Home at Last

Well I'm back, and boy is it good to be home. Despite the fact that I now feel like I've got a cold coming on, I had a great trip; I met many wonderful bloggers in New York and spent lots of time with my dear Sal, I saw both my friend Lisa and my sister Jessie get married, and I visited with family and friends. I also spent a great deal of time being cold and having dry skin. Again, being back in San Francisco feels great.

I'll try to put together a recap of my trip later this week or next, but first I need to get caught up on some of my pre-vacation outfits, of which this is one. In the meantime, check out these posts, which detail some of what I was up to:

• Sal's New York recap

• Sal's Eileen Fisher fall preview

• K-Line's New York recaps here and here (you should also check out the beautiful cape she bought while we were all shopping at Barney's together)
• A variation of what Sara wore for our shopping extravaganza
• Wendy B's Fashion Week recap -- including a great shot of several of us doing the Wendy B signature pose
• Cameron's recap of our blogger meet-up at the Empire Hotel (in which she mercifully does not mention how drunk I got)
• Rad's description of our Brooklyn meet-up (in which she mercifully does not mention how hungover I was)

I think that about covers them all. Also, be sure to stop by at Inside Out Style and take a look at the Stylish Thoughts guest post I did. Thanks to Imogen for including me!

Hat, sweater, socks: Noa Noa
Shirt: H&M
Dress: All Saints
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Tights: Foot Traffic
Boots: Bastien

Pistol

After the film noir festival the other week I was feeling very femme fatale, so I put together this outfit using a couple of new items I got recently from All Saints. This is the Heta Hunting jacket and matching skirt, which together make a beautiful suit that to me has a very 1940's vibe. I added my own classically-styled fedora (with a proper brim, mind you; none of this stingy-brimmed hipster nonsense) to give it more of a vintage feel. All I need is a tiny pistol in my garter and I'll be all set.

As with all of All Saints' clothing, this suit has loads of beautiful details. The high-backed collar, the origami folded lapels, the asymmetrical draping on the skirt and the deep blue fabric woven throughout with faint gray lines all give these pieces a timeless quality. Since the neckline on the jacket is so dramatic I opted not to add a necklace, instead just letting my lace-trimmed cami peek out a tiny bit. The olive green cami, with its tiny red bow detail, tied in the rest of my olive and red elements.

This was my first order from the US All Saints site, so I'll share my observations. First, the sizes on the US site are indeed listed in the UK equivalents, so for instance if you order a size 10 you're getting a US 6. Shipping from the US was inexplicably slow; in fact, I've ordered things from the UK site and had them show up more quickly. And finally, the dress I ordered along with this suit still had the security tag on it, so now I have to haul it down to the store on Geary Street where hopefully they can remove it for me. All in all I've had much better experiences shopping on the UK site, but I'm hoping that this was just a fluke. Either way when shopping online with All Saints it's a good idea to check both sites; not only is the stock different but sometimes the prices vary greatly too.

Jacket, skirt: All Saints
Camisole: Glam Garb by Gunlis
Tights: Hue
Shoes: Faryl Robin
Hat: Audra Jean

Noir City

One thing I love best about San Francisco is all the opportunities for getting dressed up. Last week it was the annual Noir City Festival at the Castro Theater. Now going to the Castro is an experience in itself; the 1922 theater, with its ornate architecture, Wurlitzer organ that pops up out of the stage, and enormous art deco chandelier, really gives you a sense of stepping back in time. The theater is also located right in the heart of the Castro district, so the calendar of events reflects the lively vibe of the neighborhood (which reminds me that sadly, I have still never been to one of their sing-along Sound of Music events).

San Francisco being a classic film noir setting, the Noir City event is quite popular, and lots of people get decked out in 40's and 50's attire. Luckily I had my 40's reproduction dress, as well as a vintage hat that I reshaped and trimmed myself (I bought it for $6 when I was with Sal out in Minneapolis over the summer). And boy, did I get a lot of compliments on this outfit. The best was from Eddie Muller himself, the organizer of the Noir City festival and author of several books about film noir. When you're at a film noir festival and the Czar of Noir says you look fabulous, you know you've done a good job getting dressed.

But here's the point I was really trying to get to: over a glass of wine after the double feature on Saturday, Laura, Fawn and I ended up discussing the goofy songs we sing to our pets. I used to make up songs all the time for my iguana, Pet; mostly they were just bits and pieces of songs that I inserted his name into. The better developed ones had to do with his scaly lips, his greenness, and his fondness for lounging in the sun. One was to the tune of the Oscar Mayer hot dog jingle. It went:

My Pet-boy has a first name, it's P-E-T... *exaggerated pause where the other two letters should have been*
My Pet-boy has a second name, it's B-O-Y...

