Thursday, February 26, 2015

Sleater-Kinney

Grrrl




I'm going to see the 90s band Sleater-Kinney in NYC tonight! I'm really excited; it's going to be AWESOME.

To dress for concerts, I always start casual -- some skinny jeans or pants and a tee -- then have my fun with accessories. That's exactly what I did here. The floral faux-Docs add in a nice nod to the band's era, too.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Valentine's Day

Fairly Literal




Being a bitter single, I wasn't going to bother with posting a Valentine's Day outfit. I mean, I'll just be working and then probably heading home to watch Netflix and knit, just like any other Saturday night. But I saw this dress and couldn't resist.

A bit literal? Sure. But it's a pretty dress. Besides, when else can you get away with a big obvious red heart on your bodice? The sweater and fedora bring it back to earth a bit, but beware: if your date is male and shows up in his OWN fedora, you might want to run.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Flapperish

Flap It




A couple of weekends ago I went to this interactive play called Speakeasy Dollhouse. It's set during Prohibition, so everyone is encouraged to dress up in flapper styles. I didn't have anything that was perfect for the era, but I found a dress in my closet that I'd gotten during one of ModCloth's Stylish Surprise sales and never worn.

But in trying to figure out what to wear for this thing, as well as in trying to prepare a cosplay outfit for something a few months away, I started looking into plus size flapper clothes. The verdict: there aren't very many, especially if you have specific color needs. For my upcoming cosplay, I needed a white dress. Surprisingly, I found one on a Halloween costume website, but it's not exactly high quality. Unless you want to spend $400 on something, you're sort of stuck with cheapo party suppliers.

But I was browsing the Yours Clothing site earlier, not looking specifically for costumes, and I happened upon the fringed dress above. I'm sure someone who is better versed in historical styles could find some inaccuracies or anachronisms, but it's a pretty cute dress reminiscent of the flapper era. So I put it together in an outfit with some other pieces that reference the 1920s -- round toed shoes, pearls, a cloche, and a smaller purse (apparently clutches were all the rage, but that's not practical for everyday now). It may feel a little costumey, but if you swapped out the fishnets for opaque black tights and added a sweater or jacket, you could make it appropriate for regular wear.