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...)?

The Art of Choosing Jewelry

A comment from Lynette prompted me to write this blog post. She asked me to write some more about where I find my necklaces and how I go about choosing them. I take any excuse to sort through my jewelry so I wasn't exactly reluctant! 

You wont get to see my complete jewelry collection today, as part of it is still lost somewhere in some moving box... But here is an illustrative selection. 

There are a few criteria that I use when searching for, choosing and buying jewelry. I want unique jewelry, preferably handmade, vintage or repurposed. I also want jewelry that is more than pretty. I want it to have a context or a subtle symbolic meaning. I wear a lot of jewelry with association to history or nature. You may notice a lot of old keys among my necklaces along with other repurposed items but also some leaves and mysterious historical patterns. These are things that I feel are distinctively "me", that have a meaning for me! I also want to introduce more macabre in my collection. My raven skull is feeling kind of lonely. But I don't want to venture into gothic cliché so the hunt is a bit slow...

There is also the material to consider. There are some colors and materials that I prefer, that I have made mine. Bronze and forged iron are my favorite materials by far! Gold is too... vulgar, silver too pale and they are both too perfect, too light, too bright. I want a rustic and dark feel to my jewelry! I like oxidized, rusted, aniqued! I try to make sure that I have matching rings and bracelets fro every color and material. I just obsessively need my pieces of jewelry to match perfectly! Another signature material in my jewelry wardrobe pertains specifically to my rings. I really like carved stone rings, meaning rings that are carved out of solid stone. I have a lot of them in various different colors!

There are other personal preferences to take into consideration as well. How large do I want my jewelry to be? And what lenghts suit my clothing best? Admittedly, I enjoy large pieces of jewelry. Large but still elegant and practical. I want my jewelry to be noticed. And I want it to be noticed right away, and not as an afterthought! I also want my jewelry to be a natural part of my outfit. For that it is useful if a necklace is flexible and can be made shorter or longer depending on my needs. When I wear my vest I need my necklaces to be shorter than when I am without vest. When I wear a button down shirt I need a necklace to lay just right between buttons... A wardrobe with a variety of cleavage types demands more flexibility from the necklace wardrobe. For some of my pendants I have made braided cords to use instead of the chains they came with, for added versatility.

So where do I find my jewelry? There are a few different places. As I am into making jewelry I create a lot of pieces for my own use. I sell my jewelry on Etsy (my shop is here) and that is a great place to buy handmade jewelry. I have made some really stunning finds there, like the raven skull and the wire eye! I also buy a lot of jewelry on handmade markets or in handmade shops. Another part of my collection is thrifted or second hand. But it's hard for me to find vintage jewelry that really suits my style...

Final thoughts on building a jewelry wardrobe:

• Make sure rings and bracelets fit right. If they are too loose you wont wear them, no matter how pretty they are. 
• Find your style! Your jewelry should match (or maybe contrast) your clothing and if you have a distinctive personal clothing style then why not an equally distinctive jewelry style?
• Signature pieces are very useful to have, especially if they are versatile and suits the majority of you clothing. If you can't be bothered/don't have the time to choose jewelry then you have something to fall back on that always works!
• Try making your own jewelry from items that mean something to you! These pieces will be very personal and original!
• Signature materials are important. They help you focus your search and keep your collection consistent! Look at your clothing style and try to come to a conclusion as to what materials and colors you should focus on. And the choice doesn't stand between gold or silver. There is a myriad of other materials! Maybe wood is your thing, or a particular type of gem, or leather, or sea shells or maybe bone....
• Avoid very fragile pieces of jewelry. Jewelry needs to be quite durable to be wearable! Most materials can be sturdy and elegant at the same time. Buy quality!
• Support small businesses and handmade goods. Capitalism and multinational corporations may rule the world but they don't have to rule your wardrobe!

What kinds of jewelry do you use? What are your favorite materials? Favorite shops? Do you ever make jewelry youself?

