April 1 Theme: Flowers

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Floral print can be challenging in Gothic fashion. Some Goths love it, some hate it; either way, it can be difficult to make it "work" with the look. I know many of you are probably cursing at me for this theme... ;) You are not alone, as I was cursing myself for a couple of days, too. I have very few floral print pieces in my wardrobe, the best ones being a red rose print shirt and my grey silk chiffon maxi skirt.

Mr. Kitty suggested that, instead of featuring something I've already worn on this blog, I should push the limits of my hair flower collection. I haven't been bothering to do much with my hair lately, so I thought this idea was a timely way to get me out of a rut.  I used my favorite chignon, wrapped my own hair in a braid around it, and topped it off with three different hued purple hair flowers.  Massive ones.

I realized that this silk chiffon top from Bebe would be the perfect complement to this floral-themed hair style. The dramatic keyhole neckline is trimmed with matching fabric flowers edged in black and topped with black beads. I paired it with one of my Newport News fishtail skirts.

My rose ring (featured in my February theme post, Rings), a pair of black flower earrings and of course my rose handbag from Pyramid Collection finished my celebration of spring!

I headed out to dinner with Mr. Kitty and my parents in this outfit, to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. In keeping with the floral theme, I gave her a potted jasmine plant. And some Lindor chocolate truffles, which don't have anything to do with flowers but are a necessity at all times!

Last but not least, I give you to a view of our humble floral offerings. Living in the desert, we committed to using only low-water landscaping for our yard. We have not a single square inch of grass. We also don't have a lot of time for landscape maintenance, so most of our design is done using various stone and bricks. However, we did splurge and go for a patch of ice plant. This amazingly hardy succulent ground cover is able to survive our 110-degree summer days AND our occasionally freezing winter nights, all with very minimal water. Best of all, we are treated to the most gorgeous fuchsia-hued flowers for about three months each spring. Looks like we missed quite a lot of the early blooms while we were on vacation last week, but there are many more to come. If we committed to more watering, this whole patch would be thick with flowers for the whole season... But our needs are modest, and we are content with just a smattering of this great beauty.  My delight was enhanced by the fact that our ice plant blooms happen to match tonight's outfit so perfectly!

Want to participate in this month's theme?

Now it's your turn! You know what to do (or if you don't, check out the full details). :)

1. Add the Monthly Theme icon to your blog post (copy the code below and paste into your post using the Edit HTML feature):
   
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NO ADULT CONTENT will be allowed.

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All images and text © Sophistique Noir Gothic Fashion Blog. Do not use any photos or text from this blog without providing a credit to me and a link back to the original post.

Round-Up for February/March

Madame Noire has had me in awe over the past month with her amazing makeup ideas and skills.  My favorite look of hers so far is Lace Eyes.  Incredible!!

Stripey Tights and Dark Delights provides a list of inspiring style resources for grown-up Goths, including a couple of selections featuring Goth guys.  Nice change of pace!  ;)

Juliet's Lace gives us some thoughtful insight on why we might occasionally find that we are no longer in love with our wardrobe.  Yes, I've been there several times over the years!

Style Crone showcases an outfit for her 69th birthday that I would absolutely wear myself.  I just found her blog, and have had a difficult time tearing myself away from it.  While not all of her looks are dark, they are all flawless, elegant and loaded with vintage touches.  In addition to being amazingly fashionable, she is a fascinating writer and has a strength and spirit we should all strive for.  I really, really want to be Judith when I grow up!  :)

Theme for April 1: Flowers

The theme for April 1 is: FLOWERS **

Spring is here! I thought this would be a good time to break out the floral theme. Now, I know some people do not like to wear florals, so as always, your theme post doesn't have to be limited to clothing. Sure, you can do floral print fabrics or flower-themed jewelry, nail art or accessories, or you can just take a lovely photo of your garden, post some artwork with floral themes, write a poem, review a book or song having something to do with flowers (or at least a flower on the cover), or whatever you can think of that involved flowers in some way. Be as creative as you wish!! Just be sure to cite your source if borrowing photos or content that are not your own original work! :)

Be sure to come back on April 1 and submit your post.

How It Works
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 box at the bottom.

You can post your theme post earlier than the first of the month, or link to an old post, but you must add it to Mr. Linky on Day 1 of the month. I will leave the Linky open until 11:59 PM PST on April 3, so everyone has three full days to post.

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.

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 April 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!

** Sorry for the short notice on this one: the aforementioned stress and my action steps for resolving it have been fairly consuming lately. Also, we escaped out of town for a few days. It didn't change the situation at my job, but at least I had a little break from thinking about it. :) I deeply appreciate everyone's sweet and supportive comments on my last post!! You ladies helped remind me how much sincerity there is in the world, even if there isn't much in my place of employment.

And the Boucle Continues…

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Last week I showed you one of four boucle sweaters I purchased from Victoria’s Secret a few years back. This one is more work-appropriate, being not so low-cut (although I could wear a camisole with the other one, but what fun is that?). It also fulfills my need to throw some unexpected colors into my work wardrobe, to fend off unanswerable questions like, “Why do you wear all black?” Yes, it really does work, and eliminates my urges to answer with a smart mouth. :)  Sadly, it was actually WAY too warm to wear in my sweltering office, which usually heats up to 82 degrees by the time I leave for the day, so I don't know if or when we'll be seeing this sweater again...

This bright pink number did require a bit of toning down in the form of all-black accessories. Two flower pins (one from New York & Co., the other from Claire’s), a cheap patent belt from Ross (yes, I also wore it in my last post) and my favorite chiffon scarf from Amazon did the trick.

