Lip Service Win!

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First, a quick reminder that tomorrow (July 1) is my first Monthly Theme day. The theme is Beads! Get more information here. The link-up will start at 12 am tomorrow (midnight, Pacific Time) and be open for approx. 24 hours. My local time is now displayed in the left-hand column, to make it easier for non-local people to determine the start/end time. Hope you can participate!

As you might have noticed, I'm not a huge fan of “brand” pieces in my wardrobe. I am more of a Build-Your-Own-Goth kind of girl... But sometimes the brands come up with something totally lovely, well-made and not over-the-top “Look at me I'm OOOH so Gothy.” Lip Service succeeded with this tailored, slightly Neo-Victorian blouse from their Blacklist line. I still doubt I would have bought it full price, but I got a good deal on eBay. Sweet!

The top has slightly puffy shoulders and a cool seam around the middle of the upper arm. Ruffles abound, and the front and cuffs button down with abundant closely-spaced snaps, which eliminate the risk of boob gap. :-D This blouse is actually quite snug in the chest, so I don't really recommend it if you are very well endowed. I could just barely pull it off – no gap, but you could tell that the fabric was pulled just a bit tight, and this cotton blend doesn't stretch much at all despite the 3% spandex.

Oh, and it has the cutest bow that ties in the back! Happy day!!!

What is your favorite brand when you do want to go with a Goth brand?

Monthly Blog Round-Up for June

There are so many amazing blogs out there, I thought I'd start sharing a handful of my favorite posts from each month.  These are all either Goth, or Fashion, or both.  :)

So here are some of my favorite posts from June, in no particular order.  Enjoy!

• Put the Edge Back in White: A Guide to Eerie Ice Gothic Fashion by Sincerely, Boots
• Dark Pin Up Looks by Madame Macabre
• Red & Black by Wheels are Everything
• Polka Dot Love by The Morbid Fashion
  
• Bento for Goths by The Ultimate Goth Guide

Pencil Skirt and Braided Pigtails

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And black and white and lots of bows! I thought maybe the scarf tied in a bow would be too much along with the bows on the sleeves of this blouse, but I was informed by coworkers that there is no such thing as too many bows. This is good news for me, indeed!

I've decided to go back to my beloved center part again for a while. When my hair is just down long and straight, parting in the center is by far my preference. But I don't like the way updos and buns look with a center part, and since I usually wear my hair up or restrained in some way the side part is usually more practical. In thinking about my repertoire of hair styles and which would be best suited for a center part, I promptly revived this old favorite. You'll be seeing it a lot on work days until I start to miss my buns (lol) and go back to the side part. ;-D

Whoops! Didn't take time to finish
the ends of my braids nicely this morning!

I admit, I got the idea for embellishing this Target pencil skirt from This is CorpGoth (although hers is much more pro!). I bought three of the same black skirt because I loved the fit so much for work, planning on adding trim to two of them. I finally actually did so recently. This one is black on black, and you'll see the other, more colorful one soon!

White blouse is from JC Penny, and the silk scarf is from Amazon. And of course, the whole look is finished off with one of my favorite pairs of shoes!

Maybe you can give me some new ideas. What are your favorite hair styles for a center part?

Car Show, and Kitteh!

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With summer comes car shows. Southern California is loaded with them, and we travel all over the place to attend. I was somewhat thankful for the unusually cool June this year (although the heat is in full force now), as the heat and harsh sun are pretty rough on me. Not just because I'm trying to be oh-so-Goth; I really do have some sun/heat sensitivity. But enough about that. :)

I had to dress a little bit conservative for this show, because rumor had it that some people from my workplace might be going. I still wanted to be myself, but not to an extent that would lead to unwanted curiosity the following Monday. Naturally, since I had planned for it, no one from work was there. But I felt good about myself all day, so no regrets on the outfit I chose.

Today's parasol is from somewhere on the Interwebs, although I can't remember where. However, Amazon has a seller who offers them in a huge variety of colors! We failed to get a good photo of me outdoors with the parasol in use. Battenburg lace has a nasty habit of allowing sunlight to hit one's face in bizarre patches, which make for interesting but unattractive photos. I have a solution in mind for next time, though.

