Scarves Are a Goth's Best Friend

 ...Or at least mine. They keep you warm in the winter, can be purely decorative in the summer, and come in so many different patterns. When I'm in a hurry (Read: all the time) and don't have time to hunt down a necklace, I normally just grab one of the numerous scarves from my closet. Not to mention, if you're wearing a boring, plain black shirt that day, there's no better way to cover it up then with a scarf. (Unless you feel like wearing a jacket all day I suppose. But let's assume that it's too hot indoors for that.)

Luckily, despite the vivid colors lining the shelves, there are still plenty of monochrome scarves to be snatched up. Also, don't completely ignore color because it's 'not goth enough'. If you like that bright green and fluffy monstrosity then you make it work!  I'm constantly drawn to leopard print in unnatural shades. Don't limit yourself to black, grey, white, and more black. Here are a few scarf ideas that caught my eye while browsing. Though it seems I'm contradicting myself because I ended up with the aforementioned black, grey, white, and more black. Oops.

 

Most of us in this blogging sphere are enduring the winter months right now, so hunt down some scarves and use them to your advantage! Shawls, jabots, capelets, and detachable fake fur collars are also fair game of course. Another great thing you could do is rip up a plain black scarf and give it a deconstructed, maybe even post-apocalyptic feel, depending on the look you're going for. 

Right now my favorite scarf has got to be either my polka dot one or my bright red leopard print. How about you guys? Do you have a favorite scarf and/or neck accessory?

Spice up Casual Goth

 I recently did a post about the necessity of sometimes toning down your look for the sake of your sanity and sleep, but what about those of us who have the opposite problem? Or even just those days when you want to be casual, but still interesting? We can't dress like a Shiny Black Sheep every day, (Lovely metaphor courtesy of Lucretia's Reflection. It's my favorite phrase as of right now.) but there are some minor things you can do when you want to dress down, but still add a little interest to your casual wear.

• Accessorize! Accessories can make or break an outfit as we all know. If you're going out in a T-shirt and jeans you can add a little interest with a few well placed bracelets/necklaces. I love wearing simple chokers with my t-shirts and my ankh is normally a staple.

• Shoes! There's no rule that says thou-must-wear-boring-shoes-when dressing-down. When I have t-shirt days I tend to throw on a pair of my more interesting sandals to balance it out. Or how about creepers? They've got that unusual flair that separates them from the converse clad crowd around you. I'm sad to say I don't own a pair because I think they'd be perfect for a go-to casual outfit. Even slipping on a pair of combat boots let's me feel a little more in my element, and it provides the additional element of letting me stomp around when I'm in a foul mood.

• T-shirts that say things about your interests are much more fun than a plain black shirt. If you're going to wear a t-shirt, make it say something about you. You can show off the things you like, and maybe even find someone who shares your interests. Band shirts are obviously a popular choice, and my Bauhaus shirt has actually helped start conversations with two old school Goths. (One of them was working in a bakery and made sure I got the largest lemon square. It was fantastic) Of course, who says the shirts have to be Goth or band related? The most worn T-shirts in my closet are my Riddler and Dark Souls shirts. Comics and video games for the win ;) 

 

Not particularly Goth, but my love of Batman is easily worked in ;)

I'm eying this too.
The sad thing is I hardly have money to spare for T-shirts XD

• Hats and scarves automatically bring an outfit to the next level. It looks like you spent a lot more time choosing your clothes when in reality it took you 30 seconds to wrap a piece of fabric around your neck or pop on a hat. I've got this semi-boring black shirt and skirt combo that looks completely different once I don my leopard or skull scarf. And hats are fantastic creations. If you're having a bad hair day on top of your casual day you can just stick a fedora or bowler on your head and you're good to go.

• How about changing your makeup or hair? If you've got the same everyday makeup routine try changing it up a bit. I normally match my eyeshadow to any colors that appear in my shirt. Since I normally only go out in eyeliner, the eyeshadow helps me feel a like I put a little effort into my outfit even if I've just thrown on the typical shirt and jeans combo. Hair, on the other hand, can be easily changed as well. You could quickly tease it a bit before you go out. A spritz of hair-spray and you're half-channeling the trad Goths with minimal effort. We're not talking a whole bottle of Aquanet here. (Unless you'd like to. Then by all means go ahead! I highly approve.) If you've got the time, straighten or curl your hair. If you just want to put it up, try something different like braiding it back.

