Three Unique Ways to Style a Kimono

When I first bought this kimono I wasn’t really sure if I’d wear it. But in the end I wore it over and over. They’re so much more versatile than I think a lot of people realise, great for throwing on at the last minute to automatically upgrade an outfit into that certain realm of awesome and come in so many shapes and sizes that I’m sure anyone could find one that they like!

But there are more ways to wear a kimono than throwing it on over what you’re wearing. Which is where this list comes in:

Outfit post will be up soon!

 

As a Blouse

I have to admit that in summer I use my kimono as a light-weight dressing gown, which is where this idea originated from. Just pin it into a style you like, choose a singlet to throw under it and bam, you have yourself an oversize chiffon blouse!

From this outfit.

Knotted

Too hot for a cardigan but shawls annoy you or just aren’t your thing? A knotted kimono is here to save your day. In comparison with the “knotted button-down” it has the same versatility to look either elegant or totally rock ‘n’ roll while at the same time not resembling any annoying school-girl costumes.

From this outfit.

Belted

My favourite way to style a kimono is with a belt because it really brings out the blousey, luxurious feel that a lot of the materials that are associated with them hold. Plus, belting them means you can create some really awesome layers with fringe or lace over interesting textures or patterns.

So, that’s how I style my kimono. How do you?

Tutorial: Goth French Manicure (Super Easy!)

Simple french manicures are my favourite way to do my nails. It let’s me change them up without suffocating my easily broken nails with a full coat. In the past I’ve used liquid nail polish to for this, but I’ve found nail strips to be the easiest way. Besides, they last really long and come in so many varieties.

This photo was captured using my new light set up that was this years Christmas present.

You would have seen this tutorial coming if you follow my Facebook page. So, check it out guys! I post a lot of my amateur photography there.

You will need:

Nail Polish Strips in your colour/pattern of choice. These weren’t my favourite pattern but they were on sale. I recommend Sally Hansen polish strips but they can be so pricey!
A Nail File
Scizzors (Optional)
Top Coat (Optional)

First, size up a strip to the edge of your nail (and width!) to see if you need to cut it. I cut some of the larger nails so that I only had to open one half of the full package. And don’t forget to cut the line that sits closer to the cuticle in a more curved fashion to make it look more natural (because I forgot this!). Make sure that you have part of the tab left on each side, otherwise you won’t be able to follow the next step!

Simple, using the tab remove all of the layers above the nail polish strips.

When placing the tab just remember to cover the line that changes from the pink to the the lighter tip.

The nail strip I was using was super long, so I reused the end for my smallest nail. This is optional.

After applying the strip to the nail I pull the edges to the underside of the nail tip, stretching them slightly to make sure they stick. Running them under the head of a hair drier helps to make them super adhesive as well.

File the edges to remove all of the excess strip. After this I applied a top coat to keep everything smooth and keep it from chipping a little longer, but this isn’t necessary.

Lastly, enjoy!

Did you like the tutorial? What do you think of nail polish strips? Useful or nail-polish cop-out?

A Valentines Dress For Everyday

The one thing I’ve been craving lately more than anything other (minus spinach and ricotta rolls!) have been dresses. Particularly around Valentines day which I missed but I for one believe that, whether you’re of any gender, you never need an excuse to wear a pretty dress.

New Look – ModCloth – Axe Parls Jane Norman – Cutle – House of Fraser

Originally this was going to be “hey look at these pretty dresses” (which all happen to be below fifty dollars) kind of post but while scrolling through hundreds and hundreds of generic black dresses my thoughts of the kind of dresses that really stand out for me were provoked. I tend towards loose styles that are loose only above the waist, are loose only bellow it or are loose all over.

What kind of dresses do you find yourself gravitating towards? Do you have a type of dress?

Bodyline Review: Blouses (short and long sleeve)

This is the fourth in my series of reviews of a bunch of new items I bought from Bodyline recently for my birthday. I plan to do rather in depth accounts of each so I thought it best not to lump the ridiculous amount of detail pictures into one post.

Short sleeved blouse:

Details:

Title: L375
Colour-way: Black.
Size: M
Fabric: Thick cotton. A bit stiff.

Un-ironed.

• The lace is just as soft and nice as usual. It isn’t the best in the world but it’s still good.

Strawberry buttons! That are actually the colour in the link rather than this colour.

• The lace on the sleeves is the only lace in this whole bundle of clothes that is scratchy and annoying. It’s bearable but very annoying when I’m paying attention to it.
• I adore the little strawberry on the sleeve with the bow though!

