Wednesday, April 30, 2014

I Need a New Purse

I've been using the same purse for about four years, and it's starting to fall apart. I'm not one of those people who changes out purses with different outfits -- I pretty much use one purse day in & day out, all the time. So naturally, this one takes a lot of abuse, & four years is pretty good value for the $81 I spent. That's less than 10 cents per use, estimating that I used it for every business day of the year.

Not sure exactly what style I want to replace it with. I have some candidates on my CorpGoth Pinterest board. They're mostly work totes, big enough for carrying maybe a laptop or iPad & my lunch. But I'm not sure if I want that much purse. I could lead to shoulder strain. So it might be better to keep those work things separate. Just not sure.


What kind of bag do you carry? Do you switch it around with different outfits? How long do you keep a purse?

What I'm wearing:
Purple print dress, Target | Black camisole, Old Navy | Black lace jacket, Macy's | Black tights, Calvin Klein | Black pierced d'orsay flats, Target | Amethyst necklace, bought in Hawaii, gift from my husband | Pewter key earrings, made by me



Monday, April 28, 2014

Monday MemeDay: A-Z of Fashion

A) What accessories do you wear everyday?
My wedding band (white & yellow gold with diamond flecks), my engagement ring (sterling silver with amethyst cabochon), & a black leather studded bracelet on my left wrist. Those are on every day if I'm leaving the house.

B) What is your beauty routine?
Morning: Rinse face with water, moisturize, apply makeup, do hair. After work: Wipe off makeup with a baby wipe. Before bed: Wash face with gentle cleanser, shower, maybe do a face mask once a week if I remember, use anti-acne/anti-wrinkle night cream.

C) What was the last item of clothing (for yourself) that you purchased?
A pair of flat, black leather ankle boots by Aerosoles.

D) Do you use a dresser, closet, or both?
I use everything I can! My clothes occupy 3/4ths of a walk-in closet & all of  two tall dressers, plus half a hall closet for jackets & coats. There's a whole separate walk-in closet for my costumes.

E) What type of earrings are in your ears right now?
Gunmetal hoops, black rhinestone studs, & one garnet stud.

F) What type of figure do you have?
Somewhere between hourglass & pear-shaped.

G) Do you wear glasses?
Yes, always. Contacts don't work on my astigmatic eyeballs, unfortunately

H) What type of handbag do you carry?
Currently, I'm using a large, black leather, unstructured shoulder bag that carries scads of crap I need for commuting. It's not quite right for my new job, also, it's 4 years old & starting to wear out.

I) What is your ideal style?
I'd love more of a grown-up version of Stevie Nicks goth, but I end up with a pretty standard CorpGoth thing

J) What is your favorite brand of jeans?
The ones that currently fit my ass are by Calvin Klein, & I only found one pair in dark grey.

K) Do you wear knee-high stockings?
Not really. I only wear them with costumes because it's reasonably close to historically accurate.

L) Do you have to wear matching lingerie?
I would love to wear matching panties & bras, but I've rarely found matching sets that I like or can afford or that both pieces flatter me or are in the right sizes. Thus, the closest I get to matching is 'they're both black.'

M) Do you wear makeup?
Yes, tho' I'm a lot less adamant about it than I used to be. I used to never leave the house without lipstick, & now I'll go to the grocery store with a totally naked face. I blame old age & laziness! For everyday, I wear some kind of dark lipstick & black eyeliner. For special occasions (or if I have a breakout), I add foundation, eyeshadow, & touch up my brows (actually, when my brows have been freshly shaped, I tend to paint them daily). I don't wear mascara very often because it rubs off on my glasses (my eyelashes are naturally that long; yes, you can be jealous :).

N) Do you wear nightgowns?
Not anymore. I used to have quite a fetish for long, flowy, white cotton nightgowns, the kind you'd run about the moors crying "Heathcliff!" in. But I trashed them all, & sadly not in moor-related accidents. Finding replacements has been troublesome, & it's not important enough to me to sew my own. So I wear big baggy T-shirts & fleece PJ pants, which are just not as conducive to gothic romance.

