Couturgatory turns one! Anniversary giveaway

Yay! May 2nd, 2013 was my first post here. It was selfies with a bad camera phone taken in a wavy chunk of mirror.

Fittingly, it was during a heat wave in San Francisco, where the high was an unbelievable 91 degrees F/33 C and here I am, in the middle of another West Coast heat wave. I don't know why the people around me are complaining; I moved from 55-and-overcast All-day-every-day-all-year Town and I am fine. :D

Even with the chaos and sparse posting this year, I have done a total of 148 posts in a year, or roughly 1 every 2.5 days. That's a lot of blabbing! And I have you, dear readers, to thank for slogging through it.

In this year, I got a wonderful blogger introduction by one of the first bloggers I read, Ally of Shybiker, who I'm now honored to call my friend. I won a Bloggy, and had the honor of being linked to by Already Pretty, the style blog that introduced me to personal style blogs and started me on this road.

And of course, I've gotten to know awesome people around the world. The personal style blog community (both bloggers and readers) I stumbled into is supportive, intelligent, perceptive, and so very creative. I think my perspective on style blogging, and blogging in general, has widened. So has my wardrobe. Tee hee.

Yes yes, enough with the self-congratulatory (couturgalatory?) back patting, on to The Giveaway!

I am giving away one Cara New York fascinator, seen here:

Now, I know what you're thinking. 'Aya, you crazy wench, you love that ridiculous thing. Should you really be giving away your hat?'

And the answer is, I'm not giving away my hat. I am in fact giving away an identical hat I randomly found on eBay for not very much that I cackled over and squirreled away last year for this very occasion. That is right: if you win, not only do you get this sweet hat, but you and I will be Fascinator Twins.

Here's how you can enter: just leave your e-mail address (mebbe in a format like mail [at] domain [dot] com because bots) in the comments or contact me at notactuallyaya at gmail dot com. Giveaway open to all countries, and I'll be accepting entries for a week! (and obnoxiously posting links back to my own giveaway in all of my posts between now and then)

It's been a long and crazy week, but maybe I can post a photo of myself soon wearing both of them like Princess Leia.

I heart you all. I cannot imagine the last year without you, I really can't. 2013 was the most stressful year of my life, and all of my experiences blogging helped me make it through. Thank you.

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!

Whatever the Weather

Whatever the weather we'll weather the storm!

And whether we waver in water or wetter

Wayfarers will gather wherever it's warm!

  Right, I think I've lost my mind.
  When I woke up in East Bay this morning, the weather was beautiful. Sunshine as I hadn't seen in weeks was streaming in the window. I packed up and headed home, into the fog bank, where even Daly Sad is getting a hint of light through the everpresent cloud layer. I am in a sundress type of mood.

  For someone who lives in the climate I do, I have a disturbing number of sundresses. I may have more sundresses than there are actual sunny days per year. I think I keep shopping for my dreams, rather than my everyday. It reminds me of my former roommate, who would sometimes wear shorts on principle, because it was summer, or as we like to call it, "summer."
  In deference to the weather, this one is fully lined, which adds some wind protection, while making it twice as much trouble to iron (which is why I didn't. >.>) I took the opportunity to add some layers and accessorize in a way that felt like me:

  I love these faux leather panel leggings. I got them last winter for warmth and they're actually more like stretch pants- they're a thick exercise pant material and of course fully opaque. Still, principles are principles, and leggings will be worn appropriately under skirts and dresses, never on their own. Someone has to fight the good fight.
  You can see in the side shot the pretty chiffon layer on the dress doesn't extend to the back. It's a plain knit material there. Unfortunately what you get with cheap dresses these days. Does seem odd to me the company would go through the trouble of this labor-intensive detailing and skimp on a panel of chiffon for the back.

  I got this necklace when I was a teenager, and was quite taken with it. It came with a little scroll you could write on and tuck inside. Of course I have no way of finding out what I wrote, because since the capsule kept unscrewing and falling off, I glued the blasted thing shut and now I will never get it open again. Good job, 16 year-old me. Your secret is safe forever. 32 year-old you would like to have a little chat about skin care.

  Here is a shot with the fascinator, for Michelle:

  I thought the fascinator went really well with the dress, and somewhat less so with the biker leggings and jacket. Unsurprising. Maybe one of these days I will feel like a feminine pair of shoes and bare gams, and then we will see.

Dress: sylc camisa (eBay)

Faux leather leggings: unknown (eBay, various sizes available)

Boots: Naya Lark (old, eBay)

Denim biker jacket: Guess (thrifted)

Capsule necklace: very old (Sacramento)

Fascinator: Cara NY (Nordstrom, old)

Victoriaya

 Tried another Ye Olde style outfit today. I'm feeling a punk mood coming on, though, so tomorrow I'll probably switch it up. Nm, just got invited Steampunk shopping in the Haight tomorrow.

  I took an H&M plum velour skirt (stretchy with pockets!) and paired it with a lace button down shirt. The shirt is not opaque, so I layered it over one of my ubiquitous lace back racerback tank tops. I thought bare calves might look odd with the skirt, so I wore white side lace leggings under it, and my Naya Lightning boots.

  I really like side lace leggings. It seems like a great way to add a touch of sexiness if you're showing a few inches of leg. Too bad I have only found them sold in the cheapest of junior retail establishments, so garment construction is not stellar.

  This shirt is kind of odd- it came from another cheap junior store and the lacing in the back doesn't make sense. The narrowest part of the "corset" lacing is right under the shoulders. If you've ever tried tightening something around that area, you might notice you have these things called ribs in the way. The lacing ends where my waist begins, so there's no way to take it in around the waist at all. I like it enough to keep it, and one nebulous day when I have money and time I would like to draft a pattern and make a garment like this, only that fits.

  Now, I hear what you're saying. "Aya, this outfit works fine for people who go out and do productive things like work, but what about the everyday student anxiously frittering away the last days of vacation before a summerlong blitz of Chemistry? How could she kick this up into a costume?"  For that I say: ACCESSORIES

  Fascinators got a lot of hate in fashion articles, which is hilarious because it was one of the few times I really liked a trend. I love fascinators. I love hats, and a little fancy hat attached to a headband so for once I don't have to worry about fitting it over my big skull? Delightful!

  With my fancy hat and kid gloves I felt like I could take afternoon tea out on my balcony. I also wore sterling silver & garnet flower earrings, my trusty Express jeweled locket, and a glass bead bracelet.

  Do you find items that fit your fashion tastes or needs in unusual places? Do you find yourself dressing with a theme in mind, or do you assemble outfits in another way?

No profit on links, just love:

Shirt: Amor (similar with sleeves or sleeveless)

Skirt: H&M (thrifted)

Leggings: zenana outfitters (similar)

Boots: Naya Lightning (old)

Fascinator: Cara New York (old)

Jewelry: Express locket, glass bracelet from Paris, old earrings