Sophistique Noir Theme: Outerwear

 

Oh boy, do I love outerwear. I think my jacket collection is easily reaching for twenty right now, and that's not counting others things like vests. Of course, when I lived in Florida I didn't have much use for all of these jackets. Now though, I've been gleefully enjoying the opportunity to flaunt my wardrobe. The other day I even decided to channel Sherlock a bit.

That jacket is actually stolen from my mother's wardrobe which means I've got limited access to it. Unless I'm very sneaky. The real jacket I'd like to showcase today is one that I bought at Blackfish Apparel downtown. The clothes in there are expensive, so it's going to be one of those 'only when I'm comfortable splurging' stores. Considering I prefer to thrift to save money, those splurging moments aren't going to happen often. Luckily, they were cleaning out their inventory after Christmas and I was able to snatch this jacket for half off.

It's definitely a statement piece, so I've only worn it a few times. It's something a bit more colorful than I'd normally wear, but when I saw the cool patterns on it I just had to get it. This is probably one of the items in my closet that I get complimented on every time I wear it, so I'm really glad I caved that day.

Winter won't be going away for a while, so I'll be taking every opportunity to enjoy my jackets! Here's a bonus pic of the weather I've been dressing for. Living in snow is a fairly new concept to me, but I'm loving it.

Sophistique Noir Theme~ Sweaters

Sweaters! I love sweaters. They're just so comfortable. I own several cardigans, but didn't have a sweater until a week ago where I picked up an adorable cat one at Target. Someone in my textiles class stole my phone yesterday (And my faith in humanity has dropped even further than normal) so it was difficult finding a picture of it. Luckily, I was wearing the sweater while doing a school project so some silly pictures remain.

If I were practicing for real I'd probably need some sheet music XD

The cats think they're Batman and I'm wearing a scarecrow mask. Contradiction?
School projects are fun on occasion as you can see.

I also have pictures of the sweater dress I bought the same day. Thankfully, I'm paranoid and normally email photos I think I'll need for something (Ex. a blog post) to myself right away. I really like the pattern and I can rock it with a leather jacket which is always a plus.

I really liked my hair that day. It made me forget that I need a haircut.

And well, I can't leave without showing you guys the Cecil costume I put together yesterday for Halloween. Luckily, I was wearing a sweater vest so I can sneak it in and it still fits the theme.

My mom's closet is the only place with a full length mirror.
Can you tell we haven't been here long?

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

30 Day Clothing Challenge~ Day 30: Something From Your Favorite Store

 So I may have lied about the quick update. Just a little. Turns out it's really hard to find time to blog in this trailer. Harder than I first expected. I'm still trying to figure out how my school credits transfer, and privacy is extremely hard to come by. Not to mention, my family and the dogs are constantly wanting to do things because they're restless. The good news is that we've bought a new house and we'll (hopefully) be moving into it next Friday.

I'm taking a textiles class! It's great because knowing how to sew is a skill I'll need for my future cosplay endeavors. Before this the extent of my knowledge was how to hand stitch patches on to my vest. Our first project is a hoodie so I'll let you know how that turns out!

Well it seems I'm at the end of the 30 Day Clothing Challenge. It was a lot of fun so I suppose I'll need to find a new challenge to use for filler posts (I can't be creative all the time you know). Looking at the last post, I ought to have used my White House Black Market jacket here. It's not my favorite store, but it ranks up there because it's where I like to look for more dressy items. Instead, I'll just show you this scarf I got from Target right before we left. Target can be considered a favorite store right now, not because of it's quality, but because it gives me a sense of familiarity. Everything here in Kelowna is so new, but when I walk into Target it's like I never left Florida. So it gets points for something.

Tiny trailer bathroom shot!

I need a haircut~

You can see the detail on the scarf better here.
It's all torn up and fluffy

I forgot to mention before I left that I'm planning some cosplays to follow Scarecrow (And I cannot wait to get in a house so I can work on that).  After this one is done I'll be working on a Lady Loki one. Those two, plus a genderbent Joker and Altair, are going to keep me busy for a very long time. So here's Lady Loki's makeup test! It happened a few days before the move and yes this is what I do at 3 in the morning.