Dress was on sale at Macy's for half price. I scored it the night before the show. I will be wearing this to work a lot, but with more conservative accessories, shoes and make-up. I had a corset on under the dress to nip in my waist a bit, but not too tight as I knew I would be stuck wearing it for nearly 10 hours.

Prometheus really didn't want us to leave for the day. He's almost big enough to stop me, but I managed to escape. I just made sure to give him extra love when we got home. He may be a giant on the outside, but he is just a delicate flower on the inside.

One of My Favorites of the Day

PS: Don't forget that this coming Friday, July 1 is Beads Theme Day, the first of my monthly themes! :)

Tutorial: Arm Warmers from Old Pants

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First off, let me say that there are a lot of Goth blogging ladies out there with amazing seamstress skills... I am not one of them! This tutorial is for the rest of us. :)

I lightened all of the photos up a bit so you can hopefully see what is going on.

Final Product, Short Version

I had this old pair of stretchy pants that were a bit too snug for my current tastes. Plus I had splashed a bit of bleach on them long ago while cleaning the bathroom, and I was tired of trying to color in the bleach spot with Sharpies. However, I totally love the pinstripe-ish textured fabric, so I thought these would make nice, almost corporate arm warmers. NOTE: The pants must be made of stretchy fabric for this to work!

Pants with Legs Cut Off

First, I measured the length of my arm from mid-bicep to just below the wrist. I cut both legs off of the pants at that length. The plan is to use the existing hem as the top part of the glove, so I only have to finish the bottom edge.

Pinned and Ready to Sew

Next, I measured around my bicep and around the wrist, then pinned the pant legs (inside out) at those widths, leaving a little bit of wiggle room. I added a couple of extra pins along the diagonal line between the two end pins. You can use a fabric marking pencil and a ruler to create a perfect line, if you wish.

Edges Trimmed; Ready to Finish

Next, I sewed a straight stitch down the pin line. Then I trimmed the excess, leaving about 1/2”. I like to bevel the edges a bit so the corners don't show when I'm all done.

With Edges Finished Using Zigzag;
Glove on Right is Turned Right-Side Out

Finally, I ran a zigzag stitch down the raw edge, then another zigzag around the raw wrist edge. If you want to make them extra clean, you can do a folded hem around the wrist, but I find this difficult to achieve with such a tiny opening.

The final product: a free pair of arm warmers that are almost nice enough to wear even to the office. They can be worn long, or fold the wrist part under a couple of inches to make them shorter.

You could even make the rest of the pants into shorts, of so inclined!

Final Product, Long Version

Monthly Theme for July: Beads

As I mentioned in the Red & Black Week Wrap-Up, I'll be doing monthly one-day theme events in addition to the annual Red & Black Week.

The theme for July is: Beads

Be sure to come back on July 1 and submit your post!  It can be beaded clothing, jewelry, home decor, or anything you can think of that features beads.

How It Works
I will announce the coming month’s theme on or around the 25th of the previous month (for example. August's theme will be announced around July 25). On the first day of each month, I will post my theme post with the Mr. Linky sign-up form at the bottom. You can link to any post you’ve done that day or previously, as long as it matches the theme. Be sure to add the icon to your post, and link your post to mine using the Mr. Linky sign-up form on my post.


You don't have to post your entry on the first of the month – you can post it earlier or link to an old post, but you have to add it to Mr. Linky on Day 1 of the month. You can’t post it after the first of the month, as I will close the Mr. Linky sign-up form on the second of each month so I don’t have to continue monitoring them for spam. :)


You don't have to participate every single month. Feel free to join in whenever you wish. Just be sure you get your post linked before the second day of the month!

Also, let’s keep the posts appropriate for all ages, in terms of both language and imagery. Thanks!! :)

Posts that are linked up without including the icon will be removed from Mr. Linky.

HTML for the icon: (The icon and the HTML will remain the same each month)

<a href="http://www.sophistiquenoir.com/search/label/Monthly%20Themes"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQ249TqTbcQqDIMNEFn4-i86sH_mCPygLy8joT6s5mRPOVlTNR98J9pLIzKwuhO6z5rTM-DSHBDax9ecdw0DTsO0yZR2PrUlCoOMVpQxHdOACZjKezy3z8A-S8fjktvIPftUD-6eXu4U/s1600/monthly-theme-icon.jpg" border="0"></a>

Please pass this invitation on to any bloggers you know who might be interested, and feel free to share the announcement on your blogs.  Of course, it's a good idea to follow my blog to be sure you don't miss any of the themes.  ;)

Questions? E-mail me!