O) What outerwear do you put on when going out on a typical winter's day?
Winter? It 'tis to laugh. In what passes for said season in Northern California, I might wear a lightweight black trench coat, suitable for the occasional droplets of moisture that fall from the sky sporadically at the end/start of the year.

P) What is your favorite perfume?
I go through phases where I wear scent every day & then don't wear it for months. I'm currently *not* wearing perfume. But past faves include Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs "Crossroads," the original Anna Sui, & rose essential oil.

Q) Is your motto "quality over quantity" when it comes to clothing and accessories?
My motto is more like "oooh, shiny!" followed by "can I afford it?" I will buy quality if I love it.

R) Do you wear rain boots?
What is this 'rain' you speak of? I'm living in a drought currently.

S) Do you wear socks or slippers when your feet get cold?
Yes. Both.

T) Do you travel with a lot of luggage?
Depends on the trip. If costumes are involved, omg, yes, I bring tons of stuff.  I have the Giant Suitcase of D00m that mostly goes to Costume College & on the Costumers' Trips to Europe. Plus I'll bring hat boxes & backpacks & stuff. But for "normal" travel, I have one just-bigger-than-carryon bag that I can fill with enough clothes for 3 to 4 weeks of travel, & this bag is light enough for me to carry up flights of narrow stairs in little European B&Bs.

U) What is your daily uniform?
Dark corporate stuff with at least half of it in knits.

V) If you are married, did you wear a veil with your wedding dress? If not, how did you do your hair?
I made a small black lace veil that hung down the back over my ringlet hairpiece.

W) Do you wear a watch?
Not for years, since I got an iPhone. But I used to love them & had a little wardrobe of fashion watches to go with my outfits (I still have them, but the batteries are all dead).

X) What item of clothing always makes you feel beautiful?
This changes a lot, because my wardrobe & my body change. I would say that, in general, a nicely heeled shoe, preferably with an ankle strap, paired with a skirt that hits right at the knee (preferably bias cut or flippy) always feels beautiful because it requires my hips to move just so, & the whole curved movement from ankle to hip is so ultimately feminine that I can't help but feel rockin'.

Y) What is your favorite type of yarn?
Huh? I don't really care about yarn.

Z) Do you prefer zippers or buttons?
Both have their uses. In general, zippers are handy on the lower half of the body, buttons on the upper.

Feel free to copy these meme questions & answer them in your blog!

What I'm wearing: Dark brown pinstripe dress, made by Donna | Black cardigan, Macy's | Black tights, Calvin Klein | Black ribbon-tie pumps, Clark's | Black bat necklace, Walgreen's | Gunmetal hoop earrings, random accessory store | Makeup For Ever Aqua Rouge lipstick in Dark Raspberry

Friday, April 25, 2014

Weekend Pirate

A little weekend pirate couture. With a touch of gold. I used to be strictly silver-only, as many goths are. But I've gotten lax in my old age. Maybe it's the influence of my historical costuming, particularly the 16th-century styles I love. Back then, gold was more popular because it's the most valuable & expensive metal. Your clothing showed your wealth, so if you could afford gold, you wore it. I make a point of wearing gold jewelry & trimming my gowns with gold, when possible, to fit my persona of a wealthy, high-ranking 16th-century noblewoman.

Of course, it's not just historical accuracy. My wedding band is a mix of yellow & white gold (tho' my engagement ring is sterling silver). These type of bands are just what my husband & I liked best some 14 years ago. So maybe I wasn't always so adamant about silver-only...

What I'm wearing:
"Pirate Couture" T-shirt, DisneyLand | Black jeans, Levi's | Black socks, unknown brand | Black walking shoes, Naturalizer | Black newsboy hat, random accessory store | Silver filigree earrings, Target


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Whenever life gets you down, Mrs. Brown

Instead of getting down on yourself, consider these quirks of fate...