I always imagined that Pet really enjoyed hearing me sing to him, but it's possible that he always closed his eyes because he was trying to tune me out. Recently I learned that Mark also makes up songs for Georgie (as do I), and I confirmed with Laura and Fawn that they also both write songs for their cats. It got me wondering if this is indeed a universal habit for people who are really crazy about their pets. So let's hear it; do you sing songs to your pets? Are they regular songs, or do you change the lyrics to include your pet's name and traits? Feel free to share your silliest songs; after all, we're all friends here.

Dress: ReVamp Vintage
Hat: vintage
Pearls: my grandma Ruth's
Textured tights (layered over black nylons): Sock Dreams
Shoes: Steve Madden

Edwardian Ball

 Hat: Audra Jean..... Top: Sequoia and Gita....  Skirt: Fanplusfriend Garden....  

Jewelry: gifts....  Velvet blazer: a gift from Sal....  Boots: John Fluevog

Last weekend we attended the Edwardian Ball again, which is interesting because it certainly doesn't seem like it's been a year since the last one. Anyhow, here's what I wore. Mark and I went with my friend Laura and her husband, who had never been before and were duly impressed. The ball was amazing as always; the costumes were wonderfully creative and elegant, and the entertainment was great. There were musical acts, acrobats and trapeze artists, Can-Can girls, and of course, the ever-popular absinthe bar. The wonderful Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were there, looking gorgeous and exotic and... tall. Really, really tall. Where do they find those platform heels? 

And for Sal: Your former roommate was performing. I gave her a long, evil glare, but I don't think she saw me.

Mark and I both wore my handmade hats.

Christmas Skirt

Mark got me this skirt for Christmas; isn't it fabulous? I'd been stalking it for quite some time on the Anthropologie website, so I didn't realize how much cuter it is in person. The navy and white stripes are much more obvious in person than they looked online, and the fabric has a soft, almost flannel-like texture. The draping and ruffles are such fun details to find on a pencil skirt, too; I thought the softness of the skirt made a nice contrast to the structural, geometric detailing on the jacket, even though color-wise the two pieces match perfectly. Together they almost have the look of a suit, but are so much more interesting than one.


Jacket: vintage (from a shop in Paris)
Skirt: Eva Franco
Hat: ADS Hats
Shoes: BCBGirls

Obligations

I almost forgot to post this outfit -- it's what I wore when Mark and I saw the Yard Dogs Road Show last month. I figured that like many San Francisco events, there would be a lot of people dressed up in the typical eccentric styles I've come to expect on such occasions; I was surprised, however, that I could've actually gone a lot more over-the-top than this and fit in perfectly well.

San Francisco is a town that loves to get dressed up, and not only that, but people seem to have an outfit for every occasion. Whether you're going to see a vaudevillian cabaret, attending a Jewish LGBT Hanukkah fundraiser, or making an appearance at your realtor's grand Victorian house for a holiday party, it's important in this town to dress the part. Such are our obligations as San Franciscans. So for the Yard Dogs I mixed up a little steampunk with a strong dose of Burning Man fashion and I was all set.

It's tough to make out here, but I'm actually wearing a short, sequined black skirt underneath the tunic, which is otherwise way too short to wear as a dress. The skirt gave the outfit just the right amount of sparkle and covered up the tops of my long socks. Under the socks I wore leggings for warmth. This is one of my favorite tricks for wearing short skirts in the winter; the dual layers keep my legs warm, but because the bottom layer is leggings, there's still only one layer inside my shoes, ensuring that they aren't too tight.




Tunic, skirt: Forever 21
Socks: Sock Dreams
Boots: All Black
Fascinator: "Francine" style, Audra Jean
Harness: "Ryder" style, Audra Jean

Never Say Never

Well, Wendy B always says that, "Never is the next new thing" and I'm pretty certain I've said before that I would "never" wear a maxi dress, and that they look universally terrible. And yet here I am, wearing one, and liking it a great deal. A few things finally came together and prompted me to give this look a try: I'd seen Queen Michelle from Kingdom of Style and Emma at My Daily Clothes Fix look amazing in similar long striped dresses, I'd seen Sal wear long skirts to great effect last winter, and in fact when Mark and I were out in Minneapolis over the summer, Sal pointed out how big a difference there is between an unflattering mid-calf length and a true full length skirt, which further eased my doubts about wearing one.

