Awful or Awesome - Case #3 The Pussy Bow Blouse

In the recesses of my wardrobe I found this vintage bright green pussy bow blouse. A flee market find for next to nothing. I have only worn it a scant few times because the color doesn't really agree with me. I don't generally do bright colors. And the pattern is just so weird! It's just a bit much, I feel like a Christmas tree! So for me it teeters on the edge of awful. And I kind of cringe when I see it... But I love the cut and shape of it and I feel like I need to have at least one pussy bow blouse in my wardrobe for when I want to do the secretary or librarian look. 

So, what do you think? Awful or awesome? Would you wear it or do you cringe when you see it?

Outfits from the archive - 2015

I have been away from the blogosphere for quite a while, but I have still taken quite a lot of outfit pictures. So here are some from the archive from last year. I was experimenting quite a lot with color, texture, more romantic items, with contrasts.... Hope you enjoy!

An early summer outfit. Pretty basic, but I really like that blouse (H&M)! Such a great pop of color, and can be either festive or casual... Here I went for casual. 

Another basic one where I really like the blouse/top/thingie. This one is so whispy and romantic! The necklace is a raw smoky quartz point.

Unusually colorful for me this dress... Doesn't show very well in the picture because of a lack of natural light, but it is a rather bright yellow with a floral pattern in red, white and green. Kind of a bit too happy for my tastes, but with a leather skirt underneath, a leather belt and a bird skull necklace it feels more me.

Here is one of my favorite blouses! A silky mustard colored one with a paisley pattern. Big sleeves, accentuated shoulders, crimped waist and mandarin collar, what's not to like! Here with leather belt and  skinny fit pants with a geometrical pattern. I really liked the contrast between the paisley and the geometrical patterns, and because the patterns are so subtle it didn't feel like too much pattern going on.

A classic outfit that I usually end up wearing sometime around the holidays. There is just something about the skirt and the flower brooch that feels very festive! :)

And lastly, here is what I wore for Halloween! It's not often I get to go all out these days, especially not at work, but the library where I work hosted a Halloween At the Library-type event so we in the staff got to dress up. The library was lit only by candle light and I got to walk around with a lantern and scare little kids! So much fun!!

Most of this outfit has been seen before on the blog, it is rather a classic, but I still wanted to share!

I seldom wear these striped socks anymore, but they felt quite witchy and I think I was going for steampunkish-witchy-ghost librarian or something...

Yum, those sleeves!!! And the waistcoat too!

Note the neat collar on the shirt, love that detail! The bronze bird skull necklace is a classic that I can never grow tired of.  I also wore my bird claw ring, but I don't have a picture of that. And I finally have a proper chain for my pocket watch!

And here is the outfit with more Halloween details added. You obviously can't see a lot because we got makeup and final prep done at work and it was night by the time I got home. Anyway, messy bun, pale powdered face, foundation on lips to make them pale too... and then some spider web on the hat. :)

Looks rather spooky doesn't it?

How was your style year? What styles did you dig? What didn't you wear? What inspired you? What did you wear for Halloween (yeah, I know I'm late...)?

Outfit - All black texture play

Lots of textures in this outfit! Wool, leather, suede, the raw silk-like texture of the shirt and even some forged iron jewelry. Shirt and coat are thrifted, pants and gloves are from H&M.

Do you ever wear all black? Do you like playing with textures in your outfits?

Btw, I just wrote a bit about my personal style, kind of a profile. You can have a look at that in the tab at the top of the blog marked My Style Profile. It has a nifty diagram and everything! :)

Outfit - Feeling dandy!

Wore this outfit today. Very basic really, and nothing new except for the bright red ruffle shirt. I rediscovered this one today when I was looking for something to wear. It was hiding underneath a jacket that I seldom use. I have way too few hangers so they usually hold one shirt and one jacket each. 

Bright red is a bit too bright a color for me but otherwise this shirt is perfect! I love ruffle shirts or cravats, especially worn with a vest! Looks quite dandy doesn´t it?

Price tag: Heck if I know... maybe around 40 €, excluding the hat...

Wish list: A white ruffle shirt! I have one, but it is way to big on me... A black ruffle shirt, or perhaps a black lace ruffle cravat, that would be awesome!

Need list: More black pants, I only have three good pairs now! *panics*

Outfit - Gothic Aristocrat?

