Merry Christmas! | Novelty Print Skirt and Faux Fur

Merry Christmas world! I hope you are finding your day full of love and support. I hope you have found peace from the chaos of the retail world. I hope you find grace and goodness in the warmth of you're loved ones. Also, I hope none of your presents bomb and your outfit is on point. 

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It's always good to have the grind of the Christmas season wind down. It feels amazing to be able to put on your favorite festive outfit, be it fuzzy leggings and novelty sweaters or fun and fancy pin up reproductions. That's your key to get a drink and kick back to enjoy the spoils of your labor. 

I splurged on this Hell Bunny skirt last Christmas and I can't even begin to count the times I have worn it since. It's the perfect novelty print to morph for any season and I'm loving the pin up vibes with my first attempt at bumper bangs. The bangs are just the perfect amount of pin up sass to add to the sweetness and the novelty of the Hell Bunny print as I can feel my style subtly changing to include darker, edgier elements. 

It's entirely possible I will be buried in this skirt because I adore it and it could probably be appropriate for a funeral too.

And let me just say, I truly hope your Christmas outfit includes some fur somewhere. I poached this faux fur collar off a printed wrap that just didn't thrill me anymore and I've been wearing it every day since. It's so easy and cozy just to throw on like a scarf. I know exactly how I'm going to surviving this winter; wrapped in dramatic furs and dosed in red lipstick because yum.

Shirt: (dress worn as a shirt) Kohls | Skirt: Modcloth | Shoes: Modcloth | Socks: Sock Dreams | Belt: Target | Fur Stole: Target | Scarf: Thrifted | Lips: Nyx's Liquid Suede Lip Cream in Kitten Heels

Swamplandia! | BBRBF Book Club + Outfit

Welcome to December's edition of the BBRBF Book Club. This month we read Swamplandia! By Karen Russell. And by read I mean didn't read. At least for me.

I tried. I even started the book a whole month ago. I. Just. Couldn't. I wanted to. I still might. But, holy cow is it a slow read. I got a few chapters in and everything just seemed so bogged down in details. The world building seemed to be the the bulk of the novel. But, it still seems like it has potential, so there's a good chance I'll give it another try. Maybe the rest of the novel will be heavier with story and lighter on unnecessary detail.

Given that I didn't actually read the book I probably should have bowed out this month, but I just loved the cover so dang much. I literally chose this book off the library shelf because it was so dang cute. I really wanted to interpret it in an outfit. I guess this month you get HALF of a BBRBF Book Club review from me. 

I chose to imitate the black and white outfit of the male character on the cover with my thrifted black and white dress. I added red and cream details to incorporate the lovely color scheme of the book. Had I had the right pieces, I would have every single color in my outfit because they're all so lovely together. But, much like the book, I couldn't. Woo. Good month!

Make sure to check out everyone else REAL reviews of Swamplandia!

Circle Skits & Petticoats

The Eyre Effect

In a Nutshell..,

The Miss Information Blog

Plaid Skirt and Yellow Tights | Outfit + Real Talk

In all my time on this earth, I have learned one thing; life is fragile and everything can change in an instant. You'll be walking down your path holding your basket of goodies, your jams, your muffins, and your sweet fruit, and out of no where you'll trip on a log and come crashing down. Throwing all your goodies up and away forever. 

And sometimes that's ok. Sometimes the fruit was going bad and the muffins were stale and you're better off with an empty basket. But, it doesn't change that having a full basket one moment and an empty one the next is a cataclysmic shift in your universe. 

Empty. All you had planned. Empty. All you knew. Empty.

It might take some time to get back up, grab your basket, and move on from your fall, but you will persevere. You will find new treats to fill your basket. Maybe entirely different treats than you had before and you'll learn something entirely new about yourself. Maybe you'll lose those treats too and have to start all over again because that's life and it happens.

But, no matter what, you can get back up and you can move forward as many times as you might need because that's what it is to be human and we are as enduring as life is fragile.

I have been absent for a while because I have experienced one of those cataclysmic shifts and it has required my full attention to pick up the basket. All I want to say for now is that everyone is healthy and safe and it's for the best. One of the fruits that was thrown from my basic was the ability to easily take blog photos. So, if the next few months are not as creative as the past, just know that I will always be working towards bettering this space. I may have hit an obstacle, but I will endure and edit and re-work until I get it right because I need to put this fruit back into my basket.

Let me know in the comments your best coping strategies for those moments when life leaves you hanging because I could use a few ideas.

