coat: Vera pelle (thrifted)

Long moto vest: twentyone (thrifted)

Blue leopard bustier: Olé Olé (eBay)

Denim miniskirt: h&g (thrifted)

Fingerless lace gloves: River Island (old)

Bandage leggings: none (eBay)

OMG clown shoes: Candie's (thrifted)

  There's a lot going on here, but I wanted a punk outfit that was reasonably warm on its own. Yes, that's a blue leopard fake bustier. It doesn't actually compress or anything, as it's smocked in back. It has built in pads, is made of stretchy material, and is super comfortable. I have an awful lot of shirts that look like corsets for someone who has zero interest in squashing her organs.

  My fake 80s punk band is still named Subtle Blue Leopard.

  It's raining today, so my new-to-me pink leather coat by Vera pelle was perfect. It has a detachable hood! It's pink! I felt it was a bit of a risk when I bought it half-off at the thrift store, but I like it more and more. I also like that the black moto/biker vest zips up to keep the look from getting too busy when I put on the coat.

Yarr. Thar be bling here.

  I also tried the Jolt blazer over the thing for a disgruntled teen in part of school uniform look. Unfortunately my 'disgruntled' look came out more 'incredulous.' Did I mention I was once a theatre major? I was bad at it.

Feeling really 80s, now

  Thing is, I think the blazer wants a bright shirt to layer under it, and I don't own any plain ones in bright colors. It's a hole in my wardrobe I'm trying to rectify. In the meantime, I realize looking at the photos the blazer doesn't hit me at the best spot in the waist. I'm v-shaped, so it's best if I get things that narrow all the way through the natural waist, like my Guess blazer. This will be a donate.

American Gothic Lolita

  Happy Sunday, everyone! Today is my entry for Spygirl's (Paint it) Black challenge. I'm also linking to Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday, because I felt pretty visible in this outfit. I already submitted my fedora outfit to Style Crone's Hat Attack, but go check it out for a parade of gorgeous headgear!

Black lace dress: Taunt (eBay)

Blazer w/pink pinstripes: Guess (thrifted)

Platform boots: ALDO (thrifted)

Fascinator: Cara New York (Nordstrom, old)

Kokeshi necklace: AGATHA Paris (gift from Cathy)

  What do you think? I thought it was a little Gothic Lolita, but in an everyday way. I hope to get more wear out of this dress by styling it down.

  After only 32 years, I feel confident enough to wear red lipstick! Here's how the outfit got put together. I started with a clingy black lace dress I love but never have the occasion to wear:

  The inner hem is very short, but the lace handkerchief overlayer makes me feel safe. Sexy is not flashing your underwear. (; I added thrifted platform boots by ALDO (roomy, square toe boxes!)

  Then for warmth I added this gorgeous Guess blazer. It's got all sorts of old fashioned details, like ruffle hem and princess sleeves, and the pinstripes are pink! Thrifted it years ago, no idea what it goes with, so I'm going to try everything.

  It's cut higher in the back, which makes it harder to wear over trousers, but it makes a nice proportion over the dress.

  Then add necklace and fascinator! Any excuse to wear my fascinator.

  Here's a closeup of the fabric and the sleeve embroidery. It unfortunately makes it impossible to shorten the sleeves, but the alternative is not having it, so I will deal. :D

  Lastly, I tried a femme fatale makeup look yesterday. I thought the liquid black sparkle eyeliner was pretty overt, but in this test shot (I check the lighting) it's still very subtle. Maybe I will try a heavier hand and venture above the lash line.

Fisheye! ... kinda.

  Have a great rest-of-weekend everyone! Don't forget to check out my half anniversary giveaway in the post below. Couturgatory's 6 months old now and counting!

Casual Punk

I came up with this while trying to make an outfit around a different skirt:

  Of course, it wasn't school-appropriate, so I changed. But the moment is immortalized here!

Flutter sleeve shirt: Derek Heart (thrifted)

Embroidered skirt: PSSST (v. old)
Navy leather jacket: Laundry by Shelli Segal (gift)
Cap: Nine West (old)

Boots: ALDO (thrifted)

Sage wrap bracelet: Foxy originals

Pewter leaf necklace (H&M in Paris)

  I've had this skirt half my life, now. My friend Diana and I bought the same skirt when we were teenagers at Macy's. Blue cherry blossoms! How could I resist? It was $16.99, which was a little steep for my allowance(!) but I decided to splurge.

  I've not worn it before now because it's tight and short, and I've always been a little self-conscious of my thighs, but I see style bloggers with muscles rocking the short-skirt-boots look, and I really like it. I find it both sexy and strong, so I've decided this combination is not just for the delicate of limb. Are there looks you have decided to try after reading style blogs, or just decided to try as your style evolved?