10 Oscar-less Hollywood icons

Best films that never won a Best Picture Oscar

10 famous & wealthy people without college degrees

Lots of famous depressed people

Huge list of celebrity atheists

A bunch of famous people who are childfree

Albert Einstein never learned to drive a car.

Greta Garbo couldn't cook.



What I'm wearing: Pink patterned sweater, Chadwick's | Black T-shirt, Target | Black corduroy skirt, H&M | Black tights, Calvin Klein | Black wedges, Kenneth Cole | Black & rhinestone necklace, random accessory store | Black & pink sparkly earrings, random accessory store

Monday, April 21, 2014

Insert Catchy Title Here

I'm starting to realize that if I blog literally every single office workday outfit, I'm not going to have much of interest to *write* about each day. For one, I meant for this blog to primarily be about my clothes, not my personal life. It's intended as a primer on how goths & subcultural types can dress for "normal" office jobs, a show & tell session with occasional articles about this topic.

But now that I'm going into the office 5 days a week & have a plethora of outfit photos to choose from, what should I write to go along with them? Sure, there will be days when I don't feel like blogging at all -- an outfit feels dull or I don't have time to take a picture in the morning or I don't have time to create the post in the evening. But when I do blog, what should I put with the photo?

At least, when the outfit doesn't spark something specific, which frankly, a lot of them don't. If I have a new item to show off or am testing out a weird combo, yeah, I'll mention that. And some days, I might actually have something on my mind, heh.

But I'm throwing this out to you. What, if anything, are you interested in reading here? Personal stuff (obviously, only as personal as I'm willing to share, but hey, I told y'all about cancer!), like how my day was, yada yada yada. Articles of interest that I've found? Memes? Song lyrics? No text at all? Does it matter? I'm all ears!


What I'm wearing:
Burgundy peplum sweater, Anthropologie | Black knit top with ruched flowers, NY & Company | Black & brown Ikat stripe skirt, Kohl's | Black tights, Calvin Klein | Burgundy suede cutout pumps, Soffit | Black & gold medallion earrings, random accessory store


Thursday, April 17, 2014

Back to Some Pattern Mixing

Been a while since I mixed it up, so to speak. The main rules for pattern mixing (if you don't want to look like a crazy person) are usually to keep the color palette similar & watch that the scale of the patterns aren't ridiculously off.

Still, pattern mixing is both an advanced technique and an acquired taste, so you might think this outfit makes me look like a crazy person anyway. Yay or nay?

What I'm wearing:
Black & white stripe cardigan, Chadwicks | Black knit top with lace yoke, H&M | Black & white paisley print skirt with side ruffle, made by Donna | Black tights, Calvin Klein | Black pointy-toe kitten-heel shoes, Aldo | Silver bat necklace, Plasticland | Silver hoop earrings, random accessory store





Tuesday, April 15, 2014

The CorpGoth Status Report Is Back!

That's right! It's time to start filing those reports again. After a too-long hiatus, I'm bringing the Mid-Month Status Report back for May. Here goes...
 
Subject: Makeup in the office. Do you wear any? What kind? How often? Show &/or tell about your makeup routine for the workday. Extra credit if you have product reviews, tutorials, or other useful tips for working girls (or guys even)!

Due Date: Monday, May 12 to Wednesday, May 16

How to File Your Report:

1. Post to your blog on or around the due dates.

2. Include the following code in your post so the This Is CorpGoth Mid-Month Status Report graphic will display (if you're using Blogger or WordPress, switch to the 'HTML post' setting & then paste this code in):

<a href="http://corpgoth.blogspot.com/search/label/corpgoth%20status%20report"><img border="0" src="http://www.trystancraft.com/corpgoth/corpgothstatusreport.jpg" /></a>

3. Comment on my Monday the 12th post including your blog link.

4. Read everyone else's reports via their links in the comments!