Shirt: Modcloth (similar) | Skirt: Thrifted (similar) | Belt: Torrid (similar) | Tights: We Love Colors | Shoes: Thrifted (similar) | Lips: Colourpop's Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick in Bumble

Witch of the Wood | Cheap and Easy Halloween Costume

Happy Halloween, loves! I hope you all had a fantastic Halloween weekend and that today is a spooky and festive holiday despite the Monday drudge. Our weekend was full of good friends and family and even a visit from my sister and her brood from Georgia. Originally, we were going to have a year off from Halloween costumes as our usual party was relocated to Vegas. But, circumstances allowed for a last minute party and I was scrambling to come up with an easy and cheap costume that looked anything but easy and cheap and held up to my usual standards of Halloween awesome.

First step was finding my inspiration. Usually, I pull my costume from a movie. I've been Edward Scissorhands, Ursula, the Mad Hatter, The Wicked Witch of the East (house and all), etc. And since this year was all about my throwback love for witches, I decided to come up with a character inspired by the movie The Witch. For the most part the "Witch of the Wood" in the movie is naked or unseen, but I wanted to come up with a stylish version of a witch who could have existed in folklore from the 1600's because being naked in public is, you know, illegal.

This costume was incredibly easy and can be pulled together with makeup, a long black dress, a headpiece, and a quick and cheap DIY project.

Any long black dress would make excellent witch attire. Details like lace or flowing, billowy fabric are a bonus and baring skin in daring places adds a spirit of hedonism and empowerment that witches exude like a thick vapor. My headpiece was created by tying a pelvis bone to a headband. I chose it because it looked like the skull of some deformed and demonic creature. Antlers or horns would also make a great reference to hoofed animals who are notoriously in league with the devil and many people have weird objects like this hanging around, especially if you know some hunters. Ask around and you could probably borrow something from a friend. If not, Amazon or costume stores carry the fake kind for around fifteen to twenty dollars.

My claws were created by following this simple tutorial and took only a glue gun, scissors, and black poster board. I painted my arms with cheap Halloween body paint and in this case, the messier the application the better because I was trying to give the illusion of doing some dark and dirty in the deep woods.

Gethe really heavy handed with the conot our, eye makeup  and blood red lips, and you've got yourself a cheap, easy witch costume that is stylish, sultry, and haunting.

Witchy Woman | Outfit

This is the dress that consumed my life for weeks and weeks. Last fall when the Through the Bluebells Dress first popped up on Modcloth, I didn't get it. It had all the elements of boho or hippie chic that isn't my particular brand of style. I had no vision! But, after seeing it on several girls with similar body shapes to mine I was starting to see the magic. And if I can be frank for a moment, it was the boobs. Big boobs look incredible in that dress. Then someone said it made her feel like Florence + the Machine and I immediately got the fever. My view of the dress instantly changed and I could see perfectly how, in the right context, boho chic can cross over from hippie to witchy with a little sprinkle of Florence Welsh and a dash of Stevie Nicks.

Unfortunately for me, apparantly everyone else felt the fever too because it was no where to be found on Ebay, Poshmark, or Facebook BST's. I even had some wonderful friends on the hunt for me, but sadly it just wasn't going to happen and any similar dress was a pale comparison to the drama and the fit of the mythical Through the Bluebells.

Then the gods of love and fashion bestowed this sewing pattern upon me. It needed some modification, but it had the extreme bell sleeves and even the extra ruffle of flounce at the bottom just like the Bluebells dress. I felt confidant in my ability to switch out the bodice and waistband for something closer to the origianl inspiration and rayon fabric with a colorful floral print on a black background was easy enough to find. Everything was going so well!

But, alas, that time of innocence could not last. I was confidant, but I should not have been. Modifying the dress left gaps in the pattern that I did not have knowledge to fill and I had to go back to my former style of sewing that involves sewing with one eye open because I have no idea what's coming out the other end and I'm afraid to find out. I was simply not prepared for the slippery, slide-y, shifty beast that is rayon. There are so many problems with this dress (mostly hidden) because this liquid fabric was a whole new concept to my cotton loving self.

I toiled away for days and days. I sewed seams and then I ripped them back out again. I cut out new pieces after working the old ones to death. I cursed at Glinda, my sewing machine, and then kissed and caressed her to calm her down again.

It was, no doubt, an adventure. The outcome and my oath to not touch rayon again for a very long time made all the time and work a satisfying experience because yes, I absolutely feel Florence and Stevie walking with me in this stunning dress.

I feel so accomplished being able to hang another dream dress in my closet knowing that this one was crafted by my own hand. Now, if only I could find the perfect velvet, fringed shawl...

Tell me in the comments if you've ever dramatically changed your mind on a style of clothing and how you made it fit for you!

Dress: made by me (pattern, fabric, similar dress in straight sizes, similar dress in plus) | Tights: We Love Colors | Boots: Thrifted (similar) | Hat: Target (similar) | Lips: Colourpop Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick in Tulle