outfit 5/26/12

Sadly blurry, but the best full body shot I could get. Reason number 50 I need to move out with my boyfriend: have some one to take pics lol. The timer feature on my camera doesn't focus most of the time.
 [also my terrible bedroom I'm sick of..]

You can see what my full hair looks like currently-- Its Ion Color Brilliance and its slowly going to be in all of my hair, but right now its just the front/roots so I don't fry my hair trying to bleach black out.

I'm wearing Tripp NYC's lace shrug and I loove it so much. Its obviously very light and just a nice way to cover up in summer.

Here's a way better photo of the shrug from this blog:
http://absinthrill.blogspot.com/2010/06/shrugs-by-tripp-nyc.html

Shirt is by Living Dead Souls and I love it too.

Here you can just see my current hair more. I know its weird/bad that only the top is colored, but its just a really bad idea to bleach dyed black hair. So its just going to be a long wait for my hair to grow out.

I like makeup, but I never really learned to do it well so I never do anything interesting/different. My eyes usually just have one color powder or eyeliner and that's it. I'm also really bad with lip color because I constantly chew/bite my lips soo it never stays on, and I gave up on trying!

Fashion Links

General Blogs: (this list will probably grow after using blogspot more, but right now these are the actual URLs I remember and type in every once in a while to see whats new)

http://www.sophistiquenoir.com/ - Corporate/Fancy looks
http://hautemacabre.com/ - High fashion, sometimes links on where to buy
http://cupcake-goth.livejournal.com/ - Love to look at her outfit posts because she's very elaborate and goes like this to an office
http://spookystyle.livejournal.com/ - Sadly not currently updated but the old stuff is AWESOME for home decor. I want to find more home decor blogs but I can't!
http://gothfash.livejournal.com/ - discussion & selling


Shopping Journals:
http://lippy-addicts.livejournal.com/ - Very active community for Lip Service
http://steamfashion.livejournal.com/ - Very active for steampunk discussion and selling posts
http://corsetry.livejournal.com/ - Very active for corsets!

Shopping Sites:
ETSY! I'll make an etsy oriented post one day, way too many shops to link
Ebay, pretty easy to find good stuff and not worry about the shop. sometimes you'll find something cheaper than on a website, like brands like lip service
http://www.goodgoth.com/ - I like that a lot of the stuff is actually lowkey and 'normal.' saves on having to search around the mall or mainstream sites and have it all in one spot lol!
http://www.retroscopefashions.com/ - A few of my fancy things are from here
http://heavyred.com/ - So my real opinion, is that there are a handful of things I bought from there that I can't wear - either it was too small or a bad fit. I recall some items being flimsy too, like too thin and fell apart.
HOWEVER there are some items I still like & wear and I still have faith in their clothing and love the styles. I just need to be better about sizing and returning items if I dont like them
http://www.bluebanana.com/ - Ships from the UK and expensive, but atleast its a .com not a .co.uk and the prices can be set to dollars


I cant think of too many more right now because lately I stick to Etsy or trolling the mall. I really hate the search in person and trying things on, but it is much cheaper to wander the mall and work to find things than online shop...

Modest Fashion

'Modesty' is something I've noticed in my clothing. I guess it depends on your definition but I view modest as = showing little skin. Its definitely NOT from a prude point of view, i LOVE women that look good showing off their skin. Its mostly my own self image issues with myself. But ALSO because I genuinely get cold a lot.

Eventually, I want to stop being so self conscious and show some skin so this blog might help me do it.

For now though I wanted to share some tips on modesty, or the better general description, tips for anyone that wants to cover their skin let it be for modest, religious, keeping warm, gothic fashion (staying pale!), or whatever reasons.

1. ARM WARMERS are my favorite thing in the world. At the most hottest point of summer I will wear a short sleeve tee with arm warmers. Thats the most arm skin I will show. I get cold a lot during summer because of air conditioning so I always want arm warmers on me so I dont freeze once I get inside.

I do have a lot of arm 'warmers' that are really thin and don't make me warm at all, that are great for shielding sun in the summer. So non-warming ones exist, you just need to look for them!

Good arm warmers help me in winter too when even a long sleeve shirt doesn't satisfy me and my hands are cold, I put them on and the ends peek out from under my sleeves and keep me extra warm.

Places to buy them are of course hot topic, and http://heavyred.com/gloves.aspx has a great selection I use a couple from all the time. My others are random surprise store finds or etsy. Wrist cuffs are another good search term for arm covering.



2. SHRUGS. I didn't even know this was a thing until a year ago maybe. Search "shrug" on etsy and you get a million results. "shirtless sleeves" are also a good searchword. Shrugs are basically your arms/upper back covered minimally so the top youre wearing isnt covered too much.