• The annoying thing that confirms my want to get rid of the fake corset lacing is the fact that they use lace instead of grommets or even hoops or something. You wouldn’t want to pull it too tightly or I just know it’ll rip right into the blouse.

Long sleeved blouse:

Details:

Title: L114

Colour-way: Black.
Size: M
Fabric: Thick and VERY stretchy! So soft!

Un-ironed.

• The fabric of this blouse makes me so happy! Considering it’s one of Bodyline’s cheaper blouses it’s so good!
• This blouse successfully stood up to the washing machine, as most Bodyline items do, and is just as soft as ever.

I think the collar is adorable.

Lace overload.

• The cuffs of the sleeves don’t actually undo. The buttons are fake but it doesn’t really matter to me.

• All the lace is pretty darn soft!

• I love the heart shaped buttons!

• The back has two corset laced parts which are kind of useless as the fabric is so stretchy.

• Yet again with the corset lacing.

Overall, I love these blouses and can see myself using them in a lot more than just lolita co-ordinates. Actually they’d both be great for kinderwhore!

Best wishes,
-SaryWalrus

Bodyline Review: Hairware and Headware

This is the second in my series of reviews of a bunch of new items I bought from Bodyline recently for my birthday. I plan to do rather in depth accounts of each so I thought it best not to lump the ridiculous amount of detail pictures into one post.

Details:

Title: Bow that came with L329
Colour-way: Black
Size: BIG.
Fabric: Heavy cotton.

•  Random fake pearls are random? There are none of the dress that I can find.
• I put it on the headband myself.

Details:

Title: Bow that came with L025
Colour-way: Black/grey
Size: Medium.
Fabric: Cotton-ish.

• I put it on the headband myself.

• There’s a pin on the back that I have yet to remove.

Details:

Title: ACC516
Colour-way: Black/white/red
Size: medium
Fabric: Ribbon/lace/plastic.

• The rose part is so plastic and uncomfortable to touch.

•  I love that there’s a two way back!

Details:

Title: ACC698
Colour-way: Black
Size: N/A
Fabric: Plastic

•  This comb is so frail. It’s easily broken but it was only one dollar.
• Foldable! 
• Back combs really well.

Best wishes,
-SaryWalrus

Shopping: Vampire Blood and Lace

Today, as I mentioned in the previous Outfit Post I went shopping. It isn’t often that I go shopping by myself, but I don’t mind it. Unfortunately, today I was waiting around for quite some time. Which is why I always bring a book around in my bag, even if it’s just as to not look awkward while sitting alone.

Sewing Stuff:

First I went to pick up some thread. I never have any black thread – which is crazy because when do I ever sew white fabric? So, I went to the local discount store, Jolly Ollie’s, known for it’s cheap Halloween stuff and to have a little bit of a look around. I know they sell lace, ribbon and elastic and the like but Ii wasn’t going to get my hopes up.

The thread in question!

I was so surprised to see they actually had some reasonable lace. It’s thick and was well worth the two dollars a meter! Unfortunately they only had this flower pattern but I was lucky enough to find this.

Thrifting:

Unfortunately, my favourite thrift store opened at the same time I was meeting my mum to go shopping. Instead I went to the one that’s slightly out of the way. I bought this lovely blouse for only three dollars. The shoulders are a little weird but I could probably sit that. It’s not exactly a thrift store but a store that sells mostly brand-new but slightly off items.

I swear on the camera this photo was in focus.

I also bought this lovely scarf which I’m actually really worried about. I think the women forgot to charge me for it but I’m not sure. I feel really bad about the possibility though. The karma will kill me. Anyway, it’s more like a shawl and absolutely huge! I really love it.

Vampire Blood:

If you look closely you’ll notice this is the name of a brand of incense. I was really bored while waiting around so I decided to visit a store called Gallery 7 which I wasn’t originally going to visit. It’s kind of a hippy/alternative place with lots of books on Hinduism and Feng Shui (something that I was obsessed with growing up, as was my mother). It also holds a lot of gorgeous jewellery. I have a lovely bracelet that Coen bought me from there.

Anyway, I was sitting around on the floor of the Incense isle, my favourite store to buy incense closed down unfortunately, and found this lovely gem. I was talking to the store owner as I bought it and said, “I saw the packaging and just had to have it!” It seemed rather light though, something I was rather worried about. It does smell like candy though!

Vampire Blood Incense.