Pajamas XD

I played around a lot, but I like the green lipstick (Chapstick and eyeshadow really. I tried too many shades to count). I also, think I'll stick with the green and black eyeshadow.

30 Day Clothing Challenge~ Day 29: Something That's Your Favorite Brand

Today I'm bringing you this post from our lovely *cough* travel trailer. It's really not awful, but when you're used to a certain way of living (in a house where you don't bump into everyone trying to get around) it's well, it's a bit cramped. But we made it! Right now we're parked in a farm/RV place in Kelowna (a farm that has apple trees scattered around for me to pick at my leisure) as we look for a house to buy/rent. The trip was an interesting one, considering we decided to drive from Florida to British Columbia, and it took seven days. Suffice to say I'm glad to be out of the car. Some highlights from our trip...

• My dad tried to take a shower in the trailer and discovered he didn't quite fit. He had to stick his head in the air vent.
• South Dakota (The Badlands in particular), parts of Wyoming, and Washington are all really pretty. I can't say much about the parts of Minnesota, Iowa, or Illinois we saw, as it was mostly corn. And Georgia was Florida, minus beaches and with more billboards advertising stripper joints.
• One night this huge RV parked next to us. We named it the Death Star and decided it was here to eliminate all inferior RVs. When it started glowing green in the middle of the night we couldn't stop laughing.
• I saw Buffalo!

And of course, since every trip has one disasterous moment, this happened to us not 30 minutes from our final destination. We were so. close. Maybe we drove a little too hard?

Luckily, people are extraordinarily nice here and someone stopped to help.

It's really hard to find time to write right now, so I'm going to finish up the last two days of this clothing challenge before I get back to other things. During the trip I've been wearing more or less the same outfit (a pair of cargo pants and a tanktop) so I'll be using any old pictures I can find. I don't actually have a favorite brand per say. I buy most of my items via thrifting or online shopping and there isn't really one brand that sticks out. Of course, I like brands such as Hell Bunny and Lip service, but I can't say either one is my favorite and I think you've seen all of the clothes I own by those brands . However I constantly find things I like at White House Black Market (even if I normally can't afford it) and I was lucky enough to thrift this jacket a few weeks ago.

It's a really lightweight jacket which means I can wear it even when it's a bit warmer. And I'm absolutely in love with the ruffles on the front. They satisfy my love of fancy, frilly things.  I'm wearing it with the new lacy high-to-low skirt I bought the same day, but I didn't get a picture so that will have to wait until next time ^^

30 Day Clothing Challenge~ Day 28: An Outfit You Are Ashamed To Say You Wore

 We were so busy these past weeks that packing for the move was put off, and as a result I've been packing the house, which should have taken a month... in three days. Not to mention, since we're driving up to Canada I'm only allowed to bring one box with me on the initial trip. One box! It's atrocious. (It's mostly books to be honest. That and my records.) Dad is planning on coming back for the rest of our things, but I'm going to have to wait a couple of months. Also, while I tried to fit as much of my wardrobe into my suitcase as possible, I'm not actually capable of breaking the laws of physics, so I'm leaving a fair amount of clothes behind as well. This is the first time I've actually gotten to sit down at my computer, and feeling a bit guilty about the one(!) post this month I figured I could throw out a challenge post before we leave at the very least.

I don't actually have pictures of the outfits I'm "ashamed" of. I'm sure they exist, there just isn't any photographic evidence and I can't remember any specific details. I do however, have some old pictures of me, which date anywhere from 6th to 7th grade I think? They've caught me in my pre-goth phase.

And that's all of the old pictures you'll get from me! Ever. On an entirely different note, I picked up my new glasses. I never wore my old ones because I hated the frames and my eyesight is still pretty good. I really only need them if I'm at the back of class or driving, just in case. I like these a lot though, so I'll probably incorporate them into my outfits on occasion, like I did here. They paired really well with my new Spin Doctor jeans.

