Red & Black Week: Monday’s Outfit

Okay, Monday’s outfit photos were really crappy, but (as always) I didn’t have much time to take proper pictures. To make up for this, I found two better photos of what I wore to work on Monday:

This is the red fake-leather jacket I wore on my way to the office. Too much black might have scared my co-workers.

This is the jacket I wanted to wear at first. It’s made from heavy wool and keeps pretty warm on colder days. I really liked how the outfit looked with this jacket but unfortunately it was way to gothy for my job.

Have you ever decided to change your outfit at the last second because you weren’t sure it was work-appropriate?

A Glimpse of Red & Black Week

Good morning everyone!

This is the first time ever I am using Instagram and trying to upload a photo to my blog via smartphone. How the hell does it work?

Well, I hope you can now see these first glimpses of what I am wearing on this cold and rainy Monday morning of Sophistique Noir’s Red & Black Week. More pictures to come later today.

Dark @ Work & Dark in College

Recently, there was a big end-of-winter-sale in my favorite store. This blouse (Tom Taylor) was 50% off so I didn’t resist very long and bought it. It’s perfect for work and it doesn’t need ironing. Yay!

Flo likes the outfit, too. She loves to be in photos. The skirt is made from black corduroy.

And finally…

… an old picture taken in 2003 – when I was still in college. I found it the day I was re-organizing my office. I still had long hair then and always wore it in a ponytail. It never looked very good. Still, I miss having long hair.

Facts & Awards

I received a lovely blog award from my friend Mary of Le Professeur Gothique. Thank you, what a great way to start one’s Sunday – seeing that I was awarded. Thank you!

This award comes with “rules”: Nominate 15 bloggers for this award, list 7 random facts about yourself, and link back to the one who nominated you in the first place.

There are many great bloggers out there and the list of blogs I read daily is really looong. Therefore, I will try not to include those in my list who already received this award (although you all deserve to receive it more than once!). Check Mary’s, Natalie’s, and Meagan Kyla’s lists to see whom I would have included, too, if they hadn’t already been awarded.

Okay, now here are 15 more great bloggers (in no particular order) whose blogs you should check out:

1. Amanda – Stitch Noir & A Dash Of Noir
2. Vivienne – Out Of The Shadows
3. Tante Fledermaus – News From The Cave
4. Jean – Jean Of All Trades
5. Sheila – Ephemera
6. Jen – A Life In Flux
7. Stacey – Fresh Stitches
8. Lucy – Attic24
9. Sophie – Walking The Line That The World Has Drawn
10. Sabayon – Ruffles Not Diets
11. Jenn – The Blog Starts Here
12. Leah – Zombies Wearing Helmets
13. La Coccinelle – The Ladybug Reads
14. Purji – Stuff! Also Things!
15. Sucrette – Le Monde De Sucrette

Special shout-out to Tommy – Life As A Zombie Named Tommy.

This list is pretty eclectic. It includes blogs of many different niches: crafts & diy, Goth/Alternative blogs, books, fashion… Maybe you find some you haven’t discovered yet and would like to add to your reading lists?

Finally, 7 random facts about me:

1. I love white country-style furniture.
2. I hate getting up in the morning. I look like a half-dead, sleep-walking zombie for at least half an our after getting up.
3. I love post-apocalyptic, scifi, (urban) fantasy and paranormal romance novels.
4. I’m an aggressive driver.
5. Flo (the dog) sleeps in my bed. Yes, most people find that gross / nasty. I did, too. I changed my mind.
6. I’ve been kicked by a horse once. It hurt like hell.
7. My appendix was taken out on a Friday the 13th (Friday, October 13th, 1989).

Lost???

I’m trying to read all of the 846 articles which have gathered in my feed reader. Wow! You guys wrote a lot during my one-week-absence! I will read every single article. I always do – even if I don’t comment each one.

One of the first articles I read today was about Gothic & Cowboy style / “Gothtern” by —DeeSpookyOne—. Unfortunately, her blog seems to have gone by now. Does anybody know what happened to it? I am really interested in that Gothic & Cowboy style and would have loved to comment.

If any of you know about great sites and articles on this kind of style, please leave a comment. Thank you.

Sturdy Goth attending Candlelight Dinner

Yesterday, we went to the Candlelight Dinner I told you about the other day. Unfortunately, we were in such a hurry (thanks to me) that the outfit pictures I took turned all out to be crappy. I actually wore two little black dresses at once although you can’t see the one below the lacy dress. It was around 0° C yesterday and layering two dresses was the only way I could think of not to be cold and uncomfortable all night. I also wore a sparkly blazer which always screams “80′s!” and “Disco!” to me but it helped keeping me warm a lot and actually looked pretty good in candlelight.