This skirt is from Forever 21. It used to be fairly loose on me, and now it's getting snug...  I have to admit, I've been a bad BatFitter lately.  I'm under an immense amount of stress due to a work situation, which has drained my energy for exercise and given me a non-stop case of chocolate cravings.  But, Le Professeur, in her great wisdom, has declared that part of BatFit is to improve life in various different ways...  So in addition to getting out of my no-exercise rut I'm working on a drastic solution for the stress. More on that when I have joyous news to report...  I like to stay positive, so I won't share a lot of details here in the interim; suffice to say it's time to nip this issue in the bud and get back on track! :)  Many thanks to Le Professeur Gothique for keeping us inspired to better our lives!

Vintage Black and White

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This scarf is another great find on Amazon. I subscribe to their Prime service, so I can easily send gifts to far-off family members and buy necessities (and fun things) for myself that might be difficult to find locally. I often know exactly what I want, and when I do, substitutes will not suffice. I would much rather spend an hour searching for the perfect thing online than two hours driving around town/walking through the mall, only to find that I’d have to drive over an hour to L.A. anyway. At some point, I got it into my head that I needed a polka-dot scarf. This one came in square or rectangular, various colors, and several other patterns, and it’s the softest silk ever. I chose the rectangular one, because I am so fond of tying my scarves in sweet little bows.

The black with white polka dots combination is perfect for a pseudo-vintage look. And I think it goes perfectly with these peep-toe shoes from Newport News (sorry, I got them over a year ago and they are no longer available).

Matching red lips and nails, an updo with hair flower, and flesh-tone stockings complete the vintage effect. I just wish the stockings had a back seam… But don’t get me started on that again! ;-D

Are you an Amazon Addict like me? Do you prefer to shop online, or in stores?

Winter Car Show

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Here in Southern California, the car shows don’t stop just because it's not summer! In fact, many of our favorite custom shows take place in the winter. In my opinion, the weather is often much better during these off-season shows, since I despise the sun and heat. But, even though spring is right around the corner, Mother Nature is still pretty unpredictable around here. We travel quite a distance to most of these shows, so I’ve learned to plan for who knows what kind of weather (something I failed to do for a particular show last summer, and I suffered for it)! Forget the forecasts. They are rarely accurate. Just plan for ANYTHING.

For this show, I wore a fairly heavy bouclé sweater from Victoria’s Secret and black skinny jeans. This is just one of several VS sweaters in my collection. I also brought a wool pea coat, in case it was even cooler than expected, plus gloves and a head wrap. In case of sun and unseasonable heat, I had a tank top and parasol handy. In case of wind, I pulled my hair back tight and added some fluffy false pigtails by Dancing with the Stars, as featured in one of my posts last summer.

The sweater turned out to be perfect for the day’s weather… Which was actually a bit sad, because I am wild about this coat from Arden B and really wznted to wear it. Yes, this was another “majorly on sale” outerwear purchase for me. No crazy destiny story as with the Bebe lace trench; I just saw this one on the Arden B sale site late in the winter of 2010 and made it mine immediately. Just a reminder to keep an eye out at all times, because amazing deals are out there even from quality retailers!

Have you ever tried Victoria’s Secret sweaters? Don’t you think they are the sexiest ever?

March 1 Theme: GRAY

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My outfit for this month's theme is brought to you by Mr. Kitty. Last weekend I was standing in the closet mumbling to myself while pondering what I should wear for the gray theme. He walked in, caught me mid-mumble and immediately responded, "Do you still have that dress with all the ladies on it?" Problem solved. Today I present to you one of Mr. Kitty's all-time favorites from my wardrobe. I wore this dress on one of our VERY early dates, and maybe only once since. Yet he remembers it vividly and even brings it up from time to time. It really made an impact! So, without further ado... The outfit!

Yes, this slinky little dress is covered in classical ladies of all shapes and sizes! When I found it about a decade ago in a little shop on Melrose Ave., I fell in love with this celebration of the female form. What is better than wrapping a shapely figure in shapely figures? :)

I spent considerable time debating how to approach hair, makeup and accessories to complement this dress. The shrug was a given, since it matched so perfectly (and the dress has plain black spaghetti straps that don't really lend anything to the overall look). I tried several different necklaces, a couple of bracelets and a huge set of dangly earrings before I realized that less is really more in this case. You won't hear me say that often, but this print and cut really doesn't need much embellishment. I went with lightweight black sleeves because it's still chilly out, and no jewelry other than simple sterling silver studs, ear cuffs and two rings. The belt helped break up the pattern a bit and further emphasize my waist. I added a couple of flower clips to the belt to further the overall femininity of this look.

A sleek, high ponytail seemed perfect for this sleek dress. For the makeup, I decided to go monochrome, which is another thing I don't do often. I used a shimmery white shadow that was a birthday gift from Sephora, and my usual Ben Nye black shadow applied with a light touch to make it a soft gray. The lipstick is also Ben Nye, in Silver Ice. Silver lipstick, in my opinion, really needs a black outline.

Today's eyeliner is the result of several tips from Lady Bethezda's recent Winged Eyeliner Tutorial.   If you are not already a fan of her blog, Bethezda's Preoccupations, you must check it out right now!

Want to participate in this month's theme?

Now it's your turn! You know what to do (or if you don't, check out the full details). :)

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 below.
   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!

NO ADULT CONTENT will be allowed.