Bad lighting, but the jeans are tan and black and they're fabulous

It's funny how different something like a new haircut or a pair of glasses can make someone look. I love it. On a final note, (since I have to get back to my wretched packing) I've downloaded all of the Night Vale podcasts and plan to listen to them on the trip. Anyone else out there enjoy Welcome to Night Vale? From what I've seen on Tumblr it looks right up my alley and I'm really excited to hear it.

30 Day Clothing Challenge~ Day 27: A Hat

 I love hats. Unfortunately, they don't seem to love me back. There's something weird that my bangs do whenever I wear them. I never used to have the problem with sideswept bangs, so I believe its the straight ones I've been sporting for quite some time. There are a few hats that work with my hair, few and far between as they may be, and I picked one up at Macy's a few weeks ago. It's a bit Lydia Deetz inspired (Always a wonderful quality) and it went perfectly with my polka dot scarf. A benefit of helping my mom in the office is that it's cold inside and I don't have to forego things like scarves, or even jackets ^^

Of course, another sort of hat that will always work is a mini top hat! These are arguably my favorite kind of hat because there are so many different variations and they automatically spice up a plain outfit.

I think the veil on this is what makes it such a great hat~

In other news, progress is being made on my Scarecrow costume! (By all means, stop me if you're not interested or else I'm going to continue to give updates) I started with an airsoft mask as a base. I cut out the mouth (which needs to be a bit bigger really), cut off some of the chin, and drilled holes for the string. Then I shaped some upholstery foam to build up the features and now I'm starting to paper mache the foam layers. I need a couple more coats to make it stronger (And more layers to build up the nose, cheeks, and forehead) and then I'll sand it down to the right shape before attaching the burlap.

He looked very silly at this stage

Still silly

BUT I did a test with all the materials and when he looks like this he won't be so silly~

I can tell you, weathering those cheap paint respirators was not fun. I used my brother's model paints, but it took forever. Overall, its been lots of fun, even if it becomes a bit frustrating at times.

See how shiny the spray painted one on the left is?
And the right one looks much more worn in real life

30 Day Clothing Challenge~ Day 26: A Mismatched Outfit That You'd Never Wear

 Well this was...fun. (And by that I mean not fun at all) Looking at this picture makes me cringe.

Where to start? First of all, that hoodie is so obnoxiously pink that I seldom wear it unless with copious amounts of black. If I paired it with any of this I would die. Secondly, that tight skirt would look bizarre with such a slouchy hoodie instead of a nice top. That scarf has to be my favorite one, but it's not doing justice to this ensemble. And the flipflops. I don't wear those unless I'm around the house or at the beach (If you can drag me there that is). I don't think you guys will be seeing me in this outfit any time soon!

The outfit I wore yesterday is helping to relieve the pain of looking at that mess up there. It's as basic as I get, but hey, it's summer! It's way too hot for any more layers than this and makeup just runs off your face. I don't care how good your primer is. When the heat index is 103 degrees it aint doing squat.

We went to Islands of Adventure! The ONE redeeming quality of life in Florida is being so close to the theme parks. IOA has always been my favorite (With Universal coming a close second) and last week we decided to make an impromptu trip. We were lucky that it wasn't so crowded because we got to ride all of the rides multiple times AND spent a few hours in the arcade. I could live the rest of my life in an arcade. There aren't many things I like to do better than blow my money on Pacman and arcade shooters. You should have seen all the tickets we had won by the end!

I STILL haven't gotten to ride the Harry Potter ride, much to my dismay. I've been to the Wizarding World three times since it opened, but the line has never been shorter than two hours and I cannot for the life of me make myself wait in line that long for a two minute ride. Hogsmeade is as scenic as ever, though I'd have to say Marvel Island is still my favorite area. If I had to pick one favorite "ride" (not including roller coasters) then the Spiderman ride will always be my favorite. I smile so much as the villains all attack you. It's wonderful. Of course, thematically the wait to Doctor Doom's Fearfall is the best. Doombots everywhere. I didn't get many pictures, but here are a couple I took and a few taken from google images.