When we arrived at the event, most participants were already there. Some of these have known me since childhood. One of them came up to me, looked at my face, and said: “Well, you finally started looking feminine, too!” I was too dumbstruck to answer, so she turned to my Mom and explained: “Really, her face has started to look feminine, don’t you think?”

I didn’t have much fun at the event after these remarks. I kept repeating these words in my head all the time and could not shake them. So, at 30, I finally look “feminine”? How did I look before? Did I have a masculine face until now?

I should have answered “Oh no, that’s only because I wear make-up today. I still look like a man.” But I didn’t. Because I battled the urge to get in my car and drive back home. Because I didn’t know if she was right. Because I wasn’t able to say or do anything.

So I spent 6 miserable hours pondering on her statement. I still ponder on it today.

Here’s one more “Sturdy Goth” outfit. I wanted to wear something black and gray again because I’ve started to really like the combination of these two colors. The cardigan is made from heavy wool and keeps me very warm. I wanted to wear a different belt but haven’t been able to find it since we moved here.

My “being stuck in a dark hole”-situation hasn’t improved although I really was able to concentrate on collecting instructions of gothic diy projects and knitting patterns for an hour or so. Yesterday, I decided that I’ll try to get an appointment with my doctor although I really don’t want to see anybody about this. This time, I just want him to prescribe me some “happy pills” and be done with it. I don’t want to talk with some gentle, nodding person who in reality has no clue about how I feel. I have an aversion to shrinks. In fact, I hate them.

Today’s “Get Out Of That Hole!”-Assignment: Buy a Christmas Tree & get gas for the car.

Have yourself a gothy little X-Mas

I feel really bad because I didn’t share many posts with you these past day. The x-mas chaos has closed its grip on me and I seem not to be able to escape. I have so many things on my to-do-list but haven’t crossed out more than one yet. Also, I’m desperately waiting for snow. Why is there no snow yet? There were a few flakes this afternoon but they all melted without leaving the smallest trace.

Yesterday, when we were outside on our walk with the dog, we met our neighbors and their dog. Mr. N. is a photographer and recommended I go see the old cemetery which is nearby somewhere. I haven’t discovered it yet but I will eventually.

While I was at work I came to wonder about “having a gothy little x-mas”. Our x-mas tree will not be decorated in traditional red, green and gold baubles but in purple and white – it will not be gothic.

Nonetheless, there are a few of my personal x-mas traditions I don’t want to miss this season – and which might appeal to the darker souls ot there, too:

Wearing festive black clothes

I bought a little black dress with lots of lace a while ago. I will wear it for a huge Army dinner event which will take place at the barracks where my Dad was a helicopter pilot for 30 years (he’s retired now).

Having dinner in candlelight

This dinner event will take place in candlelight only. There will be no electrical lights except for emergency lights (as far as I know).

Sitting at the fireplace

We have a fake fireplace. It runs with electricity and is quite cozy. For my MIL’s fireplace, which is a real one no longer in use, I bought some fairy lights which flicker like gas lights from the 19th century. I put these behind some logs which makes the fireplace appear as if it was lit. We also know some restaurants with real fireplaces and we might have dinner at one of them this month.

Watching “The Nightmare Before Christmas”

I know, I know, this is stereotypical but it can’t be left out!

Reading fantasy books

I don’t read fantasy novels very often anymore (I already admitted to liking paranormal romance, didn’t I?) but for me they are still an essential part of x-mas. There’s nothing better than reading about swords and sorcery, heroes and villains when it’s dark outside most of the day.

Putting cinnamon in a cup of hot chocolate, tea or cappucino

I love the smell and taste of cinnamon. That’s why I always have cinnamon at home and at the office, too. I like to put it in a hot drink. Have you ever heard about some of cinnamon’s magical  properties: spirituality, healing, success, power (to name only a few)?

Writing dark, thoughtful poems and diary entries

Yes, yes, more stereotypes. But bear with me! It’s the x-mas season, dammit! The season of patience! Ahem… Where was I?

I love writing, especially in the days between Christmas and New Year’s Day. These are the days of (self-) reflection and reconsideration, the days of though and planning.

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Do you have any personal x-mas traditions? Just for yourself? Things you like to enjoy on your own?