Just changing your eyeliner can make a look completely different.

Well that's that. In other news, we recently had one of our lovely summer storms down here, which resulted in me going without power for about 24 hours, an extremely flooded yard, and a large 70 foot tree barricading my driveway. I've had to climb over it a few times to get to the bus. So yeah, fun times. I never realize how crucial electricity is to my existence until I lose it. I actually got so bored/fed up with not being able to even do homework online, or most of my chores, that I ended up polishing my boots. I really ought to do it more often considering scuff marks magically appear on them no matter how hard I try to avoid it. I think I hit my feet on the stairs at school...I'm really a klutz.

 Finally, anyone watching Hannibal on NBC? That show is making me ridiculously happy at the moment. It's got so much more interest than most typical crime shows, the cinematography is really beautiful, and the characters are flawlessly done. Mads Mikkelsen is my absolute favorite Hannibal to date and you can just feel the instability seeping off of Will in the way he stands and talks. And of course I get a kick out of watching Hannibal play his mind games with everyone as they scramble left and right to do his bidding. I mean, he's only trying to help. No manipulation here. Just your friendly neighborhood cannibalistic psychiatrist.

I see what you did there~

I'm sort of worried that it's going to be cancelled, and that would be a tragic waste of potential. Of course it's got a few faults, (which I'm not going to get into because I'd rather this didn't turn into a rant) but the show has got so many redeeming qualities that more than make up for the shortcomings.  The reviews are great, but the views for whatever the coveted audience demographic is have dropped, and NBC is pretty fickle. So everyone should go watch it ;)

30 Day Clothing Challenge~ Day 18 and 19

Day 18 is a piece of jewelry you made.

Well the one piece of actual jewelry I've made broke some months ago and since it wasn't salvageable (The whole choker unraveled) it ended up in the trash... So I'm afraid that while I do some DIY from time to time I don't have any actual jewelry. You've already seen my headbands and scarf so I'm ging to leave this without a picture.

Day 19 is all of your necklaces and bracelets. Let's see... my bracelets are all clumped together in a drawer with any gloves I own. I know, I know, not very organized, but as long as I can find things I'm content.

My necklaces were facing a similar situation until a few weeks ago, but unlike my bracelets I was constantly untangling these and cleaning the tarnish off any silver left in the bathroom. I went and bought a board I could hang them on. It's great because now I can actually keep track of all of them.

And here's yesterday's outfit. I had a bit of trouble sneaking this one past the school administrators because it's jut a tad too short for dress code, but this dress has lain in my closet unused for far too long. I put on a pair of tights and made sure to walk behind them at all times. It's a good thing they're normally wearing blue jackets ^^

And then later we went out to eat so I changed my jacket. The good thing about my almost entirely black closet is that everything always goes together. No matching problems for me! (The only problem I have is when I want to wear my boots with the gold buckles, and therefore can't wear any of my jewelry because it's all silver...)

I love the shoulders on this.

 Now I'm off to listen to David Bowie's new album, which is fantastic in my opinion. Especially considering how it could have turned out. Sometimes when older artists go and make new albums after so many years they turn out less than stellar, but Bowie is still strong and doing his own thing. It's great. There are very few songs on the album that I skip when listening to it and everyone should go give it a listen as soon as possible. I just....I love Bowie so much it's ridiculous.

Etsy Feature ~ Crows and Ravens

Well, it's been a while since I did this, which is rather silly considering how much time I spend browsing Etsy. Last time I believe I did a skull-centered one, so this time it's crows and ravens~ They're awfully stereotypical aren't they? But really, those black feathers make for all sorts of great accessories. And bird skulls. You can't go wrong with bird skulls.

Unfortunately, these pictures have been sitting around on my desktop for a while, so I can't tell you who's stores they come from. Searching something based on a description should work fine, as long as the items haven't been sold already, and I'm fairly sure all of these are still available. (With perhaps one or two exceptions)

A simple ear cuff

Tricorn <3
Difficult to make work, but oh so lovely.

