Ruffles Not Diets

It is finally, properly Fall and time for all the wonderful fall clothes.  I am sure all seasons have their virtues: winter has Christmas and plenty of excuses to curl up with a good book and hot cider, spring has lovely weather and asparagus, summer.....is technically necessary for agricultural production, but Fall is definitely the best.  The past weekend was truly chilly in Pittsburgh and I finally got to wear my new shawl, which I finished about three weeks ago and have since been checking weather forecasts trying to decide if it is finally cold enough to wear.  On Saturday I went out to dinner and a cheesy movie with friends, including several knitting buddies, and this was pretty much the perfect moment for shawl deployment.  It was also perfect for wearing some velvet things I bought over summer in clearance sales.  The muff turned out to be profoundly useless, but I am not sure how I have lived this far in life without a velvet bonnet.  It is the perfect head-wear!  It is warm ans pretty and doesn't interfere with my hair-do.  Perfect, I say!  The dress, like the other I have bought from avenue is just weirdly matronly.  Without the belt it is obviously kind of huge and shapeless, even though based on the size chart I would have expected it to be small-ish.

Outfit Details
Dress: Avenue
Shawl: Hand-made
Bonnet and Muff set: Victorian Trading Company
Socks: Sock Dreams, house brand

Yes, I bought the socks just to match the shawl, over-all the outfit is very matchy-matchy, but I like that.

This is almost certainly my favorite outfit I have posted here, worn for a day spent running errands.  I find that bright sunshiney days really make me want to break out my most black and/or spooky finery, and a nice outfit can make dull errands into a more entertaining shopping trip.  For instance, never before has anyone at the state store tried to sell me on a 60$ bottle of absinthe, especially when all I came in for was a 6$ half bottle of gold rum to make vanilla extract.  I have also never been carded before, so plus-minus.
This outfit all started when I discovered this enormous imitation jet ring at, of all places, Wet Seal, which turns out to have a surprising number of really cheap (in price, and sadly also quality) goth-able accessories.  I had always thought of them as a source for Califonria Beach Bum chic (you know, when I thought of them at all), but I bought this ring, dangley-chain necklace and giant floppy hat, along with a giant black flower hair clip, from them all for less than twenty bucks.  Of course I had to wear the hat at the first possible opportunity because my love of giant hats is vast.

Other outfit details
Top: Soma Intimates
Skirt: Rose Mortem
Fishnets: I have had these long enough to question whether anyone has ever had naturally occurring (rather than deliberate) torn fishnets and may have actually liberated them from my sister
Beads: Mark Christmas '09
Purse: Midoplhi through clobbaonline.com

A large part of my current millinery stash

When Victorian Kitty announced her theme for August would be hats and fascinators I knew exactly what I would do.  For one thing, I don't have bunches of hats, so there wasn't much competition.  With hats I really believe in buying quality, and, since my budget is limited, buying staples that can be used in a lot of different ways.  My wool felt top hat is a perfect example.  My mom gave it to me for my birthday ages ago, actually I was a college freshman at the time.  It's from Nordstroms, and is a basic black wool topper, slightly feminine with a inward rolling brim, and detachable felt piping and flowers, and this post was going to be about all the ways I use a supply of cheap millinery supplies to dramatically change it on a daily basis.  However, when I went to the get it from the hat box it was nowhere to be seen, along with my other main winter hat.  I dug through all my winter clothes, but nothing.  Luckily in this time of mourning I still have my grandma's funeral hat (which I really need to replace the netting on).
To a Hat
Oh hat, you were a good hat
Loyal and True
You kept the me warm and the snow off my head
Even  in the truly irrational winters of Western Pennsylvania
I can only hope you have passed this veil of tears
To the great habadasher in the sky

Or are shoved farther back in my closet
Actually that would be better.


I think I may understand why I never made it into my high school literary magazine.