Class Structure

  Trying out the adjustments on the harness from Megan Mae. If I let the back strap all the way out, I can get it to my lower ribs for a different suspender-like look. :D

Harness: AudraJean (etsy, from Megan Mae)

Blouse: contempo (thrifted)

Jeans: UNIQLO (Japan)

Boots: Fitzwell (6pm.com)
Necklace: Foxy Originals Sage Bracelet (foxyoriginals.com)

  This is one of my hybrid school outfits, hopefully combining freedom of movement for labs with some visual interest and structured style.

  ... did you know that black shows *everything*? There are tiny lint hairs everywhere! Augh!

Harnessing Solar Energy

  Today I am celebrating the harness Megan Mae sent to me!

  Welcome to new readers from Already Pretty! I was shocked (and super excited) to get featured as an Inspired Outfit. Whee!

  I am also linking up to Spy Girl's 52 Pick-me-up, a weekly event with different themes to try.

  I had to scrounge around in my wardrobe to get the outline and proportions I wanted, so it looks kind of piecemeal:

Tank top: unknown (thrifted)

Harness: AudraJean (Megan Mae)

Wide tassel belt: River Island (old)

Arm warmers: OzzOn Japan (Japan)
Skirt: cheap juniors shop
Boots: Doc Martens (thrifted)

  I ended up with an outline similar to the character Tifa from the game Final Fantasy VII:

  I'm really glad the harness fits (barely!) People often mistake me for petite, but pullover shirts go in fear of my ribcage and shoulders.

  The gorgeous September weather continues in the Bay Area. I realized today that I have very few warm weather bottoms, since we only get a month to six weeks of sun in September and October. I guess I can't get away with two pairs of ugly denim shorts now that I have a style blog. (:

  Ideally I would like to find black high-waisted shorts to go with the tassel belt. This skirt is too bodycon/thin for the look I want, even after I added a pair of bike shorts underneath. The Internet is only providing me shorts the length of underwear (yeesh), so I'll be on the lookout while thrifting.

  I would also like arm warmers that don't have roses, ribbons, and lace on them for this look. I'll probably have to make those.

  I love the look of shorts or skirts with sturdy boots or sneakers. It's a look Meghan at Cirque du Frock wears often and she's the first person I thought of when I found these Doc Martens at the thrift shop. They're made in England and after a week spent with my fancy shoe stretcher (a large rock) in each one, the fit is decent for my extra wide feet. The backs are weird, though! They grind against my Achilles tendon. I'll find a way to stretch those out, too.

  Lastly, can we think up a better name for a plain ribbed tank top than "wife-beater"? I don't care for the name, for obvious reasons. I don't know if "egg-beater" will work, though. Your thoughts and comments, as always, are appreciated.

Quoth the raven, "Never worn."

  I never wore this shirt.

  I thought it would go well with my well-loved Nike dri-fit pants for Spy Girl's triple play challenge. I wore them with a kimono in my last post and I went for a goth/punk look here. One more outfit featuring these trousers to come this week! (Fortunately I have laundry night tonight so the outfit procession can continue unhindered.)

  I think the problem is the three holes in the midsection. Sexy and subtle enough in my mind when I bought it, but it made the shirt totally inappropriate for work and too risqué for daywear. So, the club. Except I don't like most dance music, loud noises, or strangers, and I have to go to bed early for work/class. And it's constantly foggy and blustery where I live so I have no need of extra ventilation holes. (Sunny today, though! Whee!) So yeah, never worn.
  Fortunately I no longer think a lot of stuff I thought mattered matters, so casual daywear it is. The midriff is coming out! I paired it with my old visual kei blazer.

I got distracted by sight of the fog rolling in

  Ever have something you love and love and then it just falls out of rotation? So it was with this blazer years ago. It has a lot of unique details, I got tons of compliments on it, and I just haven't worn it in years. Both items have been teetering on the edge of the donate/sell bag for a while.

  This fused glass necklace reminded me of cherry blossoms. Bought it when my friend Cathy and I were in Paris several years ago. Would still love to go back.
  I am a little blah right now because I'm still filling my energy meter from that insane summer session. I know in a few days I'm going to spend some time just being mean. Does that happen to you? When I've been utterly wrecked for a long time and start coming back, I spend a few days just being pissed off and mean. I warned my roommate and friends already. Mostly it comes out as angrily judging people wearing stuff like skin-colored jeggings as pants (WHY) without any of my normal devil's advocate and acceptance of others inner monologue.
  I imagine myself as the Fashion Police, rolling up on my segway and being all, "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but your terrible fashion choices violate the terms of the Geneva Convention. Please put these on." *hands a pair of trousers* And she'd be all, "Up yours, pig!" and take off running. And I'd be like, "Well that was uncalled for. And my insurance doesn't cover pursuit of war criminals. Time for my tea break."

Tank top: anac (eBay)

Trousers: Nike dri-fit (very old)

Platform shoes: Candie's (thrifted)

Blazer: Punk Rave (eBay, Little Chili's Lolita Shop)

Fused glass necklace: unknown (Paris)