Wore this the other day to a birthday party. The pictures are quite terrible, now that I really look at them... The outfit looks better than that, but you can get an idea. In my mind this looks a bit gothic aristocrat. The large sleeves and the long vest make me think of 18th century men's fashion. With a wig, breeches and stockings it would almost be spot on! ;)

I love the blouse I´m wearing here! The sleeves are gigantic! I love blouses and shirts with wide sleeves! You might not be able to see it but this blouse also has huge shoulder pads, I love them too! I found the blouse at some charity shop or other, probably cost me next to nothing. I didn´t use it for quite a while because it was too big for me, but after moving a few buttons it looks good, at least with a vest or something over it. 

The vest type garment here has a rather interesting story. It came to me in a very strange way. A former employer of my father (my father is in the construction business) owned a large apartment. A woman and her adult son were supposed to move in, they were moving from Abu Dhabi or Dubai or somewhere like that. All their stuff arrived, but they never did. My father stored these items for his former employer and as the owners never showed up and could not be tracked down they split the stuff between them (I guess that is allowed after a few years have passed). The woman had the same size shoes and clothes as I have, so I ended up with some of those, a handbag and a few odds and ends, among them this vest. She had quite expensive tastes too, the shoes and handbag are italian, the clothing mostly french, no mainstream brands here! Sometimes I wonder what happened to the woman and her son, where they disappeared to...

Price tag: About 40 € for the lot, excluding the hat.

Wish list: More wide sleeved shirts and blouses! More vests! I can never get enough! 

Outfit - Traveling in style!

Wore this today as I traveled from my (parents) home in Finland to where I study in Sweden, this involved one flight and two bus rides... I really should have photographed my luggage as well, but you can imagine that, surely. Let´s just say I had as much stuff with me as I was allowed... This doesn´t look very practical does it, but there is reason behind my madness! The thing with traveling via airplane is that there is never enough space for all my clothes! So I just wear whetever is bulkiest!! In this case one red, black and grey checkered/plaid wool skirt layered with one faux leather skirt of similar lenght... It felt a bit awkward but I got all my stuff moved from one place to another so that´s OK. 

Except for the checkered skirt, you have seen most of these items of clothing in other outfits.The skirt was another cheap charity shop find, I don´t remember what it cost me, but probably next to nothing.

The necklace I have made myself and I think it goes rather well with the skirt. I collected beads for this one for what felt like ages and it was finally completed this summer. I just had to make something really beautiful whit that fab focal bead! I have a similar necklace for sale in my Etsy shop, if any one is interested. The colors and materials are exactly the same as in this one, glass beads and smoke quartz, but the focal bead of that one is not as beatifully cut. You can find it here.

P.S. For the perfumistas: I wore Ambre from L'Occitane, a simple but glorious amber that I bought as a decand last spring. I wore it today because it is mild enough to not drive any fellow flight passengers mad, because it has great longevity, and because all my indie perfumes were packed away deep down in my suitcase!

Outfit - New leather skirt!

I actually ventured outside of my home today, for the first time in mire than a week... I had a giftcard to a local bookshop to spend. This was the outfit... The accessories are the same as usual these days, raven skull necklace, vest, pocket watch and top hat. The dark red velveteen shirt is one of my absolute favorites out of all the stuff that is in my wardrobe! A machine washable, comfortable, every day kind of item while still looking absolutely decadent! I bought it a few years ago from a charity shop for next to nothing... The black leather skirt is a recent find. I bought it last week at another charity shop for 8 €. It is real leather, the perfect lenght and fits very comfortably! 

Price tag: about 60 € excluding the hat and shoes, lots of pricy accessories here...

Wish list: Real leather pants, because I´m getting really tired of my faux leather pants getting worn out all too soon... More velveteen shirts, I´d love one black, one dark green, one dark blue and one dark teal... Won´t happen, but one can dream I suppose...

P.S. For the perfumistas, I wore Falling Stars at Winter Solstice layered with a hint of Smoke and Mirrors (both Alkemia)... My mother said I should wear something that smelled like a sauna, so I combined evergreens, vanilla and smoke... Smelled a bit like a sauna to me, though I don´t really know what evergreens have with a sauna to do...

