only slightly wicked

Today's outfit: sort of hastily thrown together, and then I looked in the mirror and decided that I loved it.

Hmmm. Evil secretary? Then I remembered that I had spent the afternoon working on a YA boarding school paranormal fantasy. There you are, then. 

blouse, shoes: thrifted
skirt: Maurice's
necklace: Hot Topic

what i wore this week, part one

Soooo... whoops. I seem to have a backlog of Things To Post at the moment. My brain's been a bit of an unpleasant (and messy, very in need to airing) place for a while, and I keep taking pictures and forgetting to edit and post them. Here are a few selections from the last week or so.

This lovely grey number is quite possibly my favourite dress -- I snagged it for five dollars at Ross Dress For Less last winter, and it is not only lovely, simple, and flattering, but extremely soft and comfortable. It tends to be a go-to dress for sick days or sad days or travelling on account of its cosiness -- and, another benefit: it is extremely versatile. It's a short-sleeved, lightly shaped handkerchief-hem dress that pulls over the head -- I've worn it with jackets (like this striped bolero), camisoles, floral thermals or lace blouses underneath; with boots and flats and various belts and petticoats. Also: it is fantastic for dancing.

Beloved Turkish pashmina scarf and skeleton key from the house -- I've always wanted to wear these keys but they never seemed to suit the ribbons I usually string things on. This little cord is perfect.

What I wore to go traipsing about town on Tuesday. I'll admit the weather was a little warmer than the sweater suggests, but, uh. I am stubborn? It varied, anyway -- I was bicycling and got chilly sometimes. The skirt is from the Goodwill warehouse sale earlier in the summer; it's so old-fashioned and storybook, I can't help but adore it. (It's also quite good for layering under solid-coloured dresses or skirts that are a bit too short or sheer.) 

BOOTS. Okay, I am beyond thrilled with these boots and wore them almost every day for a week. They are flat, and really comfortable and just the sort of old-fashioned lost-in-the-woods boot I have been wanting for years -- and probably the closest I will get to my long-dreamed-of knee-high brown Legolas boots for a long while yet. They look perfect with dresses and did I mention comfortable?

Claire's gloves (finally wearing them lots -- bought them with birthday money in the summertime as there was only one pair left), pretty kitschy little ring I snatched up for a quarter at a yard sale.

First pair of actual proper shorts I have owned since, um. I do not remember. Early adolescence? I was convinced for years that I had dreadful legs (which I probably did, then -- it was only after I started exercising regularly that my legs acquired muscle tone and an actual consistent shape), and then I don't like most shorts anyway. I still want a high-waisted pair with lots of buttons, but these were three dollars, and they fit, are comfortable, are not too tight in the thighs, and lace up the front (over a zipper for convenience), which gives them the dash of unconventionality that I crave.

The t-shirt. It is my very favourite t-shirt of all the t-shirts that ever were. Um. Probably. I've racked up a decent collection of quirky and pretty t-shirts, but this one -- my love for it knows no bounds. It is Threadless' Vampires Beware shirt -- various folkloric methods of revealing and killing vampires. As my novel-in-progress is a vampire historical fantasy and I've researched this stuff inside-out (...sometimes for fun. folklore is my thing), this is extra awesome.

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More tomorrow! Let this be a reminder to me: NEVER GET BACKED UP.

being an intrepid heroine in expensive sweaters

More spoils of the Goodwill sale! I am always in need of sweaters, as I get terrifically cold during the winter and tend to huddle into layers of clothing and blankets and cats -- and in desperation over the last five years have accrued a lot that don't fit right or some such, so finding new ones to replace them (sweaters take up too much room anyway!) is always excellent. And the weather these last two days has been perfect: just cool enough to wear a sweater, but the sun was out and warm all day yesterday. 

Sweater number one is from Saks 5th Avenue. Ah, thrifting, you are so good to me. I love the bit of puff to the sleeves. And with my wool Banana Republic skirt (which turned up in Goodwill brand new with a $99 price tag -- we bought it for $4), I felt incredibly posh. If only my underwear wasn't from Walmart.

I found a Bartholomew! My gloves (Claire's) don't really go, I don't think, but my hands were chilly. The stockings were one of my DIY projects this week -- cutting up ill-fitting stockings to make thigh-highs or knee socks. I think I am going to have to get myself some garters, though. 

I adore these shoes (thrifted), though I wish they were a bit more comfortable: the balance is a little odd. I want some flat brogues terribly, but haven't found any yet -- not even any on eBay, not in my size (9-- which makes it harder) at a good price. I wear these less than I'd like as they feel really weird to wear around the house: they're very noisy, and as I said a bit teetery.

*

Today it's been a bit chillier and rather less sunny, and I am cosy in sweater number two, which is one of the snuggliest ones I've ever had. Quality tells, I suppose -- this one is J. Crew, whose sweaters and cardigans I would terribly love to browse with no thought of expense; Emily Martin always has such fantastic ones.

For NaNoWriMo this year, I am writing a WWII-era gothic fantasy YA (Britain, woods, lots of tramping about in boots and coats), and plan to spend much of November dressed essentially like this -- all mossy, earthy, rich colours, with boots and sweaters and tweeds and stockings and scarves. Really, planning my story is what led to this outfit; I will likely be paging through pictures of film costumes for further inspiration in the future. 

The skirt was another successful DIY fix-it project, hooray! (I have a bad track record with these things, though really, trying to sew new buttons onto a heavy wool tweed coat with no prior experience will end badly.) The skirt is slightly too large -- it fits, but it hangs wrong; the waist fell down lower than it was meant. But for one reason or another, a basic black skirt is next to impossible to find, so as it mostly fit I snatched it up, brought it home, and stitched in a fold at the top. Unlike my safety-pin improvisations (I am all about class, guys), it has not yet popped open and sent my skirt tumbling down my hips. The stitches are pretty ugly, but you can't really see them anyway. 

Awesome stockings were in my birthday package from Kyra, and I wore them for my birthday and then NEVER AGAIN because summer is EVIL. (Okay, okay, I like summer. But I go mad not being able to wear stockings.) Boots are from Land's End! (Thrifted, of course.)

This scarf has been a staple of my cold-weather wardrobe for the last four years. I am convinced that it once belonged to Sirius Black. How it got into a Goodwill in Northwestern Pennsylvania is anyone's guess. HE LOST IT OKAY. The ribbon's from the scrap ribbon box my mother keeps. The earrings -- BUTTONS!! *-* -- uh, that was my reaction when I first saw them; Claire's had a fantastic autumn collection two years ago that included a lot of button jewellery, including these earrings. The key is one of several skeleton keys that goes to this house. For some reason most of them have ended up in my bedroom...

Hey look, I found another kitty! This is my baby Willow, and she wants to kill me. (She's really very affectionate, but she'll be damned if she's going to let a human dictate what she does.)