So it was that when I saw this dress on the Forever 21 site for TEN BUCKS, the seeds of the idea had been planted and I knew I could reasonably give this sartorial experiment a whirl. For ten bucks, even if it did look terrible I could always hem it up to knee or even tunic length and it would still be worth it. The odd thing about this dress is that one of the straps is twisted; at first I looked at it and thought, "Ah, I see why it was $10 -- they sewed the straps wrong!" But when I went back and looked again at the listing, I saw that it was done that way intentionally.

To me the twist in the strap doesn't look very intentional though; it looks like a misguided afterthought. So what I ended up doing was taking a piece of black jersey and making a small, scrunched up tube of fabric that goes around the twisted part, which accentuates the difference and makes it look more finished. For this outfit I mostly wore it with the denim jacket, but next time I'll try it with the modified strap showing and you can tell me which you like better. Of course I also have 2 other options: either twist the other strap, or take the twisted one apart and sew it normally to match the other.

I thought it would feel odd and frumpy to wear a big long tube, but to be honest it didn't feel that way at all; in fact it felt sleek and elegant. I've seen lots of maxi dresses styled as summer wear, but I'm looking forward to layering this one up for some more cozy winter ensembles.

Hat: ADS Hats
Jacket: Tulle, thrifted
Dress: Forever 21
Belt: Audra Jean
Socks: Sock Dreams
Boots: Bata

Fidel

I got the idea for this outfit when I was shooting some photos for the shop; it was inspired by the way the harness was styled on the male model in our Auxiliary Magazine feature. The model's outfit in the photo shoot had a military vibe to it that made the harness look very rugged and utilitarian. I thought I could approximate the look by wearing this lightweight jacket as a shirt, and then just for fun I added the tie to fill in the neckline.

The harness is another one that I shamelessly stole from Mark's stash; I saw it there in the finished pile and figured I'd better claim it for my own before someone ordered one in that size. This is the Jane Doe style, and is actually the first black harness I've added to my growing collection.

One of my coworkers told me I looked French in this outfit, which disappointed me a little; I thought I was channeling more of a Fidel Castro look.

Hat: ADS Hats
Harness: Audra Jean
Jacket: thrifted
Skirt: thrifted, shortened
Boots: All Black

I'm pretty sure I've never seen Fidel Castro sporting either 
polka dots or a miniskirt, and that's sort of a shame. 
You only live once, Fidel!

Afterthought

This outfit might have been a little much with the hat and the plaid and all those layers. Looking at it now in the photos, it strikes me as being very busy. Thankfully, I couldn't care less. I haven't been wearing hats as much lately and I felt like I was long overdue for sporting one, especially one of my own. So I grabbed this one as an afterthought once I'd put the rest of the outfit together. As for the layers, they were just flat out necessary; the red tank top filled in the low neckline of the dress, and the cardigan kept me from freezing. This cardigan has truly been a lifesaver for me this summer; I must have worn it at least 20 times since I got it just a few months ago.

Dress, cardigan: All Saints
Belt: thrifted
Hat: AudraJean
Boots: Morgan (second hand)

Rocks

Today's backdrop replaces out-of-place items for unpacked ones. I like how the box next to me is labeled, 'pond rocks.' That box is Mark's; it contains the smooth little river rocks that go in the bottom of the fountain that you see partially assembled just behind me. But I also packed 2 large boxes full of rocks, which are used to landscape Charlie's habitat. I felt bad packing them. Thankfully the movers didn't speak much English, or else they really would've hated me. Although I'm sure when they lifted the boxes, they wondered to themselves in Chinese, "What the hell did she put in here, rocks?"

This was a lazy outfit. In fact, I've felt really lazy, outfit-wise, since we moved in because we still don't have a full length mirror. I've therefore been staying away from anything too experimental or challenging, and sticking with safer combinations. I decided to pair this polka dot dress with jeans, because I initially tried it on that way at the thrift store and therefore already knew it looked good.

Dress: thrifted
Sweater: Cynthia Rowley (via Gilt)
Belt: Red Dress Shoppe
Jeans: Joe's
Hat: ADS Hats
Boots: Jeffrey Campbell

After-Work Cocktails

Sometimes it's fun to just take an outfit all the way and play dress-up with it, and I felt like this was one of those. The military vibe is pretty overwhelming here, but I didn't care -- I felt like one of those stern brigadier general characters from an old John Wayne war movie. This was a good intimidate-your-employees look, even though I'm probably the most laid back boss ever. I can dream, though.

This outfit transitioned from work right to after-work cocktails with Fawn, and since it was a rainy night, the leather pants and wool beret gave me plenty of waterproofing. Speaking of after-work cocktails, last Wednesday I had the pleasure of meeting the divinely adorable Chelsea of Bright Side Dweller, which I know will make many of you jealous as hell. Believe me, I would've hugged her for all of you, but then I'd have just stood there hugging her all night and we'd never have had time for the marathon chat-fest that ensued. Needless to say, Chelsea is awesome in person and we easily blabbed away two and a half hours without even noticing.

