scarf it down

As Kristina’s style crosses the border of “vintage housewife”, mine is setting down roots in the land of “gal about town”. I don’t know whether I’m actually less into the domestic aesthetic than I once was or whether it’s just the season. Either way, though, I’m favoring secretarial separates and working-girl wool. I know it’s a placebo, but I can’t help feeling that nipped waists and smart hats make me a better journalist.

I’ve invested in a few skirts and blouses lately, this ’60s plaid from 1919 Vintage being the latest. I’m thrilled with its proprietress, Anne – she shipped my package the same day and included a bonus belt and headscarf. I’ve been meaning to break into the “headscarves in winter” game; this lovely brown-and-white version does the job well.

Blouse, stole, brooch, shoes, & bag: thrifted

Skirt & scarf: 1919 Vintage

Belt: jnh5855

step off my suit

A bigger part of my style ethos than I usually like to admit? Inaccessibility. Aspie problems, part the umpteenth. I rarely want to talk to strangers. To that end, I’ve been wearing a lot of suits lately. Does a lady in a suit look like she’s here for your bullshit? Emphatically: no. Better than the bitchiest RBF.

It’s not fair and I don’t endorse it, but damned if it isn’t true: dressing like someone’s grandma means someones treat you like one. And grandmas – at least of the fur-and-vodka variety, if not the milk-and-cookies one – have earned the right not to hear about your dog, your dick, or your subscription to Watchtower.

What I’m saying is I want to be Malory Archer. Nobody fucks with Malory Archer.

Suit: ’50s vintage, via Barge Canal Market

Hat: ’40s/’50s vintage, via Bos & Ruby Vintage 

Blouse: antique (my great-grandmother’s!)

Brooch & shoes: thrifted

Gloves: gifted  

 

another goddamn princess coat

I used to side-eye people who claimed they “forgot” to blog – like, how could you not post your photos as soon as you took them? Very easily, it turns out. How did I end up with four – yes, four – backlogged outfit shoots and nothing at all to say? I don’t know, but I’m certainly dishing up some humble pie.

But boy am I glad to be back, because look at this coat. After a year’s blood, sweat, and tears to track down and budget for my two beloved princess coats, I end up thrifting this baby for thirty bucks. Yeah. Thirty. Aka a fraction of a fraction of what princess coats usually go for. And in my size, too. I have never made a purchase so fast in all my life.

I also picked up, on the same thrifting trip, an impeccably tailored vintage skirt suit, which you’ll be seeing sometime next week. If I’d ever wanted to become the sort of person who posts haul videos, now would be the time.

Other than that? Been reading a lot. Been writing a lot. Sometime soon I’ll put together a “what I’ve been reading” post, if I can summon the pluck to believe anyone would care about that.

Dress: ’50s vintage, via Old Gold

Coat: ’50s vintage, via Barge Canal Market

Hat: ’50s vintage, via Lily’s flash sale

Gloves: vintage, thrifted

Stole, shoes, & brooch: thrifted

 

 

me-made: fine & feathered

If you’ve voted – and I hope you have! – there’s nothing more you can do at this point. So let’s just kick back, watch the elephant in the room stamp and snort, and enjoy some pretty pictures. My me-made feathered dress and new-to-me ’30s coat (check out those absurd shoulders) balanced the riots of mid-fall color rather nicely, I think.

halloween, part two

Some pinup!witch shots I snapped the day before Halloween, between rounds of hunting Pokemon. I’d actually already shot this outfit and was planning to post it, but this scenery summoned me – I ended up reshooting the entire thing in front of this old rectory. Which, because my current literary obsession is Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, I prefer to imagine as some kind of wizard school.

Dress: made by me, Simplicity 3878

Boots: thrifted

Cloak: old and long beloved

 

me-made: spin-up girl

Over the years, my Halloween costumes have grown steadily less inventive. It’s not for diminished love of the day, though – it’s that I spread it out more. A whole month of subtler autumn colors and patterns is better, in my view, than one final burst. To that end, this costume is pretty much “spookier version of my actual self”. I worked crazy hard on it, though. Nothing wrong with perfecting a classic. And sp00ky pinup girls are classic for a reason.

Lifehack: when you put off your Halloween sewing until literally the 27th of October, seasonal fabric is already half-price at Joann’s.