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!  :)