Outfit of the Day.

I borrowed Forever 21′s big mirror on the way out of the mall today to bring you my outfit of the day!

I wore a silver-sequined black cardigan from the 2010 Lane Bryant holiday collection, my Deadly Dames Pirate Dress, cheap Steve Madden shoes from T.J. Maxx, Claire’s hairflower, and El Dorado Club “New Orleans” Filigree Bat Necklace.

Would’ve been nice had I, you know, worn makeup or something.

Close up!

Grace Dress action shot!

So I thought I’d share my new favorite dress, which I happen to be wearing right now for New Year’s Eve festivities! It’s the Grace Dress from Laura Byrnes Black Label/Pinup Girl Clothing. Yes, I buy and wear a lot of Pinup Girl Clothing items. No, they aren’t paying me to pimp out their stuff. I just love their clothes!

Anyway, Grace features a well-constructed fitted bodice, a superfull circle skirt, and a really sumptuous red sateen fabric textured with a midcentury black flocked pattern. This one’s size xl, and it fits just right! More images after the jump…

Grace Dress right out of the box!

1950s Jewelry!

I’m wearing it with my tea-length black crinoline from Malco Modes, trusty black suede/patent heels from Sofft, a black sequined sweater from Lane Bryant’s 2010 holiday collection, my 1950s-60s beaded Saks Fifth Avenue clutch, and some SWEET vintage jewelry! My 1950s rhinestone earclips are part of the vintage jewelry haul I inherited from my Great-Aunt Alice and my gorgeous midcentury rhinestone necklace is a Christmas gift from my mom.

Jewelry closeup...

Happy New Year!

I’ve been feeling kinda mediocre lately, so it was nice to score two fairly successful outfits this weekend. Hell, last night I even wore makeup! That’s a big deal considering how acne and allergies have been conspiring against me over the past month.

Yesterday evening I wore my new Dixiefried “Cutiepie” dress with leopard trim. It was on sale, and the leopard print is both on-trend for this season and a fun little nod to oldschool Dior. I teamed it with my vintage carnelian jewelry, Claire’s hairflower, old Forever 21 cardigan, and nude BCBG pumps.

The dress is an “extended sizes” 3x, which means it fits like a straight-size 16-18.

Dixiefried "Cutiepie" Dress.

Today, I wore my new Heartbreaker gypsy skirt (1x) with a Torrid bow sweater and accessories you’ve seen before. It’s in the very same “Dandy” print fabric as the Aimee dress I posted previously, also from Heartbreaker. Oh, and something new! A Rachel Leigh bow bracelet in rose gold tone from Ann Taylor Loft. It’s cute, and a portion of the proceeds go to breast cancer research…

Heartbreaker Gypsy Skirt.

Rachel Leigh Bow Bracelet.

So I promised infos on my second birthday party outfit.  I didn’t get any great pictures from that night ( which was a fun evening on Boatel Queen Mary in Long Beach), but I can show you what I wore!

On Queen Mary, looking (ship)wrecked. Yes, you can see my corset and bra and my arm looks like it's melting.

Trashy Diva 40s Dress - a slightly better view.

Trashy Diva 40s Dress - official shot.

My dress is the Trashy Diva 1940s dress in the Olivine Floral fabric.  The colors are perfect and the fit is just divine. I made a pretty purple magnolia hairflower to go with it. The white anchor necklace is also by Trashy Diva – perfect for dinner on a ship!  I didn’t wear the pictured white cardigan, though; instead, I added a light, short-sleeved, 1960s-style spencer jacket in a black jacquard fabric that I’d found at Lane Bryant ca. 2007.  A gorgeous vintage rose brooch (a gift from my friend Cynthia!) finished off the jacket perfectly.

Lane Bryant retro-style jacquard jacket with vintage brooch.

Yesterday, I celebrated my birthday with my parents and my good friend Teri.  We went to Trader Vic’s in Emeryville, my favorite restaurant in the whole world!

I wore my Bettie Page Clothing “Surprised” dress from their Gil Elvgren pinup line, pearl necklace and screwback earrings that my mother and grandmother purchased in Japan in 1966, a hairflower I made from a Sally’s banana clip and a Michael’s silk special, my suede-and-patent Sofft bow pumps (which you can’t see here), and my beaded 1950s Saks Fifth Avenue clutch purse (which I blogged about last year).

Surprised! Birthday dress!

Next weekend, another party!  I’m not sure what I’ll be wearing, but I’ll definitely share here after all is said and done! 

I keep promising more “normal” fashion stuff and then never deliver.  This is mainly because I end up posting everything at the Dims fashion board and then promptly forget this blog exists.  So, in an attempt to rectify this continuous, egregious error, I give you…MY REALLY FREAKING OLD JEWELRY COLLECTION.  Okay, so maybe that isn’t “normal,” but at the very least it doesn’t involve me in a corset.  So there.  (Click the jumplink below the pic for the whole article.  )

1924 diamond and pearl earrings.

Anyway, when I say old, I mean OLD.  First, I give you two cameos.  The larger one belonged to my great-aunt’s husband’s mother.  Like that?  Anyway, I’m guessing it’s 1910sish, but I have no way of knowing for sure. It’s a genuine carved shell, featuring what appears to be a maenad.  The ivy in her hair and the very Dionysian thyrsus (a very phallic giant fennel stalk-turned-ancient-Greek-fertility-symbol) in the background are the dead giveaways.

Maenad cameo, non-maenad cameo.

William Adolphe Bouguereau maenad, with thyrsus.

Greek maenad with thyrsus (and ivy all over her peplos).

Wearing maenad cameo and 1924 diamond earrings. Incidentally, I totally recommend DiorShow mascara.

The smaller cameo belonged to my great-grandmother, and is probably roughly the same age.  I’m not sure what it’s made of, but it’s not shell or stone.

Also from my great-grandmother comes this stunning yellow glass pendant.  Once again, I have no precise year of manufacture, but I’m guessing late teens or, more likely, the 1920s.  At any rate, it’s art nouveau enough to look good with my 1912 tea gown.

Glass pendant.

Me, wearing said pendant.

Now THIS is my platinum Pedre watch, probably early 1930s.  It has a gazillion tiny diamonds on it.  It’s crap for keeping actual time, but it looks FIENDISHLY cool, has an awesome story behind it, and reminds me of the Chicago song “Does Anybody Really Know What Time it is?” (“A pretty lady looked at me and said her diamond watch had stopped cold dead…”).  ANYWAY.  The story is that my grandfather used to own a bar in SoMa on 6th Street in San Francisco, and from that bar he also ran a pawn operation.  This was one of the items pawned.  Okay, so maybe it’s not such an awesome story, but it does have a compelling noirish quality to it that “I bought it at the flea market” can’t deliver.

Platinum and diamond deco Pedre watch.

Now for my prides and joys.  First, my 1924 diamond earrings.  They’re white gold with little dangly pearls.  I love them so much I’m afraid to wear them.  I bought them at Jewel D’Orleans (AKA Dianne’s Estate Jewelry) in Disneyland.

1924 diamond and pearl earrings.

Me wearing said earrings.

Me wearing said earrings.

Me wearing said earrings.

Me wearing said earrings. Yes, I'm a total photo whore.

And last, my awesome gold mourning brooch, ca. 1850.  It has black enamel, a profusion of  little seed pearls, and a plaited lock of the deceased’s hair inside.    This piece also came from Dianne’s Estate Jewelry.

1850 mourning brooch.

Next time: Beaded purses, my silk shawl, a SWEET antique dress clip, and maybe some other stuff.