Best wishes,
-Sary Walrus.

Monthly Theme: How To Add A Touch of Flowers to a Dark Ensemble

Floral prints aren’t something that is typically considered totally Gawth but I’d have to disagree with this point. Flowers aren’t something that should be gawked at with disapproval it should be celebrated! Here are some tips to add a little bit of life to your afterlife outfit!

• Red roses are a romantic Goth’s stereotypical best friend. Of course there are more dark flowers than just this, be creative!
• Don’t forget lace! Good quality lace comes in all kinds of patterns. A common style being rose printed lace. It might be just what you need to spice up at jabot you’ve been working on, or add some simplistic elegance with some lace stockings in a flower pattern. Other idea’s include mourning veils, lace gloves, etc.
• A top-hat adorned with flowers! Must I add more?
• Flower hair-adornments. A metal comb with flower engravings sounds gorgeous and not too overwhelming.
• The Mexican Day of the Dead is typically represented with lots of colourful flowers. Typically marigolds, a type of flower, are used in honour of the dead.  Lots of jewellery contains this as well! I for one absolutely love Day of the Dead themed jewellery.

Best wishes,

-Sary Walrus

Link

Review: FanPlusFriend Elizabethan Coat (Picture Heavy)

As some of you may have heard my lovely boyfriend bought me a FanPlusFriend coat for Christmas. I’ve been saying that I will eventually do a review for too long! So this morning while I had an idea about how to wear the coat I decided to take some detailing shots and finally write this up.

Don’t forget to click the photo’s for a larger view, or for an even larger view open into another tab or window.

Pro’s:

•  The lace is amazing quality. Better quality lace than I have ever had before and I think I’ll be measuring other laces quality in comparison to this for a long time. The sleeves and collar sections are both lined in lace that’s perfect. They didn’t add too much at all, but just the right amount and selected it carefully.

•  The brocade is wonderful, though at times makes the fabric look a lot more silver than it actually is. I think it’s perfect, very pretty and doesn’t have any fabric mistakes at all.
  

•  The tag isn’t uncomfortable at all and isn’t is a ridiculously showy place like I know some brand names tend to do.

Con’s:

• There are strings is parts of the fabric that stick out, generally at the buttons and where the fabric is sewn together, of course but it is a little annoying when you’re doing the buttons up. It always makes me think they’re horribly fragile.

•  I really liked this coat because it had the option to put the skirt section up into a bustle affect but it turns out you haven’t wear a regular petticoat or crinoline underneath otherwise the back is ridiculously long. I think this is generally because the buttons to hold up the fabric to create this bustle affect are too close together. Alternatively you could use a bustle pad or pocket hoops pannier (which I think I might try because they look awesome!) or a combination of the two.

•  In my other outfit post while still wondering how to wear this coat I complained about the arms, post here. You can obviously see that the arms are ridiculously too large and have almost no shape, this may be because I had my coat custom made and didn’t include enough measurements, so I’m not entirely blaming FanPlusFriend. I’ve began slightly altering it without actually sewing or cutting anything (a tips post that will be coming soon with explain this further) so it’s not too much of a problem any more, though it could be something to look out for.

Others:

•  The coat isn’t lined but it does use a pretty well done fold over methods on the edges. It doesn’t really bother me. The coat is still amazingly warm.

• This is not a coat to just throw on and off. There are nine buttons across the front that have corresponding loops of a thick string. It takes quite some time to properly button up this coat as the loops make sure the button just won’t slip out. It takes almost triple this time if you accidentally placed a button in a wrongly corresponding loop and have to undo them all and then redo.  Sure, it awesome though!

Anyway, here is my take on this lovely coat. All in all, I really love this coat and am looking for more opportunities to wear it, though it is summer here so that isn’t possibly for a little while. So, be sure to be seeing this coat styled differently in the future! Preferably when I start corseting again in summer. For anyone who wants the link to the website coat is here.

Best wishes,
-SaryWalrus

Outfit Post: Layered Hair – Top Hat – Platform Boots

Yesterday I went to go see Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which I MUST say was really good – especially the ending. This is what I wore. Before the movie started we went and bought dinner at Subway, which was delicious – I had a Veggie Delight with tomato sauce and Coen had a Teriyaki Chicken, just in case you wanted to know!

Outfit:

Blouse: GLP from Goth Angel. Fun fact! This was the first actual GOFF-goth blouse I ever bought when I was a mere baby-bat.
 
Skirt: Self-made. (And wrinkly!)

