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Gail Carriger in a Vintage 1950s Black Coat Dress with Red Accessories at BayCon 2017


BayCon used to be my con, you know way back in the day when I was first bouncing about in fandom (lots of comic book marvel cosplay). It was the first SF/F con I ever attended (not counting Star Trek). I haven't been back in years since it always takes place over the three day weekend in spring and that's a popular weekend for events. I am usually trundling about elsewhere. However, this year my local RWA chapter was invited down, and I happened to be in town, so I figured: why not?

Gail Carriger in a Vintage 1950s Black Coat Dress with Red Accessories at BayCon 2017

The dress is a black 1950s coat dress with big pockets, lined in red, as are the cuffs of the sleeves. Because it's satin it doesn't travel well so you'll usually only see me in it at local events. I do love it, though. I'm wearing two crinolines under it to give it volume, but it could take more.

Gail Carriger in a Vintage 1950s Black Coat Dress with Red Accessories at BayCon 2017
Me and my BFF RWA girls! Lea Kirk & Tess Rider

I've accessorized it with the following:

1. Vintage 1950s beret style felt hat.
2. Double strand of red beads with matching earrings, similar set for $25
3. Obligatory pen necklace, $20
4. Wide red vinyl belt, similar $30 (also comes in dark red)
5. Shoes of Prey pumps, wing tips, leather and patent designed by me, $200 (for my concerns working with Shoes of Prey please read this blog post)
Gail Carriger in a Vintage 1950s Black Coat Dress with Red Accessories at BayCon 2017

There it is. This is certainly a favorite outfit of mine. I'm hoping to get to wear it again soon.

Gail Carriger in a Vintage 1950s Black Coat Dress with Red Accessories at BayCon 2017
Retro Rack is also on facebook where I post additional images and fashion thoughts.

You can visit the following shopping lists: Travel Dork, My Steampunk, My Wardrobe.
Product links on this blog are usually to Amazon using my associate code. At no additional cost to you this means I gets a slight kick back if you make a purchase. Thank you! This allows me to continue to produce this blog without sponsors.

Gail Carriger Plays Ballet At Steampunk Worlds Fair 2017


So I kind of channeled the ballet for my first outfit of Steampunk Worlds Fair.

Gail Carriger Plays Ballet At Steampunk Worlds Fair 2017

The thing is when I was in New Jersey for this event a few years ago it was scorchingly hot so I pretty much pack steampunk light, or as light as I could go.

Gail Carriger Plays Ballet At Steampunk Worlds Fair 2017


Of course it turned out to be rainy, windy, and overcast the entire time. Hence the reason I subbed in the high neck blouse rather than my original idea.

Ah, May.

Gail Carriger Plays Ballet At Steampunk Worlds Fair 2017

Outfit breakdown: 
* That's a button front pussycat bow blouse worn with bow tied as a cravat (similar $24) and a vintage parasol pearl pin (gift from a fan).
* Dark Garden Alyscia corset in a custom fabric with cross back princess straps.
* Cream gloves
* Fluffy blush high-low chiffon ruffle skirt I picked up from Ross or something a few years ago, similar for $25 or this really cool fancy fluffy one for $40
* I'm in love with these suspender nylons for when I'm in corset, basically a lazy lady's thigh highs for $15. I've multiple pairs now. Now if they would only make a black back-seam version.
* Cream oxford wingtips (no longer available except in small sizes). You can google cream oxfords and see what you get but frankly I don't recommend this color shoe. And make certain, if you do invest to get one with PALE SOLES. Never buy a light colored shoe with a dark colored sole. Trust your Gail on this matter.
* Crochet teacake was a gift from a fan up in Portland years ago, I simply pin it to my head with a bunch of bobby pins.

Gail Carriger Plays Ballet At Steampunk Worlds Fair 2017

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

You can visit the following shopping lists: Travel Dork, My Steampunk, My Wardrobe.
Product links on this blog are usually to Amazon using my associate code. At no additional cost to you this means I gets a slight kick back if you make a purchase. Thank you! This allows me to continue to produce this blog without sponsors.

Gail Carriger at Bookfest in Red Pedal Pushers with Black and White


Barnes & Noble and their teen book fest this last weekend. It was pretty last minute and I agreed to do a thing because I happen to already be in the area for a morning event, so I figured it was no big deal to hop over.

Gail Carriger at Bookfest in Red Pedal Pushers with Black and White
photo taken by Maude Lynne @the_maude_lynne

Sorry this is the only picture anyone posted of my outfit as I forgot, as always, to take any myself.