Cute lil monster book~

The tm sign in the corner completely broke my immersion.
I burst out laughing and inadvertently ruined the experience of a few tourists.

As far as roller-coasters go I have never been on one more fun than Dueling Dragons.

And that's that! I'm going to have to hold on to the "Big News" I promised until everything is settled and for certain. But for making you wait I'll drop another exciting tidbit. I've fully devoted myself to making a cosplay for the next Con I go to in the future. But not just any cosplay. Scarecrow from Arkham Asylum. It's a doozy, and that gauntlet is going to be the death of me. I also see my money flying out the window. But this is going to be fun! I've already bought a base to build the mask off of, some craft foam, burlap, and a paint respirator so I'll keep you updated.

30 Day Clothing Challenge~ Day 25: Shoes you Love but Hardly Wear

 My blog has had a makeover as you can tell. A very purple makeover. I don't know how long this will last, (I really do like having a black background) but I needed a change and purple is such a lovely color. What I ought to do is make myself a pretty header with a fancy title, but I'm technologically challenged to a point, and I don't see that happening.

 Anyway, it's been a while since I did one of these, and it seems I only have 5 days left! I'm going to have to seek out a new challenge soon to keep myself occupied. It's like filler in TV shows. There are only so many original ideas I can come up with in a week. Challenges give my brain a break and make outfit posts longer ^^

I don't wear these shoes very often, because the heels are a hassle to walk in. I much prefer wearing them to occasional events than with everyday outfits. I do love the black snakeskin pattern though, and they were really cheap. $20 at Macy's because they were on the clearance rack. I seem to have a shopping habit which teeters between the extremes. Either I'm living off of clearance racks and thrift stores or I'm shelling out big bucks on something ridiculously expensive. There's no middle-ground for me!

I bought a new dress the other day! I love wearing dresses in summer, and if they're flowy that's even better.  I've worn it twice already. Once with a short blazer I've had for years and once with a pair of tights and my lovely winklepickers. My brother bought me a slytherin pin when he went to Universal's Islands of Adventure a few weeks ago, and I stuck it on the blazer. It fits perfectly ^^

I apologize for the mirror. There is hairspray EVERYWHERE.

I don't even understand how the light turned my skin this white.

I've been venturing more and more into lipstick territory. I've always been scared to use it because I think it blows up my lips, but I've noticed that it looks much better with my black hair than it ever did with my blonde. That, and I've had more practice applying it I suppose. I bought a red, pink, purple, and one closer to my natural lip color so I'll probably start incorporating them into my outfit posts soon enough.

And finally...I got my braces off! I don't even know if any of you noticed them, (I typically don't smile in my outfit posts) but after 2 years I'm happy to be free. No more painful orthodontist visits for me!

Red and Black Week Day 6~ Hell Bunny Dress

I've been waiting all week to use this outfit. I wore it last week when I was feeling particularly dressy and wanted to post it right away, but the logical side of me reminded me that Red and Black Week was just around the corner. And now I can it show off!

This dress was one of the more expensive things I've purchased lately. I love Hell Bunny dresses for their 50s feel, especially the ones that draw from pin up styles. I'm really in love with the neckline of this one. It was definitely worth the money. The red belt that came with it was too big, so I had to improvise with one of mine.

I tried so hard to fix the light on these photos to no avail >.<

Winged eyeliner, nice eyebrows, and red lipstick completed the look and I ended up curling my hair to match the vintage vibe. People kept telling me I looked like someone from a movie, so I was extraordinarily happy throughout the day~

As for today's movie, I'm watching a thriller called Red Eye. I've seen this movie once before and really liked it. The main reason I saw it in the first place was because Cillian Murphy was in it, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the film in the end. It's a good character-driven,  psychological thriller.