Want to Suggest a Theme?
Leave a comment on any post at any time, or e-mail me. If I use your suggestion, I will credit you on my theme post for that month and in the theme announcement the week before.  No promises that I will use every suggestion, because the themes have to be things that I would be able to do a post about.  For example, I don't own a pair of cowboy boots, so that's out.  ;)

Want to participate in the Monthly Theme? Here's how:

1. Add the Monthly Theme icon to your blog post (copy the code below and paste into your post using the Edit HTML feature):
   
   <a href="http://www.sophistiquenoir.com/search/label/Monthly%20Themes"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQ249TqTbcQqDIMNEFn4-i86sH_mCPygLy8joT6s5mRPOVlTNR98J9pLIzKwuhO6z5rTM-DSHBDax9ecdw0DTsO0yZR2PrUlCoOMVpQxHdOACZjKezy3z8A-S8fjktvIPftUD-6eXu4U/s1600/monthly-theme-icon.jpg" border="0"></a>
   
2. Paste the URL to your post using the Mister Linky box at the bottom of my July 1 post.
   Please use a direct link to your relevant post, NOT a link to your blog’s home page.
   
3. Visit all of the other participants who have entered, and show them you appreciate their theme posts!

Discovering Boston Proper

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Boston Proper is a brand new shopping resource for me. I've been receiving their catalogs in the mail for ages but I usually don't even open print catalogs, as I don't need any additional temptation. And they are such a waste of paper!!! But this time I loved the top on the cover (which you will see later on) and the marketing worked on me.

I thought it would be months before I wore another item from the red family! I even painted my nails purple as a demonstration of my resolve... But this top won my heart and had to be worn immediately upon receipt. My first impulse was to pair it with a full-length flowing lace skirt, in a very Gothy manner. But I decided for work to use a pencil skirt instead (one of my fabulous Target pencil skirts discussed previously) to give it a more business look.

Even though it's a great fit, the top is extremely bust-minimizing, which makes it very appropriate for work. I don't think I would ever wear it on the weekends because of that feature. ;-D

The black heart pendant is from Michael's with ribbon choker added by me. You can see a detail of it in one of my car show posts coming out tomorrow. :)

These shoes look similar to my usual work shoes, but they have open sides and an ankle strap. Don't worry, I have some more interesting shoes that I still haven't debuted. Just need some time to figure out the perfect pairings for them!

Time to Tame the Cowl Neck!

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Summer weather is finally starting to appear, so out come the sleeveless tops for work. Today's choice is an aubergine satin cowl-neck with a cute sash that ties on one side, and lace panels inset in both sides. This top actually reveals three of my tattoos (although you can only see one in the photos). I might be uncomfortable with that at work, except for the fact that I am far from the most heavily tattooed person in my department. You've seen the flowy, sheer wrap skirt before. It has such a feminine look and feel to it! Top and skirt are both from random little clothing stores hidden in small shopping centers. You know the type of stores I am talking about, right?

The cross pendant came from eBay, although I can't remember what seller. I can say that I added the purple ribbon choker that it is hanging from, and that I made the bracelets from faceted glass beads and spiral bracelet wire.

I'm not sure if I'm crazy about this top after all. See in the side-view photo below, how the cowl neck pokes out? I suppose a safety pin could resolve that issue somewhat, but is it worth it?

What do you think of this top? Should I keep it (with added safety pin to tame cowl neck) or is it a waste of hanger space?

I Don't Have a Title for This One, But I Have a Very Large Cat.

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Here's another top from Frederick's. I love to buy their stuff when it goes on sale at the end of the season. Their sale prices really are good if you can find the right size. This one has a lace racer-back tank with a jersey knit cowl-neck layer that ties at the waist and neck. Yes, my bra straps are showing, because I find the racer back to be a bit unfeminine and I think adding some traditional straps helps. Normally I say NO to exposed bra straps, as it can be a bit classless. But if you make it look completely intentional and part of the outfit (and as long as it's black on black), I think it works okay. Or I am just deluding myself in order to break my own rules. :) Truthfully, this would look better with the coveted wide-strap tank but I still haven't looked at all of the resources suggested by my wonderful readers in this post.

