Retro Rack

Instead of the Dickens Fair, Fashionable Reader, I managed a quick drop by at Borderlands in San Francisco last weekend. They very kindly came to my rescue. Since I wouldn't actually be visiting Victorian London I elected to decline the planned steampunk cover look in favor of more sensible wear. I opted for purple, cream, and black.


Purple and I have a long and checkered history. I used to hate it. I associated it with the leggings and oversized sweaters my mother wore in the 80s. But now I've come around. I even did my nails to match.


It was raining in the City, so boots were a must. Here's the outfit breakdown:


I use an app called StyleBook to create my outfits. Someday we will talk more about that if you are interested, Fashionable Reader? Anyway, you can see from above that I use it to show all the possible combinations for a given outfit (for example I have three black skirts that work with this top, several different shoes depending on the weather, and different hats to make it more or less fancy).


That cream hat is quickly becoming one of my favorites. And how excited was I to finally trot out the Kohls sweater? Can you believe something so vintage came from the junior section of a department store, and goes over the Rack, and isn't wool? It reminded me of this set:


Speaking of wool:


I picked this skirt up super cheep intending mainly to wear it with a corset of mine (hence adding buttons to match) but I find myself really gravitating towards it this winter.


Perhaps it's that the shape is very hip right now yet still pleasingly 1940s. Perhaps it's that it seems to fit me really well. It is lined, except the waistband (a fault all to common in wool garments) so I do have to wear an undershirt (or a tucked in shirt) to protect my tummy from the dreaded wool rash but otherwise I love it. Some other ways I'm thinking about wearing it . . .


I also have an allergy to nickle earrings. Generally this means that I always buy danglings (rather than posts) so I can replace the hooks with silver or gold. Unfortunately, these ones are posts. They must be a pretty low alloy because it took several hours before my ears began to ache, but ache they did, so these earrings are out. (The clear nail polish trick doesn't work for me.) Sad, because I really liked the set.Now the hunt is on for new earring to match! Perhaps I will modify a pair of stemapunk earring to take the pearl drop part. Hummm. DIY plotting!


The shirt I chose is a bold purple rose print. If you, like me, are slow to accept purple print is a good entry point. Although, with the Rack, I might be better wearing a print on my bottom half. 





 The sweater over the shirt is a heather knit.


Purple, like most colors, has a wide range of shades from cool to warm, and from dark to light so it will suit any complexion. So saying "I don't look good in purple" isn't really a good excuse. It is perfectly fine to say "I don't like wearing purple." This is similar to not liking Brussels sprouts ~ own it baby! I feel it is perfectly appropriate to dislike colors illogically. I, for example, don't like yellow. Blech!

That said, I have gone out and found some temptingly beautiful purple pieces for your consideration.







And if those last two images don't convince you to try purple, nothing will.

And now, for the characters!

For Sophronia after Etiquette & Espionage


For Ivy Hisselpenny in Soulless


For Rue in Prudence

For Primrose in Prudence


Retro Rack is also on facebook where I post additional images and fashion thoughts.

Just a simple DIY, Fashionable Reader for this month. I try to do mending and small sewing projects regularly but copy edits really derailed me in September. So last night I got a bee in my bonnet about being mending pro-active! I've been meaning to switch out the buttons on my favorite 1940s red sweater for ages.

The task was finding acceptable buttons. It is so difficult to match reds and get the right size. I like the black ones but I found myself limited in what I could pair the sweater with and I wanted to wear it with more outfits. You know me, I like to match everything ~ very old fashioned. So I needed to loose the black to open up creams and whites.


I hunted all over for the right buttons ~ something vintage, not the chintzy modern plastic buttons one finds at supply stores. Eventually, I found what I needed in Petaluma. It's hours away from me, this small farming town, but it has a crazy drag of antique stores one of which is a consortium that hosts an antique button specialist. Called Summer Cottage Antiques it hasn't the best clothing selection, and it's a bit spendy, but when it specializes, it really specializes. And the buttons! Oh the buttons. Occasionally I pilgrimage there just for buttons. If you don't have a source like this, I suggest visiting the dealers room of a local costumer, maker, or steampunk convention. Sometimes, if you are lucky, a button person turns up. And sometimes you don't have to buy a pass just to shop. There are online resource as well. I tend not to use these, as I like to handle the buttons in person before I purchase. I know, frisky of me.


I hate hate hate widening button holes, but I don't mind narrowing them, so I always shop for buttons that are as much the same size as the original as possible, and if not, then slightly smaller. These turned out to be slightly smaller, so I did have to go over and close down all the holes, but I love the finished effect.


Of course, now I'm confined to gold jewelry with this sweater, but I find that less restrictive than the black.

So there you have it, not much of a project for this month, but I also repaired this hat, which needed TLC:


Because I want to wear it for my Sword & Laser video interview next week. Squee! More on that outfit later. Now that I have done all the research on what to wear on film I feel much better equip to chose this time around, I shan't keep you in suspense long, I promise.

I hope you all have a lovely and fashionable weekend!


I don't have a photo of me wearing the new version, but here's the old one... 


Retro Rack is also on facebook where I post additional images and fashion thoughts.