I'm wearing a fitted button up black and white striped blouse (yes it goes over the Rack without a gap, it's one of those magic ones).  I got it years ago, likely from Nordstrom Rack. But I've no ready source of good button downs for girls with a large Rack, aside from going custom on eShakti. Recommendations welcome. The sleeves on this one are a little tight but because the rest fits so well and it's vertical stripes I can't get rid of it.

I've paired it with high wasted red cotton pedal pushers (similar $50), black and white Via Spiga wingtip spectator peep toes pumps (similar $60), black vintage leather gloves (similar $30), and a little red headband (similar $10), and red bead necklace and earring set (similar $20).

I'm never sure about pedal pushers, but I like having a few pairs of trousers about, just to remind myself that my legs do, in fact, go all the way up.

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

You can visit the following shopping lists: Travel Dork, My Steampunk, My Wardrobe.
Product links on this blog are usually to Amazon using my associate code. At no additional cost to you this means I gets a slight kick back if you make a purchase. Thank you! This allows me to continue to produce this blog without sponsors.

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger
Oxfords  1895-1905  The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Oxfords happen to be my all time favorite way to wear flats. Although, as you will see, the humble oxford comes in all shapes and sizes these days. You have so many glorious options!

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger
 My collection of plain flat oxfords. Cream (BP Nordstrom Rack $50), black patent, and tobacco brown (both from Marshalls on super-sale last week $10. Score!)

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger
Sporting my favorite cream oxfords three different ways.

I realized, because men's style shoes use men's terminology, I was lacking knowledge on the subject of oxfords versus spectators versus wingtips. So I did some research.

Despite the terminology I use above and elsewhere in this blog, oxford is technically a specific cut of men's shoe with enclosed lacing, like so . . .
Classic Men's Oxford and a Women's Oxford Pump in Grey by Aerosole

Sometimes called balmorals and originally quite plain, the (temporally) later style bluchers or derbys were the ones that had open lacing, like so . . .
Women's Derby Peep Toe Stiletto in Red

In modern times we mostly call all of the above oxfords regardless of lacing technique. Such shoes often also have a piece of leather stitched over the toe section making them oxford caps.

Wingtip is the American term for brogue style mens shoe with the classic W pattern over the cap toe.

Men's Oxford Wingtip and a Women's Derby Wingtip in Distressed Brown by Me Too

Thus you can have a wingtip oxford, although a plain oxford is considered more formal. However, you can also have a wingtip loafer with no lacing at all.

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger
 1944 Wingtip Spectator Derbys

Spectator is a term used for any shoe with two colors/textures in blocks following the cut of the shoe, whether tonal or contrasting, for men or women. I happen to be a huge fan of this style of shoe. I have no idea why, I just am.

Derby Wingtip Spectator open-toe Pump in tones of grey. Spectator mary jane pump w/ strap in textures of black


Wingtip Spectator Pump in Black & White, Oxford Wingtip Spectator Stiletto Platform in Tones of Brown, Derby Spectator Pump in Distressed Cream & Black

Spectators appeared first on men's oxfords in England in the late 1860s, but had their heyday in the 1930s. I put Lord Akeldama in a pair of black and white spectators in one scene in my books (1870s setting) and Alexia is quite shocked by him wearing such a shoe. For women, they were probably most popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger
  My collection of spectators. Clockwise from 12 o'clock: Via Spiga grey & black pumps (gift); Via Spiga black & white stilettos ($50 Nordstrom Rack); BP brown & mushroom flats (dyed by me, see bellow, Nordstrom $50, bought after the cream ones above because I was wearing those so much); unknown brand grey & black flats (Crossroads Trading, Haight Street, SF $15); black & white swing dance shoes that I had soled for street walking when I gave up competitive dance (I have two pairs the other pair is in getting dyed to black & red); and finally Via Spiga black & red stilettos ($50 Nordstrom Rack, they started life brown tones, I had them dyed red and then did the black myself, see DIY bellow.)


 So oxford is the cut, wingtip is the style, and spectator is the color pattern.

Now, this kind-of reverse spectator was wildly popular in the 1950s, the saddle shoe. 

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger

And not all spectators have to be wingtips, nor do all wingtips have to be spectators, and neither has to be an oxford. I know, I know, so confusing.

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger
Wingtip spectator flats that are not oxfords; spectator non-wingtip non-oxford mary jane peep-toe platform stiletto; Hill & Novis in 1935 wingtip derbys.

