Always remember to tuck in your shirts

The temperature has dropped 30F in 3 days. It's okay; this is weather I know how to dress for. (:

Lace-trimmed camisole: Express

Ruffle tee: TRF t-shirt collection (thrifted)

Blue grey lace vest: Odille (eBay)

Brass snaps corduroys: WOW jeans (thrifted)

Boots: Two Lips (thrifted)

Suede hair clip: Taiwan

Sundial necklace: gift from high school

Tiny gears necklace: gift from Cathy

Or at least, know how to stay warm in. Knowing how to dress for this weather probably includes not looking like I'm going to burst forth from my vest like a cooking sausage. More on that in a bit.

I have missed you so much, everyday Steampunk style!

I wore the same triple layered lace combo here, when my friend Mo called my outfit "vintage Bohemian fairy." Strange thing is, I didn't look too chunky for the vest then:

I have been exercising a lot, and I gain weight and some girth when I work out, but I think there are other forces at work here. The vest pulls in at the waist, then loosens as it hangs into its pointy bits at the bottom.

I made the mistake of trying to show the layers of my shirts below the vest. In the outfit above, the shirts are tucked in, and the A-line skirt follows the lines of the vest flaps as they point out from the natural waist, making a smooth transition.

Here, the horizontal lines of the shirts cut off the diagonal lines of the vest flaps coming out from the waist. Then the shirts end right where my hips and thighs begin, the widest part of the lower body. The bump under the shirts from my waistband doesn't help.

This was one of those outfits I really liked when I put it on, then made this face in dismay when I looked at the photos D:

Oh well, live and learn. That's one of the neat things about blogging, getting a more objective look at outfits.

However, please don't let my questionable ability to dress myself deter you from entering my Couturgatory Anniversary giveaway! Follow the link if you would like a chance to win a Cara New York fascinator. :D

Get Thee to a Haberdashery

  I have a new hat. It has a bow. :D

  The thing about being a student is you don't have money, but you *do* have the occasional Thursday morning free to tootle downtown for the quarterly Goorin Bros. sample sale. All hats were $20 or less.
  This was one of the few fancier lady hats at the sale. I politely sidled at a dead sprint up to the table, plonked it on my head, and nearly forgot to remove it when I went to take a shower.

  Seemed like a good match for my Diesel coat, now with 100% more airship captain medal! Man I have got to get those sleeves altered.

Hat: Goorin Bros. (sample sale, available in plum)

Western-style coat: Diesel (thrifted)

Cara 'Royal Highness' Military Pin: Nordstrom (here)

Dress: OzzOn Japan (Japan)

Corduroys: WOW jeans (thrifted)

Boots: Two Lips (thrifted)

  The sample sale was excellent timing for the upcoming Hat Attack, thrown at the beginning of each month by the vivacious Judith of Style Crone.

  I am also celebrating finally hemming these corduroys. They're made in Japan! I thrifted them when I lost all that weight stressing out this summer, and as I'm gaining it back they're slowly becoming more and more bootylicious but somehow staying just as comfortable 

  I love the pockets with the brass buttons! Given the trends lately, I think the world could use a whole lot less buttock rather than more, so I styled them under this OzzOn dress:

  The coat and hat do not go at all with the dress, but I fell in love with the lines of these items together.

  Today was a fine day. :D And yes, this hat sample sale thing is quarterly (this was my first, so I just found out about them.) The vast majority are bucket hats, Gatsby/flat caps, and baseball style caps, but if you're dying to get a Goorin Bros. hat on the cheap, ping me and I can poke around for you at the Christmastime one. :D