Autumn Outfit + Rambling

I have noticed that my default style for autumn seems to be quite steampunk inspired... I just delight in digging out my vests and my pocket watches when summer is at an end! This is an outfit I wore the other day. Kind of steampunk, kind of contemporary, very practical. I feel very stylish and elegant wearing this! I love the different textures and the different shades of dark grey/black! It's quite androgynous too, which is always a plus! Scent of the day was Jeke by Slumberhouse. I stand by my words, Jeke is a steampunk kind of perfume!

The hat, shirt, vest and pants are all wardrobe staples that have been seen on this blog before. The jacket/blazer is one of my best finds ever! I bought it at a flea market for 30 swedish crowns, which is about 3.5-4 €... virtually nothing! And it fits as if it was tailor-made for me!

My new brooch suits this outfit very well imho!

My favorite gunmetal pocket watch, mechanical with the movement visible both in the front and in the back! It keeps time reliably (some of these cheap pocket watches really don't) and only needs winding about once every 36 hours.

Quirky view of my outfit! ;)

My best pair of shoes! I love how elegant they are while still being practical! I like the pointier than normal toe (for this type of shoe) and my feet look smaller than they actually are in these! They seem to be quite good quality too, I've had them several years and worn them a lot and still they look no different from the day I bought them! The shoelaces are a bit too long though...

In other news the history society in my home village is organizing a class about tule weaving/plaiting that I am taking part in. Tule is a type of sedge that has traditionally been used here to make mats, shoe insoles and various other practial or decorative items. So far I have only made a couple of bracelets and a new handle for one of my teapots. Next time I am making insoles, wish me luck!

I found this teapot in the garbage room of my appartment complex in Uppsala. It was pretty but lacked a handle. Now it has a handle again! I am rather proud of it! I also really like the matching but mismatched cup and saucer combo! Am I strange when I feel like my tea cup has to match my teapot?

My tiny village has a very active community life. We have a youth society, a history society, a historical motor society and a kind of community center where the latter two of these societíes are based (the youth society has its own house). My father is active in some way in all of these societies and I am getting more and more into it too, mostly in the history society. The word history society is a bit misleading actually but I couldn't find a english word for hembygdsförening. The swedish word more literally means home region society or even roots society. I feel strongly about my village and my roots here (my family has ben here as long as this village has existed, literally since the land rose from the sea) so being part of the history society and learning/conservating the traditions of my village feels important!

Outfit - Basic black semi-steampunk!

The last Tuesday of every month I meet up with a gang of geeks at a student pub. These guys (yes, mostly guys) are originally members of a fantasy community, but that community is mostly dead, and these meet-ups have nothing to do with fantasy nowadays. These guys also share a passion for beer, and they have infected me with it. I´m not a geek yet, but I have definitely aquired a taste for strong Belgian beers, especially Trappist beers! (Though a new favorite, that I tried this Tuesday, is a Dutch beer, Bommen & Granaten by Brouwerij De Molen! It instantly replaced the La Trappe Quadruple that has been my favorite for a while.) I used to hate beer. I still hate most beer but I now know that beer can be so many things, some awesome, some awful... Beer is rather like perfume actually!

Anyway, geekery aside, I wore this outfit! Mostly previously featured staples from my wardrobe. I don´t think I have raved about these fake leather pants though! They fit like they were painted on, but are still comfortable! I feel kind of sexy when I wear them! The black shirt is the only clothing item I found during the weekend's Beyond Retro raid. It is a rather simple black shirt but beautifully pleated. And the sleeves are    huge, just like I want them. The knee high boots are also a new addition to my wardrobe. I bought them this autumn, when I realised that last winter's boots are falling to pieces... I loved those boots so it was rather sad. These boots were the best I could find for less than 50€, which was my budget at the time.  I would have a better picture of them, but my camera battery died... Suffice to say thay have a two inch heel, a decorative sipper down the outside and a couple of decorative buttons. I wanted them as simple as possible and they just don´t make any nice plain boots anymore, they all have all kinds of frills and buckles and whatnot... The necklace is one I have made myself from a key that I bought cheaply at a flea market.

This look is very me as some of you might note. I have made the vest and the large sleeves my trademark... and the hat of course. I feel very comfortable in this kind of semi-steampunk everyday outfit! What kind of outfits do you feel most comfortable in? What are your trademarks? (Any beer geeks out there?)

Price tag: about 80€, excluding the hat.

Wish list: same old, same old!

P.S. Maybe I should move my Egon Schiele prints around a bit so I don´t have that (admittedly nice-looking) butt in every outfit picture... Just a thought.

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 - Black Steampunk

This was the outfit of the day. This is full on steampunk for me! I don´t own a corset as of yet, and I don´t even know if I want one. A vest is more practical, suits everyday life much better and I can have a pocket watch if I wear a vest! Anyway this is a very basic steampunk outfit really. It consists of:

• A black shirt with wide sleeves that are fitted at the wrist. Bought this at a second hand shop for about 20 €. It doesn´t look very nice without the vest, a bit shapeless... But the sleeves are fantastic so with the vest it´s perfect!
• A basic fitted vest, from H&M I think, can´t quite remember... I think it was cheap, because I bought two, this black one and one checkerd grey. Finding a womens vest with the right fit and with pockets is not easy, I´ll tell you. I have five vests but only these two above fit well and have pockets large enough for a pocket watch!
• One awesome wide black skirt. I can´t really tell you where to find one like this. Mine is a hand-me-down from a friend... It was literally thrown at me and was the start for my interest in steampunk/victorian style really. Or, well, the hat was first, but the skirt made me curious to try the whole steampunk look. 
• Lace up ankle boots, the same as in the previous outfit.
• My beautiful pocket watch! This was one of my first Etsy finds, for about 20€, but from a shop that does not exist anymore. You can find others quite like it though if you search for "mechanical pocket watch". But be aware that this pocket watch is neither truly hand made nor vintage, so they do not fit with the Etsy policy and such shops are freaquently terminated. So Etsy is not the ideal place to find pocket watches like this one, it was just convenient for me as I already had an Etsy account. I have bought a vintage russion pocket watch from TimeMill on Etsy. They sell mostly watch parts, perfect for steampunk crafts, but also some working watches. No pocket watches in the shop right now, but keep an eye out and the perfect one might pop up there.. Another Etsy shop, Alfresco Unique Group, have no pocket watches, but really awesome mechanical steampunk wrist watches! If I wore wrist watches I would definitely order from there. 
• My black top hat. Good luck on finding an affordable one! Mine was the most expensive item I have ever bought, but then again, I´m a cheap bastard!
• The final piece of this outfit is the brooch below. I made this myself as one of my first ventures into the world of wire wrapping. I decided that the technique was not for me, I like to be more free and impulsive in my crafts. But this brooch turned out ok. I´ve had the rhinestone eye button for a long time, always thinking that I should make it into some kind of jewelry... I have no jewelry like this one in my shop, I don´t think I have the skill set required for wire wrapping, but I do make wire dragonflies.

Price tag: about 60 €, excluding the top hat.

Wish list: I have to add corset here, I´d love to have one for really showing off, and for more formal occasions. More pocket watches are always on the list, and I want a matching chain for my vintage watch, the one it came with was a bit too worn and a bit too thin and with the wrong clasp for my tastes, I want one with a T-bar or with a hook (like the featured in this outfit)... A brocade vest is also on the wish list, preferably any combination of red, black, gold and silver. This brocade vest is something I´m not really expecting to find, and if i find one it will definitely either be a mans size or way too expensive, but one can hope!