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!

遅い 大掃除 - Late Housecleaning

  My roommate's out of town for five days. The last time he left town, I turned the entire apartment into Aya's Crafting & Cosmetics Emporium. I even rezoned our balcony for small retail. (It sold fog.) It's probably going to happen again.

  Since the semester ended, I have pretty much no sense of time until I start summer school, and it's only through whimsy discipline that I am still on a diurnal schedule. I set aside today to put my apartment back in order. It really needed it; sleep, food, and housekeeping all stopped around my 3rd research paper and 2nd final presentation.

  Today's outfit is for: housecleaning!

  Still love shirt shells, but avoiding long, trailing sleeves since I'm washing dishes and cleaning a gas stove. I think this one looks a little like a yukata. What do you think?  It was overcast today, so I do not know if the photographs picked up the gold threads running vertically through the fabric. I'm really not a floral person, but I was quite taken with this shirt.

  I live most of my life in jeans. I dig skirts and how they dress up an outfit instantly, but to share a bit about myself, I am terrible at being still. I don't sit well for long periods and I don't stand in one place. I spend my time either moving around or lying flat on my back passed out.  Skirts don't mix as well with squatting, sitting splay-legged on the floor, lying upside-down on a chair with my feet on the wall, and all of the other positions I shift between throughout the day.

  What about you? I'd love to hear about how the way you move or what you do affects what you wear.

Shirt shell: Rampage (thrifted)

Undershirt: Express bra cami (old)

Jeans: C'est Toi (thrifted)

Kokeshi necklace: AGATHA Paris (gift)

Shoes: Kelly & Katie Sarabeth flats (thrifted)