Awful or Awesome - Case #1

This one is impulsively thrifted a couple of years ago, probably cost me a couple of euros, only been worn once since... It is teetering on the edge between aweful and awesome for me. The style is fine... but the COLORS! It would definitely be awesome for me if it was black, or red or, I don´t know, anything else... Light blue and gold is just revolting! The whole Rococo gone Bollywood  vibe is a bit much!! This one, I´m proud to say, made my mother cringe (says something if you know my mother)!

So, awful or awesome? Does it have potential? Would you wear it? Would it make your mother cringe?

(Sorry for the bad pics everyone, combination of lack of natural light (northern winters do not give you much natural light to begin with), sometimes crappy camera and a chronic lack of image editing program... The first pic is the most true to color!)

Outfit - Victorian with a Modern Twist

Wore this today! My hat is my constant companion, and this outfit does go well with it. Feels like a mishmash of styles, the shoes and the hat are of course rather victorian, but the rest... I don´t know...

The blouse is probably silk and such a beautiful orange-brown color! I bought it cheaply at a charity shop. Only later, when i got home and really looked at it did I realize that it is apparently made in the costume studio at the Dramaten theater in Stockholm. Where there usually is a necklable on any ordinary clothing, there is a Dramaten tag on this one, noted on this tag is the play that this blouse was used in and the actress who wore it. I think that is pretty neat!! And I do get to be sure that this is a completely unique piece!

The skirt is fake leather and wider than it looks in these photos (curse my tiny mirror!). I bough it at an H&M sale about a year ago and it has been a great addition to my wardrobe. I love fake leather, I love the color (it never is quite black, but rather dark dark grey) and the texture! I love to use contrasting textures together, like here between the silk and the fake leather, one soft and one harsh!

The shoes are my trusty high heeled lace up ankle boots, invaluable for a victorian look!

Last but definitely not least is the fabulous black raven skull necklace! I bought this a couple of weeks ago from the fabulous Etsy shop Skeletos, that specializes in cast metal bird and bone jewelry! Do visit that shop, it is affordable, the service was great and the skull is absolutely perfect!!

Price tag: about 70 €, excluding the hat (that hat cost me another 70 € at Beyond Retro).

Wish list: I do wish there were more blouses of this same style to be found, it has an extremely flattering shape and I love the sleeves! I guess that if I want one like it I´ll have to go to a seamstress and have one made for me... => Expensive! Otherwise this outfit hasn´t brought any new wishes to mind... Perhaps a raven claw ring would be nice though, like this one but with a black finish to match the skull.

Outfit - 80s Inspired

I wore this outfit to town a couple of days ago. I felt quite 80s. A couple of weeks ago I found the blouse/jacket at a trift store for 5 €. It was a bit large, so I moved some buttons at the waist. I like that it is large at the top, over the shoulders and chest, and small at the waist. I also like that you can either zip it up all the way to the neck or leave it open like I wear it in the picture, it looks great both ways. I think it IS from the 80s actually...

I pulled upp the legs of my faux leather pants over the knee and wore with my overknee stockings. It was a bit uncomfortable, but looked very nice. I love my faux leather pants. Again a versatile piece of clothing! But very warm, not for summer really, perhaps for cold and rainy summer days? Those pants are great when it rains, they are seriously waterproof! I don´t have to worry about getting my ass wet sitting on wet benches or the seat of my bicycle. A great by for autumn I think.

Price tag: about 25 €, excluding the hat...

Wish list: faux leather jacket (or a cheap second hand leather jacket), black leather gloves (futile, my hands are to large, no gloves ment for female hands fit me, and gloves ment for males are too wide and my long thin hands drown!), anything in black leather or lacquer perhaps... (Never thought something like lacquer pants would ever be on any wish list of mine, scary).

Outfit - Ouji/Dandy

A little ouji/dandy-inspired outfit. My top hat, grey suit, grey and black-striped stockings, my new and astoundingly versatile blouse/shirt with cravat and, to top it all off, my lace gloves! I felt very dandy indeed! I adore japanese style. I would never wear lolita, too cute, but I like gothic aristocrat, ouji, dandy...

Wish list: black suit, frilly white lace jabot, black vest, red vest... I would love an outfit like this but in black and red...

For a "gothic" outfit this was a cheap one, excluding the hat (that hat cost me about 60 €) the total cost was under 20 €. Cheap is good!