I believe this skirt came from (*gasp*) Hot Topic, quite some time ago. I have replaced the lace panel near the bottom, as the original lace tore repeatedly in the first few wearings. That's Hot Topic quality for you! ;-D

Hello, Perseus!  Mommy will be done soon
so you can have your favorite nap spot back!  :)

Hello, Summer! It's About Time You Showed Up.

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After a long, slow winter and a non-existent spring, it appears that summer is finally on its way to Southern California. I went a bit more skimpy than my usual attire in celebration of this long-awaited warm weather!! And to further delay the use of the evil Air Conditioner.  But don't worry; I didn't parade myself around town dressed like this.  This outfit was for home use only.  :)  Were I to wear it out in public (other than a nightclub) I would swap the skirt for something longer or the hosiery for something more opaque.  And yet I share it with you on the Interwebs, because the stockings are too, too fabulous.

Ribbon stockings came from the sock store at Universal CityWalk. Yes, you heard me correctly: a whole store selling nothing but hosiery. Most Goths would completely love this store.  However, you could easily recreate the look of these stockings with some long ribbons, strips of stretchy fabric or even elastic (they do have a bit of stretch, which is probably critical to keeping them in place).

The wristbands were a DIY, from an old pair of stretchy pants. I'm not totally thrilled with the end result here. They might look a little too much like the old sweatbands from the 80s (although the fabric is definitely NOT terrycloth!) and they are certainly a bit too “tough.” I am anything but a tough chick, and wouldn't want to do any false advertising. :) I might stitch some beads onto them or something to make them more feminine.

This top is another DIY. It was originally a dress, but I failed to properly inspect all angles when I tried it on... When I put it on to wear it for the first time, I noticed that it hung much shorter in the back than in the front. Not indecently short, but I didn't like the asymmetry of it. So I chopped it off right below the pretty lace insets in the sides and now it's a perfect little summer top. Still drapes lower in the front than in the back, but that doesn't bug me in a top as it does in a skirt!

A Close-Up of Today's Shoes

Why Haven't I Ever Worn This Blouse?

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I've had this Victorian-style chiffon blouse from Newport News for ages. Seriously, at least three years. Somehow I had it in my head that it didn't fit right, so I really hadn't worn it. Going through my closet last week, I decided it was time to wear it, alter it or get rid of it. So I tried it on, and it fit perfectly!! I think I was convinced that the collar was supposed to be more snug around my neck, but I'm pretty sure I prefer it a little more open anyway. Also I tend to have a ridiculous fear of tucking in, which is probably why my brain told me never to wear this blouse.

In addition to the amazing ruffles, the sleeves have a bit of puff in the top half and are close-fitting from the elbow down. Check out the close-up below to see the fabulous buttons down the lower sleeves. I think this blouse worked out wonderfully well after all, although it failed to garner even a single comment at work. This small town just has no taste!! :) Seriously though, it's probably because I wore all black. I've been noticing for quite a while that the less black I wear on a given day, the more compliments I get (and the more vehement the compliments are) around the office. I find it very sad that people are SO caught up over a color. BLACK IS JUST A COLOR. It won't hurt you!! ;-D

The sterling silver and marcasite brooch came from a store in Glendale Galleria; I believe it was called Something Silver or something obvious like that. They carry very high-end silver jewelry (not your normal mall kiosk stuff), and I had my eye on this piece for quite a while before I finally splurged for it.

And since I did pay $15 for these terrible Frederick's back-seam stockings, I figured I should wear them more than once. Still, the flaw lines in them kinda irritated me all day.

Fancy Satin Skirt, Take Two

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I previously wore this Spiegel Daytime Satin skirt back in April with a sweater featuring a rhinestone buckle, and the whole look turned out a bit too fancy for work. One of the suggestions for toning it down (made by my grandma; yay!) was to try it with a tailored shirt in pastel or white. Well, VictorianKitty has a severe shortage of tailored shirts, and none in pastel or white... While I work on resolving that issue, I figured I would try this one in dark pink.

