Style Evolution, Inspiration, and Mostly Floundering

Hi again everyone! I really really did have some post ideas and I might still get around to some of them, but many of them were Halloween oriented and since life and bankruptcy took over my October, I simply didn't get to them. We shall see what I come up with in the future, and what I actually get the time to write since I am THANKFULLY back to work. But anyways, for now I thought I'd share with you some of my outfit struggles and inspirations. Lately I've been reevaluating my wardrobe and I've realized that while I have a knack for thrifting gothy things (whenever I wear certain pieces, I always have at least three people who refuse to believe I didn't order the outfit custom from a gothy provider store) I don't exactly have a gothy direction. I see things and my mental checklist says: Is it black? Yup. Then it just takes off from there: Silver metal stuff attached to it? Lace?  "Leather?" Plaid? Short skirt? Long skirt? Fishnet? Corset looking thing? Boots? Shoes? Grungy? Pretty? I buy a plethora of wardrobe pieces and while this might be good if I ever wanted to open my own alternative store, I have come to the conclusion that I'm really good at buying goth things, I just need to work on buying goth things that suit me and my personal style. So! A checklist for thrift adventures in the future:

1. Thou shalt picture thyself wearing it, and not just how it fits on your body. Sure, if the skirt fits, it probably moves up a few notches on the "I'll buy this" scale, but I really need to work on looking at the skirt and saying "is this me?" not just "is this black?" 
2. Thou shalt consider the piece at hand and what you can wear it with. Too often I've picked up a glorious new piece of clothing and it sits in the back of my closet since I have no other pieces of clothing that would compliment it. 
3. Thou shalt DIY more. There is nothing that makes an outfit feel more personal than one you create, or at least tweak, yourself. 
4. Thou shalt explore thy subculture, and most importantly, thine own personal fashion choices. The Alternative label covers a wide wide wide range of styles. Since I've been feeling a little misplaced in my current clothes, perhaps I need to look at some inspiration to see if I couldn't turn those pieces of clothing into outfits that convey how I really want to express myself. And maybe those outfits don't have to be 100% Uber Goth All The Time. For example: 

Lately I have been possessed of the need to incorporate
 more pants and shorts into my outfits. I literally own one pair of pants although
I've recently made a few old pairs into shorts. I've always considered myself a tomboy, and maybe trading in some skirts for pants will help me feel more in tune with that. 

Something about this image strikes me. Although I'll certainly be leaving the cigarettes out of my day to day style, I really like the idea of long baggy boys shirts over leggings or tights. 

At the same time as I'm wanting to express a more boyish side,
I am also intrigued by delicate feminine pieces like this bustle skirt.
For the longest time I've considered myself half goth half hippie,
leading me to become very interested in the Dark Mori Girl style. 

This image sort of captures how I see Punk and Mori Girl blended in my head 

Dare I venture out of my comfy secure piles of black clothing?

Okay, this is from the Hot Topic website. I really like the cut of the dress.

I'd never really thought to DIY a skirt! But I especially like the
Punk look of a tattered denim skirt over leggings and leg warmers
 paired with Doc Martens. I'm still looking for the perfect pair of Punk Rock
boots and I DID ask for Docs on my Christmas List (don't judge me for having started it already!!!)...we shall see what happens....

It's a little difficult to describe where I see my style going as I seem to be interested in conflicting ideas (like going more boy-ish at the same time as being feminine, and being interested in natural makeup while I still want to improve my dramatic makeup looks). One of the things I really like about the gothic subculture is that there are so many styles to borrow from, but I almost feel like I should try and narrow it down to one or two styles that feel the most like me so that maybe my own style will emerge as opposed to looking like a Lolita one day, and then super Punk the next, and then just showing up to school in skinny jeans and an old T-shirt because I'm too all over the place to decide what I want to wear. What do you guys do when you're itching for a style shift? Any good websites to scope for inspiration? How do you avoid chucking out all your old clothes and spending your entire paycheck at the thrift store? Advice is greatly appreciated. 

Song of the Day: 

I'm in a topsy turvy Alice in Wonderland-ish sort of mood that calls for Tom Petty...

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had fun yesterday! Halloween this year was a little different for me, but my friend Maiga and I still managed to have a very good time. The biggest bummer for me was that I didn't have a costume, no money and no time to throw things together resulted in my looking fairly normal on Halloween. I was quite amused by all the compliments I got on my "costume" though, apparently my everyday ensemble didn't look too out of place amongst the ghouls and goblins. I was also very happy when my friend Raven and I were walking to class together and someone mistook her for my mother, upon which she decided to adopt me as her "honorary goth child." :) Hopefully I'll be employed again within the next few weeks so I can take advantage of the after Halloween clearance sales!
The holiday wasn't entirely without its opportunity for me indulge my love of costuming however! I had the pleasure of designing my friend's zombie outfit. This year was her first being something scary as opposed to something cute, and I was quite satisfied when she jumped at her own reflection in the mirror after I was done putting on her makeup (which really wasn't all that extreme, but when you've spent the last couple of years dressed as a candy corn witch or a butterfly, I suppose seeing yourself looking rather dead is a bit of a shock!)

Aren't we delightful? 

Better costume shot. :)

My little sister made her own ears, tail, and paws!
She also did her makeup herself and thrifted the dress to which she added fur.
Isn't she talented? <3

After a few hours of handing out candy to the Trick-or-Treaters, Maiga and I baked some Halloween cookies and watched Mama which I found to be the perfect blend of scary and cheesy. 

Looking forward to next year! 

Song of the Day: 

Uh...this music video...? But...this song!!