I like how ornate this one is.

I don't like putting up my hair, but this would do very nicely.

Ok, this one is just here because I think it's beautiful.

Something for around the house~

This scarf has got Poe's poem written all over it :D

Raven perfume?
Interesting, but perfume makes me sneeze so none for me thank you.

This is one of my favorites, but I remember it being very expensive.

No practical use whatsoever~
But hey, there's always Halloween, or maybe a masquerade..?

I'd have absolutely nowhere to wear this...

Or this...but it's awfully pretty.

And that's it for today. No outfit because I'm very lazy. Oh, but I did finally watch Skyfall. (Took me long enough) I...actually I thought it was fantastic. Visually, it was very stunning. I liked the character development and the fact that Bond was off his game. I loved Silva as a villain. I had sympathy for him, but not enough to want him to win, so that was a nice change. (Villains lately...I've just been siding with so many XD) And while my dad might be a bit annoyed with the fact that there's a new Q I think Ben Winshaw was wonderful (And just a little bit adorable) and I really hope he gets a bigger part in the next movie. What did you guys think? I haven't seen an awful lot of the older Bond movies (a few here and there) so my judgement may be a bit biased.

Etsy Feature~ Bats

I've been Etsy hunting again! This time the theme is bats because I honestly can't get enough of the adorable things. It's also been brought on because I'm celebrating the return of the bats to our house. They disappeared for a while, but now they're back. I think they're living in the bat houses like they used to and already the mosquito population is back down. And it's so much fun to watch them swoop over the lake and drink the water ^^

I love the intricate designs within the wings.

For a change of pace from just black or stripey tights and fishnets.

I'm secretly hoping my junior prom will be a masquerade so I can buy this.

I like the contrast between the black and white.

If you're really enthusiastic...there's always bat specimens.
Though I'm not sure I would want to sleep with this in my room ^^

On a side note, I just bought my tickets for Halloween Horror Nights 2012! So far, the only themes that have been released are ABC's The Walking Dead and Silent Hill, but I'm definitely excited.

DIY headbands~ Bat and Eyes

Want a cute, easy, little DIY project? I realized I needed some more hair accessories. (And hats. I desperately need hats.) So I stopped by Joanns, grabbed a couple plain black headbands, and a few other things.

Result #1 ~ Bat headband

You've probably seen this tutorial on another blog, (I can't quite remember where...) but here's the general rundown.

1) Cut a triangle out of leather (Or another stiff fabric. I used black felt.)

2) Shape the triangle like a bat

3) Gather the center with a needle and thread so it looks like a bow.

4) Hot glue the bat to your headband.

5) Take another strip of the fabric and wind it around the middle of the bow.

Voila!

Result #2 ~ Eyeball headband

Ok, this one is pretty self explanatory. Headband+hot glue+googly eyes= eyeball headband. I love it because it's silly and cute. I used three different sizes of eyes, but you can choose whichever type you like best.




Now go make some cute headbands!

Black and Red Week Day 6~ Zombie shirt, Bracelet, and Fishnets

The finale is here everyone! The submissions have been lots of fun to look at and its been even more fun participating. My last little outfit for you is more casual fun. We had a party for the little middle school bandlings joining next year and this is what I wore. Nothing too scary ;) I was still wearing it at midnight so I'm using it as today's submission.

My zombie killing shirt and striped skirt were perfect for a night of silly games and conversation. I didn't think this was quite enough red though, so my beloved fishnets made an appearance.

I love layering fishnets so it would probably be a good idea to pick up a few more pairs. But really, $10 for a pair of tights?? It's slightly irritating when you have no money and a million adorable things to buy ^^

I just made this bracelet! We went by Goodwill and there was this tiny little kids belt in Tartan. I was disappointed until I realized I could cut it and just use it as a bracelet :)

Well that's the conclusion of Red and Black Week. It's been a blast. I'll leave you with a picture of something I'm actually wearing today. My treasured Monty Python and the Holy Grail bunny slippers ^^