Dark @ Work: Grey & Black

I never liked the color gray very much. I didn’t even give that color any thought. But that changed very recently when I got this pair of gray tights and tried to find matching pieces in my wardrobe. I wore this outfit at work and I felt extremely comfortable yet elegant in it. Nobody made any remarks concerning the color black and I tremendously enjoyed myself.

Gray is just the perfect color in combination with black! I never even realized how many black pieces I own before I tried building this outfit around the fabulous gray pair of tights.  As it is getting really cold here I wore this gray cardigan most of the day.

After work, just before taking the dog for a walk, I changed into a pair of black jeans. It turned too cold, too wet and too foggy for long strolls which may or may not lead a dog-owner through brambles, bushes, mud and wet grass (Mr. K. very kindly cleans my shoes every time I happen to get them dirty – just in case you were wondering). I think this is still a great outfit – even one I would wear at work – but I really felt better wearing a skirt and my new favorite pair of tights.

MOVIE MONDAY: The Sherlock Cape

To be part of MOVIE MONDAY, please add your links in the comments to be included in the round-up! I’m looking forward to reading your articles. There’s time till Wednesday to add links.

You do not have to do a fashion post like I did. I would very much enjoy to read about movie-related craft projects, too, or learn about movies I haven’t seen before. Share your thoughts on movie soundtracks, on great actors or the book the movie was based on.

For inspiration, have a look at the last two MOVIE MONDAY round-ups: click HERE and HERE.

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Sal Kaye proudly presents the MOVIE MONDAY ROUND-UP:

• Sophistique Noir: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Take Two!
• Ruffles Not Diets: Downton Abbey
• Le Professeur Gothique: A Christmas Story
• This Is CorpGoth: Movie Monday, November 21
• Geeky Goth Girl: The Worst Pies In London
• Allison Paige Eckfeld: The Fisher King

Thank you so much for taking the time and create such wonderful movie-inspiration!

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A while ago, somebody suggested I watch “Sherlock Holmes” because it had “Steampunk” in it. I did as I was told and found the movie to be quite nice. Yes, it has a “steampunky feel” to it but it’s not a Steampunk movie. Nonetheless, I found “Sherlock Holmes” to be quite entertaining and decided to let this movie be my inspiration for November’s MOVIE MONDAY. I didn’t want to copy the costumes of this movie but preferred to be inspired by a more classic Sherlock Holmes-style.

This is one of my “Sherlock Capes”. I love capes. I think I begged my Mom to buy me my first cape when I was 13 years old. My second cape, a green woolen one found it’s way to me when I was 18. I wore that one a lot for reenactment and LARP events and even starred it in a movie (art project for school).  The plaid one you see here screamed “Sherlock Holmes!” to me the second I entered the store. “Buy me!”, it begged. “You’ll be so happy wearing me!”

Ah, my sweet Sherlock Cape! How could I leave it in the store? I knew it would make me feel special – and it does. I usually don’t like plaid very much but isn’t this cape one piece of plaid elegance? Tragically, it’s much too cold for wearing this cape now but I found a black fleece jacket which goes very well underneath so I can still wear it on colder days.

Here’s another cape. This one’s black and feels like a combination of felt and fleece to me. I found it in the same store the Sherlock cape came from. It was on sale, it was black, it was awesome – I bought it without too much thinking on my part.

Actually, I liked the black cape so much I bought the same one in gray, too… I’ve worn both a lot these past days. They’re lovely and warm. I haven’t worn them to work yet but I definetely will.

As most of you know, we moved into this apartment only 6 weeks ago. Our kitchen looked very naked and boring when we moved in so we hurried to find something special to put on the walls. Mr. K. and I both decided these tin-plate signs would be awesome in our kitchen. Coincidentally, the left one is just PERFECT for this MOVIE MONDAY.

What about you? Do you own a cape? How do you like capes as a fashion item, especially in darker fashion styles?

Red & Black

A while ago, I bought these wine red, almost purple, tights. I didn’t wear them for a long time because the color simply scared me. My legs are the chubbiest part of my me and I feared these tights would draw all the attention there (and they did!). Still, I wanted to wear them at least once so I decided to pair them with a black skirt, black wrap cardigan and a shirt of the same red/purple. I love the boots I’m wearing here but I think shoes with a higher bootleg would have looked better. What do you think?

By the way, the next MOVIE MONDAY will be on November 21st. I’m really excited about this coming MOVIE MONDAY because I found some great pieces on sale which totally remind me of a certain movie (and book).