I thought adding some edgier jewelry would help take some of the formality out of the outfit as well. Oh, and on lunch I dropped broccoli with cheese on the skirt. That's definitely a more casual look...

What do you think? Does the pink button-up make this fancy skirt a bit more office-friendly?

PS: I just started a new poll.  It's in the upper-right corner of my blog.  Please take a moment to vote and let me know what my readers most want to see!

Black Lace and Barbie Shoes

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This outfit was invented strictly to complement these shoes. My boss calls this pair my Barbie shoes. And she's right: they are tiny, just the right height and are the classic Barbie style, the slide. Actually, these are by Carlos Santana. I know; I wasn't aware that he designed shoes, either. And I am not sure whether he plays with Barbies. Either way, he has great taste in ladies' footwear.

The top is just sheer black lace, but I love the ruffle detail around the neckline and the little satin buttons. I added a white camisole underneath for the black lace on white effect.

I learned this scarf-tying technique over at 37 Ways to Tie a Scarf. This is the Rosette Neck Wrap. As someone who's never understood what the heck one is supposed to do with all these lovely scarves, I am totally loving this site!  This style was a bit tricky to figure out, but it held up all day.

A Close-Up of Today's Shoes

Red & Black Week: Post-Event Wrap-Up

All I can say is, Wow.  I'm blown away by the amount of participation and publicity this event garnered.  I had hoped maybe eight people would be excited about the idea and maybe five would actually join in...  :-D  Instead, we had a grand total of 28 wonderful and creative participants, contributing 87 posts!!!  The Goth Blogger community is a GREAT group to be a part of.  I would like to offer a huge thank you to everyone who took part in the week, and especially those who helped spread the word and make this event what I consider a smashing success.

Here's a list of all of the participants, in the order that they first linked up their Red & Black posts.

1. VictorianKitty of Sophistique Noire
2. Amy of The Ultimate Goth Guide
3. Loupie of Loupie's Blog
4. Saskia of Graveyard Picnic
5. Deb of Gothic By Design 
6. Pandora and Orilla of Wicked Babes
7. Corin of A Darker Kind of Fashion
8. Tenebris in Lux of Neverending Playlist of a Psycho
9. Leanne of Music4pumpkins
10. Siouxsie of Siouxsie Law
11. Jamie of Geeky Goth Girl
12. Sada of Dressology HQ 
13. Audronasha the Countess of Gothically Yours
14. Mark of Wheels are Everything 
15. Kelli of GlumPlum 
16. Trystan of This is Corp Goth
17. Captain Morgan of Mental Pirate
18. Sal Kaye of Still Dark at Heart
19. DuskRose of The Midnight Ballroom
20. Amy Wilson of Working
21. Zellain of The Morbid Fashion
22. Sabayon of Ruffles Not Diets
23. Caveat Calcei of Law and Shoes
24. Rachel of Rachel's Cupcake Chronicles
25. Kitty Lovett of Bloggery of a Gothcat
26. Sarah of The Walrus Room 
27. Julianne of This Second's Obsession
28. Robin of Victorian Android

View all of the Red & Black Week posts and link-ups!

Amy of The Ultimate Goth Guide made a *brilliant* suggestion. She suggested we make this an annual event. So, the first full week in June each year will officially be Sophistique Noir's Red & Black Week!

It will be exciting to see how the long-term bloggers evolve their takes on the theme from year to year, and even how we influence each other. Also, those who expressed a wish that they owned more red items this year can keep their eyes open for the perfect pieces, and build their red wardrobes up a bit in preparation for next year if they want.

In the meantime, I have some ideas for monthly one-day themed events. Starting in July, I will reveal the theme a week or so in advance, then do my post on it (with a Mr. Linky sign-up form) on the first day of the month. You can link up a post of your own from that day or any previous post you have done, as long as it meets the criteria for that month's theme. We'll have lots of variety; sometimes a color scheme, sometimes a specific style, sometimes a specific article of clothing, etc. I'll try to make some of the themes not too fashion-specific, so you can still be creative with the topics of your posts. Also, I'll be taking suggestions on theme ideas, and if I use your idea I will credit you on the post for that month.

Back to regularly scheduled outfit posts tomorrow!  :)