Five Things From My Wardrobe

This post is in part inspired by the "five things tag" that is moving around the blogosphere right now. It is an interesting tag, but I felt like modfying it to be more about personal style. This post is also inspired by some posts by Lynette at Evolution of an Aristocrat (awesome blog, do go visit!). She has embarked on a closet remake and while I have not found myself doing the same, I am doing this instead.

Lynettes posts about her wardrobe really had me thinking about what items make out the core of my wardrobe. What are my favorite items (right now)? Which items do I use the most (or wish I could use the most)? What items are indispensible? What items are at the core of my personal style? With these questions in mind I created a few categories and got to work.

Five Favorite Clothing Items

• Dark red velveteen shirt. As seen here and here.
• Black shirt with wide sleeves. As seen here and here.
• Gold and red brocade jacket. As seen here. 
• Pleather pants. As seen here and here. 
• Black skirt with ruffles at the hem. As seen here.

Conclusion: This was a difficult category as I decided to limit myself to just five items from my whole clothing wardrobe. But I learned a lot in the process of choosing these five items! They are items that work well together. Almost all of them have been in the same outfit at some point. They are also for the most part items that are second hand. They can also be said to be a representation of my personal style. 

Five Favorite Necklaces

• Raven skull necklace. As seen here.
• Gothic winged necklace. As seen here. 
• Wire eye pendant. From Twisted Sister Arts.
• Beaded black and silver necklace with key. My own creation.
• Rosary inspired amber colored necklace with key. My own creation.

Five Other Jewelry Favorites

• Forged iron ring. Recent find. 
• Leaf brooch. Recent find.
• Eye button brooch. As seen here. My own creation.
• Hematite ring. A jewelry staple in my wardrobe.
• Peace sign clip on earring. Good for a gal without pierced ears.

Jewelry concusions: I wasn't as strict with my jewelry categories. I have soo many favorite necklaces that they got a cateory of their own. Here too I can see certain patterns. I seem to have an obsession with anything gunmetal/oxidized silver/forged iron/dark silver colored... The wire eye gives a dark red splash of color and then there are the couple of bronze/amber/rust items. I notice a certain similarity in color scheme between my favorite jewelry items and my favorite clothes! Most of these pieces of jewelry have also been used in outfits together with my favorte clothes!

Five Favorite Perfumes

• Mona di Orio Les Nombres d'Or Cuir.
• Slumberhouse Jeke. reviewed here.
• Darling Clandestine Maudlin and Bedlam.
• Wild Hybrid Wrangler.
• Olympic Orchids Tropic of Capricorn.

Conclusions: this is very much a "right now" category of favorites. Jeke is a long time favorite and I believe that Tropic of Capricorn and Cur might also stay favorites for a long time. The other two are ones that I am obsessed with at the moment but that might be forgotten tomorrow or next week. Still I notice patterns of leather, animalic notes, darkness, spices and a hint of smoke. These scents are definitely "me".

Five Other Indispensible Items

• Top hat. As seen in all of my outfits, it's always on my head!
• Brass (?) shot glass. Perfect to bring with me to parties. Why borrow an ugly glass when you can party in style!?
• Perfume notebooks. As seen here. 
• Gunmetal pocket watch. As seen here, there and everywhere really. 
• Ankh cross pendant. Why isn't this one among my necklaces you ask? Well, I, um, forgot about about it...

Conclusion: Several of these items are with me or on me most of the time! The Ankh is the odd one out here, but I adore it so sue me. Other candidates for this category were my black satchel bag, my winter coat, my beautiful tea cup and a few other items... but these made the final cut. What most of them have in common (sorry ankh) is that they are beautiful accessories with a practical use! 

I'd love to see some of you do this! It really is a learning experience and I am very curious as to how your five favorites would look!

A Spring-Summer Recap

Just to get into blogging again I have decided to do a post with mostly pictures. I have a whole heap of outfit pictures from spring and early summer that I need to post now or never... I especially love my eclectic spring outfits but I was too busy to write blog posts this spring so this here will be a recap.

I love this red jacket! It is one of my favorites for spring! I'll have to stay slim if I want to wear it for all eternity though, it's a thight one! This jacket is a vintage find from Beyond Retro (my favorite place for shopping strange vintage clothing!).