Some ultra-modern takes on this classic shoe.

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger
Lace and black spectator oxfords; Lautre brown python spectator platform mary jane pumps; black patent wingtip brogue boots; silver derbys; spatter-painted black and white derbys; and Oscar De La Renta's black & clear spectator derby sandals on the 2012 runway (a new one on me!)

What I love about plain oxfords is because they are menswear they can be tough or cute, retro or modern. You can use them to add a pop of color to an otherwise severe outfit. They are good with tights, socks, nylons or bare legs. They work with maxi-skirts, short skirts, or trousers. They are comfortable for walking long distances, and if you get the right ones, they pack down small and light for travel. Most of them offer more support than a ballet-style flat with more versatility in styling. They are also my airport shoe of choice.
What I like about the pump version is that because of the retro and menswear style you don't have to go with a high heel. In fact, you can pretty much get away with any variation on a heel ~ from stacked to pump to stiletto to small one-incher to hourglass Victoriana. Whatever your heel comfort level you can wear it (and quite probably find it) in an oxford pump.

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger
Some vintage 1940s cuteness.

The DIY section of our presentation.

How to turn plain oxfords into spectators . . .

I have two pairs of shoes I have done this to:

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger

Here's how I do it, with Kiwi shine and a paint brush. This limits me to black and brown on top of whatever base color I already have. (Here's more on dying your own shoes other colors from New Vintage Lady. She appears to order her dye from Spain. I don't know of any other way to get good colored leather dye, so please don't ask me.) If I want a red base, for example, I have a Miracle Shoe Guy who I take the shoes in to, and for $10 or so he dyes them any color I'd like. This is what I did with the red stilettos.

But, back to spectatoring.

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger

The starting shoes, mushroom colored, removed laces and stuffed with tissue paper for protection. I suggest trying first with a pair you don't care about, say from the thrift store, but they do have to be leather, and preferably matt and untreated (with Scotch guard, for example). Plastics are really hard to work with, and I don't. I try to only wear leather shoes for comfort, wear, and smell reasons.

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger

Because I like the vintage look, I'm not too concerned with getting the dyed section perfectly even. Still, it takes at least three coats to make certain you have no obvious brush marks. As you do one section, the others dry quite fast, so you don't have to wait at all between coats. It took me about an hour to dye the shoes. Here you can see one coat around the laces and two on the wingtip caps. I like to leave the holes but you don't have to, just a personal preference. You have to have a pretty steady hand because if you get dye in the wrong part of the shoe it's hard to clean off. I use a standard small paintbrush which can be washed clean with water. I poor the dye into the cap and just dip in and go for it. I use a baby wipe or wet one to clean any mistakes.

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger

All About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger

The final product. For the brown I used Kiwi Scuff Cover Instant Wax Shine in brown. I ordered it off of Amazon for $6, but you might find it at a local craft store. Kiwi also makes a white version which is good for covering scuff marks on my black & white spectators. For black I use Kiwi Honor Guard High Gloss Instant Spit-Shine. It's brilliant and better than their Scuff Cover but only comes in black. I also use it for repairing the scuff marks on my leather jackets. One little bottle has so far lasted me some ten years and I've a good deal of black leather. I suggest leaving the shoes to dry thoroughly overnight before wearing or packing. You can buff them up with a soft cloth if you like.

On care and feeding of your spectators . . .

Generally speaking, I spray all my leather shoes with Scotch Guard (or the equivalent) when I get them home the first time and (after a cleaning) each fall. However, I haven't yet done it with any of the spectators I dyed myself. I'm scared they will spot. But I'm going to have to do it soon, winter is coming. I'll let you know how it goes. It is nice to know I still have the dyes and if anything happens I can just give them a new coat.
Gail Carriger in a Vintage 1950s Black Coat Dress with Red Accessories at BayCon 2017Gail Carriger Plays Ballet At Steampunk Worlds Fair 2017Gail Carriger at Bookfest in Red Pedal Pushers with Black and White Shoes of Prey ~ Custom Shoe Shopping ExperienceAll About Oxfords from Gail Carriger: Men's Shoe Style Explained Gail Carriger in a Cream Dress with Brown Accessories in TucsonGail Carriger in Laser Cut Turquoise eShakti Dress in DC for the Waistcoats & Weaponry TourAll About Oxfords! DIY Bonus ~ Going Spectator Style with Gail Carriger

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