Hat: ADS Hats
Jacket: thrifted
Necklace: Manu Lizarralde
Shirt: Max Studio
Belt: thrifted
Leather trousers: Pepe Jeans, via Asos
Boots: All Black

Homburg

I made myself a hat a few weeks ago, which for some reason I haven't done very much of. This Homburg style was calling to me though, because it has a bit of a sinister Clockwork Orange look to it, as well as being reminiscent of the fabulous Homburgs that the late Alexander McQueen came out with last year (below, left and center). With this outfit I was also inspired by Christian Dior's wonderful equestrian looks in the SS10 line (below right).

I created this hat as an alternative to bowlers and top hats, which seem to be EVERYWHERE in steampunk and Edwardian fashion right now. And then, the ubiquitous stingy-brimmed hipster fedoras have put me off fedoras altogether lately. So I made this. I love how it looks tilted at a severe angle, almost dipping over one eye.


Hat: Audra Jean
Dress: Noa Noa
Blazer: Gap, a gift from Sal
Waistcoat: Last Kiss
Skirt: Noa Noa
Boots: Frye



Oops... almost forgot to add this last detail shot!

Inspired by WendyB

This outfit was inspired by the incomparable Wendy Brandes, because when I grabbed this shirt out of the closet, I realized that the stripes are the color of cement. I decided to try to pull the purple undertones out of it by pairing it with my dusty purple ruffled skirt, fuzzy purple hat, and deep eggplant tights, punching up the contrast with some black accents. Had it not been for the fact that Wendy recently railed against the wearing of this drab and unflattering color, I probably wouldn't have given it nearly so much thought. She's right though; this color doesn't do anything for any skin tone, so it's best worn in small doses and with plenty of other contrasting shades.

Don't worry Wendy, if I'm ever nominated for an Oscar, there won't be a trace of this color in my outfit! Deep scarlet, flame orange, or emerald green perhaps, but I most certainly will not be strutting down the red carpet in cement.

Since Wendy inspired the outfit, it was only fitting that I topped it off with my fabulous swear rings. I liked the pairing of the flashy silver rings with the prominent brass buttons on the jacket. Mixing metals makes me feel like such a rebel.

Jacket: F21, modified by me
Shirt: thrifted
Hat: Accessorize/Monsoon
Skirt: a gift from mom
Tulle-trimmed slip: Glam Garb by Gunlis
Shoes: Tsubo

Resistance is Futile

A couple of weekends ago Mark and I shot some new photos for our Etsy listings and to use for advertising. We couldn't afford a real model, so we just used me. I'd love to tell you that the shoot was really fun and we had a blast, but the fact is that it was a mega ton of work and we were both exhausted by the end. And all we had was one basic "set," which was really just a white sheet background set up in Mark's hallway. I can't imagine the shoots that people do for magazine spreads; those must take an army of people all day to pull off.

I softened the wrinkled fabric background using my limited Photoshop skills, and despite my lack of tech savvy I think they turned out pretty well. Granted, it took me a good 3 hours just to edit a handful of photos, but still.

These photos feature a few new items in the shop. The Annie 19-buckle spats are newly listed, and boy are these suckers badass to wear. To me they feel very Edward Scissorhands, an aesthetic that I truly adore. The small black homburg hat I'm wearing above is a new style that I haven't even listed yet because I'm still perfecting the design. The prototype is just trimmed with a basic black grosgrain ribbon, and I made it for Mark (though I'm planning on stealing it every now and then because I think it looks pretty cute on me too).

In the photo on the left I'm wearing one of my new bridal hat designs, which I'm planning on offering via the shop and possibly also through Dark Garden. These hats will be mostly custom-made but will follow the same basic designs. I'm expecting a few new hat blocks any day now, so there will be more styles coming for these Edwardian-styled mini hats. I can make these in either straw or felt in pretty much any color you can think of, and there will be fancier, more bride-y hats as well as ones that would be suitable for bridesmaids or guests.

Since we're on the topic of the shop, I should also point you to a few places that our designs have appeared recently. The first is in a steampunk boudoir photoshoot by Kamilla Harris; scroll down a few photos and you'll see the beautiful Lucille underbust harness in action. And check out gorgeous blogger Style of a Fashionista rocking a Selena underbust harness. Finally, Mark and I loaned a couple of pieces to the makers of indie web movie Perpetual Steam Punk for use in one of the episodes. Next we're planning world domination, with mandatory hats and leatherwear for everyone. Resistance is futile!