Sorry for the picture quality here. I can't even blame the dusty mirror for this one. This outfit was the one I wore when I had just turned in my paper and wanted to celebrate that milestone! Both the jacket and the dress here are actually from H&M!

This dress is another Beyond retro find! I absolutely adore the dark teal color of it but that color is absolutely impossible to capture on camera, even in natural light... The mirror is extremely dusty here so I guess you can't really see the dress anyway. Trust me, it is dark teal velvet and gorgeous!

On my birthday I visited Stockholm one last time before my big move. I went on a big perfume sniffing spree and to a couple of Second Hand stores. I fell in love with Les Nombred d'Or Cuir by Mona di Orio and at Beyond Retro I bought this dress. I never thought that I would ever fall for floral clothing, but I did! It is the perfect summer dress, a thin, machine washable cotton with a lace up back!

This is an outfit for colder days. The tunic is one of my favorite pieces, wide sleeves, lace, tight around the wrists... All this AND machine washable! Just perfect!! I bought it at H&M a number of years ago and it remains one of the most unique pieces in my wardrobe!

Here is another of my favorite pieces from my wardrobe, my black velvet dress, previously seen in at least one other outfit. I love how versatile it is, it can be dressed up or down, made morbid or romantic...I bought it at Weekday a couple of years ago. Here it is paired with my dark floral tights.

And now we get to my absolute favorite outfit of all time.I just had to include more than one picture of this outfit! I wear it again and again and I never tire of it! All of these pieces just fell together one day and became this outfit without any premeditation on my part! My black velvet dress is the base, together with my golden party skirt. The skirt was bought second hand, the absolutely gorgeous jacket is from H&M, the necklace is from LeBoudoirNoir and the slippers were a gift from a friend.

Hope you have enjoyed this little exposé. It will unfortunately be my last outfit post for a while... I don't have a full lenght mirror here yet. I didn't bring the old narrow (and perpetually dusty) one back to Finland with me and I have no idea where to find the wall space for a wider one in my room, not to mention the money to buy one...

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In other news, from real life, my summer job has ended. Since Midsummer I have worked as a library assistant in a small local library. I have had that little library all to myself for a whole month! I LOVED it! Working there full time is my dream for the future, but I guess I'll have to wait...

My room is also taking shape. All of my books have by some miracle managed to fit in my book shelves and all of my clothes in my wardrobe. I had doubts about both! There is even some space for more books (this is the real miracle, I have been cramming for years)!! Now I only have a few more boxes of assorted nick-nacks to unpack.

My post about my herbal teas will be up sooner or later, whenever I can find the inspiration to write a long text... I have soo many photos of herbal tea now that I'm thinking that I might have to split the post up into several parts... We'll see...

I also have A LOT of new perfumes in my life! An Alkemia haul or two, some giveaway packages, some full sizes from Darling Clandestine, some samples from Wild Hybrid and even my first real niche purchase,a small bottle of above mentioned Les Nombres d'Or Cuir from Mona di Orio. I smell good!!

A very nice day + outfit!

Last night I sent my almost finished Bachelor's paper to my supervisor so I took the day off today and ventured outside for the first time in almost two weeks... It seems that spring has arrived while I was working on my paper. I finally got to use something else than my winter coat. Don't get me wrong, I love my coat, but it gets a bit boring with only one option. But when it comes to jackets I have a multitude of options! This is what I wore today. It is an outfit that you have pretty much seen before, but I'm posting new pictures anyway. I do love this outfit!! It is such a shocker, this jacket! Oh, and the perfume of choice today was The Voice of Reason by Lush.

(Note to self: DUST THAT MIRROR!! Or even better, get a new, wider, mirror!)

The weather was gorgeous today, warm and sunny! I had a few things to take care of in town first but then I took the time to enjoy some things I usually do every spring. I had an ice cream by the river that runs through  Uppsala. One scoop of licorice and one of pecan ice cream. Then I walked through the beautiful old parts of town up to the university to return a book to the library. On the way back I took a stroll through the cemetary. I love cemetaries, they are so... gothic I guess! After that I visited the huge Uppsala cathedral. I'm not christian, but I enjoy the beautiful architecture and the wonderful feeling of history in this beautiful cathedral! Google it, it is a wonderful place! Lots of old kings and queens of Sweden are buried there along with other famous people, like Carl Linnaeus and Emanuel Swedenborg.