I LOVE this shop's "shirtless sleeves" http://www.etsy.com/shop/clothesmindeddesign because they are perfect to put UNDER clothing. They're tight and sleek so it easily goes under a tshirt or nice blouse. I own two of these. they don't overheat me, just have the perfect coverage for my upper back/neck and arms.

This is another shop with shrugs/sleeves I have purchased from http://www.etsy.com/shop/missfitclothing

http://www.etsy.com/shop/undertheroot This person sells arm spats, and I bought a pair. They may be good for someone that wants more arm covering than arm warmers but not back covering- however for me I prefer the shrugs I have because these sleeves would ride down a lot and bunch up too much.




3. HIP T http://www.myhip-t.com/ I love mine! I think I have 3 pairs. You wear it on your mid section if youre cold, a shirt is too short, or worried about your pants riding down... It makes me feel sooo much better to put this on and have it half under my shirt and half over my pants. You can even wear it on your bra to cover too much cleavage.











4. BRA COVERS I don't know the correct word for these, but google bra cover. I didnt know these existed until a few years either. I own one I randomly found in a store and I also own "the winkee" however the website seems to not be working. Here a general site selling it http://www.solutions.com/jump.jsp?itemID=13980&itemType=PRODUCT and here's an old blog post I found featuring it http://www.shefinds.com/2008/modesty_fights_back_new_cleavage_covering_bra_accessories/

Bra cover, cleavage cover, modesty panel are all good search terms.



5. SHOPPING ADVICE I wear a lot of open button up long sleeve shirts/cardigans/sweaters/collared shirts. They keep your arms and back warm but if you keep them open your "main shirt" still shows in front and you don't overheat. Basically that is my wardrobe at work in the summer since I feel short sleeve + arm warmers is inappropriate for the office. I always wear layers of a short sleeve shirt and some kind of button up over it, if I cant wear a regular long sleeve shirt.

I've found the best time to shop for long sleeve "summer" shirts is actually winter. Walk into the mall in the summer and its REALLY hard to find long sleeves. I look for the lightest materials, I own a lot of sheer, flimsy, super thin long sleeve button up shirts/cardigans I wear over shirts. They dont overheat me and it IS possible to find really thin material if you look hard for it, you just need to look in the winter time if you want long sleeves.

an introduction

I'm thinking about blogging. I've always found myself stifled with blogs because I lose interest or I end up spamming it with fandom and then feel stupid when it's filled with "yay harry potter" "omfg hugh laurie is so sexy" etc. Soo if I start this blog, I'm going to make a rule about no fandom stuff.

I think I'm going to also keep a rule of 'no rants'/long analysis/discussion of 'deeper' things like social details/opinions/life thoughts because I end up typing things and ending up feeling stupid reading them later too.

What I want to do is something shallow and motivating. As weird as that sounds, I need the shallow part because I've always wanted to fix my image up and I think I'm going to finally do it. I want the motivation of a blog to post fashion photos, or home decor, or updates on my hair or something.

I'm going to use blogspot because this is where I find so many interesting gothic blogs. I haven't seen as much currently updated fashion/home decor on Livejournal, and I really dislike the format of tumblr, since I like to type a lot.. and I dont understand the commenting/replying on tumblr.

Anyway things I hope to put in this blog--

1. Updates on my fashion re-haul. I think I currently have an image of frumpy geek alt girl (I feel weird labeling myself goth) but I've always wanted a fancier/gothier/sophisticated look so I may start that. Nicer blouses and skirts. etc.

2. Hair, eventually I want more purple in my hair, or all purple. I havent decided how I'm doing this. I feel like my first step should be to buy a plain black wig to have a way to hide the "purple adventures" once I start.. I foresee lots of crappy looking roots growing out, and bleach disasters, PLUS I work in a corporate office so I want a safety like a plain wig before I start putting more purple in.

3. I may post random vanity/cosmetic comments and pics like if I did my nails in a way I like, updates on my braces, or cosmetic procedures like laser hair removal.

4. Hopefully I'll discuss home decor soon. I plan to move out from my parents soon and have always dreamed of decorating the way I love. Dark colors, fantasy/goth objects.. etc

I think that's it. As I said, I want to keep this 'light,' and at a loss for better words- "shallow" or image/style-centric. Clothes, home decor, etc... because I enjoy reading those blogs.

We will see!

As a start here's two pics of me. One is casual me with my boyfriend, one is me on the way to an event I got to dress up how I wish I could look everyday. No edits, my camera phone just loves to wash me out which I'm fine with!

I love how I look here and when I scroll up to the other pic I just go "ew." At my face, hair, skin color, teeth, smile. I don't know why, I think pic one is "ok" but I dont get the same feeling as I do looking at the second one! So this is kind of my goal. To LIKE how I look more often. Rather than 'dress down' or dress normal to fit in with friends or keep people from judging me. If I want to use super pale makeup and wear a fancy blouse I should be able to whenever I want, etc!

Lets see what comes of this blog!