Cardigan: Thrifted.

Ripped stockings: Fun fact! This was originally a pair of tights that I actually tried to keep in good condition. They weren’t the best quality so I just let them go. In the picture there are two layered on top of each other. This is because they became so ripped there was barely anything attaching the legs to the waist band so I just ripped them off and now use my garter to hold them up, which is pretty much what I do to all of my stockings these days.

Striped Stocking: This was originally Kitty’s in which  she lent to me and left at my house. I would give it back but I honestly think she wouldn’t care. If you see this Kitty and want that lone sock back, please let me know – it must be painful to part with.

 
Shoes: My trusty Demonia’s that I never get to wear any more. I must wear them more this year. Bought second hand on eBay.

Hat: I was going to wear this top hat but it didn’t end up that way. I’m considering giving it to Coen anyway because it fit’s him far better than myself.

 

Choker: Was bought from Animania last year. Though I actually thought it was a bracelet at first (why doesn’t any one sell cameo/lace bracelets) I still love it to death!

Amethyst Necklace: This was originally a full amethyst pendant that was gorgeously shaped, unfortunately while taking my necklace off to shower it smashed on the  bathroom floor. It was on a ribbon for a while but I realised, why shouldn’t I wear it as it was before!

Recently I’ve been layering my hair, and by layering I mean I first layered it and that wasn’t enough to satisfy my desire to cut my hair and I cut a lot more off. There are parts that are still the same length so I’m still not satisfied. I used a really simple method of putting all of your hair up into a ponytail on the centre of your head. You hold it straight up and cut straight across. Unfortunately I didn’t cut far enough down to actually hit the bottom length’s of my hair and I this is after cutting about six or seven inches off other parts!

Best wishes,
-Sary

DIY Tutorial: Victorian Cuffs

After reading Kamyria Magdalena Mourn‘s post on her creation of her lovely arm warmers here I was inspired to start some of my own heavily modified, of course, version. Just in time for Sophisticated Noir’s Monthly theme posts! I hope you enjoy. It’s a very simple tutorial, I’m very lazy, so nearly anyone can follow along and modify it as they please.

You will need:
-Some type of lace or fabric.
-Thread.
-A needle.
-Ribbon or elastic.
-Decorations.
-Buttons.
-Scizzors.
-A lighter or something that flames.

Random close up of my lace.

Step One:
Cut out your fabric of choice into four parts. All lengths should be three times your thickness (of any part of your hand), two should be your desired maximum length and two should be shorter than those. You’ll also want to cut your ribbon now. Cut it depending on whether you want to tie it, or to use buttons. Take the ends of the ribbon and run it other the flame. Be careful it may burn quickly! It will melt the tips and stop them from fraying.

Step Two:
Take your pieces of fabric and sew on the rough edge in a straight stick, it doesn’t have to be fancy. You might want to use black thread if you’re using black lace but you’ll be ruffling it anyway.

Pull along the thread and evenly distribute it. Make it so that it’s slightly shorter than your wrist measurement. (Otherwise you’ll have problems with the button.)

By now you should have something that looks a bit like this when laid flat together.

 Step Three:
 Sew the two didn’t length’s of fabric together with the ruffles as evenly distributed as possible. Then I pinned them to the ribbon. I think you honestly need something to pin them with, even if it’s just safety pins. Those ruffles mean business!

Pinned.

And stitched. Yes it’s horribly stitched.

 I used, I have no idea what the name of the stitch is. Generally just a typical stick by less frequently. When done well you shouldn’t be able to see it at all. Unless, like me, you randomly decided to sew this at one o’clock in the morning.

Step Four:
 If you’re going to use buttons you’ll need to cut your ribbon down to size. I cut the over lapping side down first and then placed the cuff on my wrist and pined the button where I wanted it. Then I cut the button hole. Remember the run the edges and the button hole over the flame. be EXTRA CAREFUL with the button hole. I ruined on of mine and had to sew it so it didn’t snap.Ribbon burns super fast.

Step Five:

 Sew up the edges from a fair, measured distance, from the button hole. Try it on and pin it in a place that it can be easily removed. Sew from there!

Step Six: 
Add any decoration you wish! Go crazy. I didn’t, because I’m lazy and I prefer a simpler look. I also hemmed my lace, because it’s open cut lace but that was only really because the bottom was way too long.

You’re done! Enjoy your new pair of cuffs!

My finished pair.

I hope you enjoyed. And check out that other version!

Best Wishes
-Sary