Back in the center of town I bought a salad and some strawberries, just for that luxurious spring feeling! On the way back to my bike I was accosted by a few people from one of the national TV networks.  I saw one of the TV people point me out to the others when I was still a fair distance from them, I guess they though I would look interesting on camera. You would be surprised how often that kind of thing happens when you dress like me. Anyway, they wanted to film me while they asked a few questions... Guess what the questions where about! They where about sex! I was happy to answer their questions just to spread the word about asexuality! So, apparently I'll be on Swedish television this autumn, on a show about sex. Oh the irony!

Oh, and I just have to say some words about my bike! It is such a piece of junk! It has no reflectors anymore, no handbrakes, no working bell, one of the baskets is fastened with a shoelace, a hairband and a piece of metal wire...  But I love my bike! It looks, and sounds, like junk but works like a charm! And this last weekend it finally got its just rewards for seven years of loyal service. My friend Blomma, who is an artist and an art teacher, painted it! It now looks like pretty junk instead of ugly junk! Here it is!

Now I'm going to just relax, watch something on netflix, eat my salad and my strawberries... Later I'll prepare those packages of perfume that I want to send to some fine people! Perhaps I'll write some perfume reviews too...

Etsy Finds - Necklace from The Navigatrix + Outfit

I recently took part in a giveaway that the inspiring Sally-Ann Livingston hosted on her blog. And I won a £15 gift voucher to be used in her Etsy shop! Sally-Ann is a UK based creator of mostly one of a kind upcycled Steampunk jewelry and accessories. Her shop is cleverly named The Navigatrix, a name that is fabulously Steampunk! And you all know how I love Steampunk! I was already quite familiar with her shop so I went right ahead and bought a necklace I had looked at earlier for the voucher. But there are a lot of other gorgeous items in her shop! I was also tempted by this pretty clockhand necklace, this other beautiful choker and this hilarious brooch! 

-----> Sally-Ann has been nice enough to offer all readers of this post a special offer of a 15% discount for any purchase from her Etsy shop, using the coupon code BLOG15! So go and have a look!! 

Handling and shipping were very fast (is it just me or has international mail picked up speed lately?), so I had the package in my hand about a week after entering the giveaway. The necklace was beautifully packaged, using Victorian Steampunk aesthetics! I love the image of the compass on the package, such a suitable symbol for a shop that is named The Navigatrix!

                                               

The necklace itself is of a choker type with an oxblood brocade ribbon and a brass heart. Normally I´m very much not a heart kind of person, but this one is fine and that oxblood colored ribbon just charmed me! Oxblood is one of my favorite colors on me, that and dark teal, so I knew that I would have items to match this necklace. Also, it is both dramatic and demure at the same time, I rather like that! It sits very elegantly around my neck! The brass heart is light and the ribbon soft so the necklace is very comfortable.

Of course, the first thing I always do when I have acquired something new to wear is to find outfits that suit it. So here is an outfit! This necklace prompted me to bring out my ridiculously sexy little black dress, yet another Beyond Retro find... Of course I also wore Vixen by BPAL while choosing an outfit, so maybe that influenced me a bit... ;) This dress is so sexy (the pictures do not quite do it justice) that I feel slightly uncomfortable wearing it, and I´m not terribly prudeish! This outfit would probably be the perfect one for a Valentines Day date, only I´m asexual and I hate Valentines Day... It is definitely a dress for very special occasions and I don´t have many of those, sadly. So this dress spends most of its time in the back of the wardrobe... I have only worn it out once and man did I get stared at!

In any case, the necklace fits quite well with it and with those thights! I feel like a film noir heroine in this!

So, did you find any favorite items at The Navigatrix? What are your favorite colors for clothing? Which is your favorite sexy perfume? Is this dress too sexy for an asexual?? ;)