Daily outfit: why yes, those are leather-panel leggings

In the past two months, I have started studying for a Masters of Law. I am also still maintaining an office job. I offer this fact up as an unabashed excuse for my lack of posting, but I had a snippet of time before dashing out the door last week (read: 10 minutes before I had to go catch a bus to class and work and essay-writing and basically brain-drain hell) so I snapped a picture of this outfit. Because really, I rather like it.

Apologies for the somewhat over-exposed shot - I got one semi-great shot and then the sun was like HIIIIIIIII I AM SHINING THROUGH YOUR WINDOW AREN'T YOU HAPPY TO SEE ME and by the time I'd reorganised myself, I had to run. And running in these shoes is precarious at best. Also, though, check out that hair change! The last this blog saw of my hair, it looked like this, with the long and the blonde and the ombre. Admittedly, that was pretty awesome, but my hair grows quickly like a mofo, and I've had long hair (of varying degrees of "long", from collar-bone to down-past-my-hips) for something like ten years now. So a change was in order. This bob is AMAZING and I love it. Eventually I'll probably do something fun with colour too (I'm thinking blonde, specifically so that I can play with peachy-pink temporary colours) but for now I'm just loving hair that blow-dries in ten minutes.

This time last year I was wearing: A choice of two outfits, both with full lolita skirts and pretty blouses. A pretty big change in style, no? (I sold the last of my lolita clothes a couple of months ago - I think I probably even used some of the money to buy the dress I'm wearing above. CHANGE ALL ROUND.)

Details (click picture for larger version): Black twisted/draped wool dress, MM6 by Maison Martin Margiela. Black leather-panel leggings, Glassons. Hot pink patent leather belt, Karen Walker, via Trademe. Black wood-sole shoes, Skin, via Ultra Shoes. Silver octopus necklace, gifted, via Pixel Ink.

Double daily outfit - some monochrome for December

I'm back! Actually, I basically never left, but not owning my own camera kind of put a spanner in the works when my flatmate took hers away over Christmas. SO thoughtless of her, right? I know, I know, it's like she owns it or something. I should really buy my own. Especially as she's moving out in a few weeks. Gulp. Anyway, have a couple of last month's outfits. I have a special secret to tell y'all soon, but it's going to have to wait just a couple more days. :D In the meantime, Happy Christmas/New Years/non-denominational holiday of choice. I ate many things, and have greatly enjoyed my time off thus far.

Outfit the first... is a "casual day at work followed by going to a rock gig (and oh hey, btw, it's raining all day so those massive heels you wanted to wear? yeah, no way)" coordination. It's a very technical descriptor. Anyway, despite the rain, I loved the gig, and was ultimately pleased I'd gone for flat boots, because despite them, by the time I got home around midnight my back had utterly seized up on me from standing so long in a crowd. I suspect that heels might actually have crippled me. This dress is one that I bought when I went out shopping one day with the intent of buying jeans. I still don't own any jeans, but I fucking love this dress, so I think everything worked out okay.

Details (click picture for larger version): Cream/black silk chiffon dress with lace panel detail, Salasai, via Service Depot. Black cotton leggings, Glassons. Black suede ankle boots, Ann Demeulemeester.

Outfit the second, and I think this was a work outfit (I connived at getting my boss to let us all wear casual-dress for December, and it was a Good Idea). Monochrome black and grey is still summery if I wear nude espadrilles, right? What I am also wearing is my Christmas presents from my two best friends: a cast crow's-skull pendant in an amazing blackened silver, and a skull-and-bones bracelet. I would like to lay it out there that this fashion direction was slightly unpredictable as of a year ago. Blaaaaaaack. Blaaaaaaaaaaack with a bracelet made of the thumbs of my enemies. It's kind of awesome, I have to admit. Also, check out the slow progress of tattoo ink down my arm. Original plan was for both half-sleeves, I may now be eyeing up my forearms speculatively.

Details (click picture for larger version): black shirt-dress, Company of Strangers, via Service Depot. Black cotton leggings, Glassons. Grey draped merino cardigan, Glassons. Nude faux-patent espadrille wedges, Number 1 Shoe Warehouse. Blackened-silver crow-skull pendant, gifted, via Etsy. Bone bracelet, gifted, via Service Depot.

It's a business dress! Or is it?

This is a new dress, one I've been working on for the last wee while (although I've had the fabric stashed since probably about this time last year? Who knows. A length of time). It's a pattern I've made before, with one twist - this version has a super-low scooped back and exposed zip, just to sex up the otherwise extremely conservative cut in the front. It has the nice side-effect of suddenly showing off another rather large tattoo to all my workmates, because that's how I roll. AND it has pockets. Pockets. The joy of a dress with pockets cannot be overstated.

I finished the dress this weekend, full of determination to wear it to work today. With these shoes and that belt. Of course, Wellington then had to put on the showery rain all day, so I had to wear sensible closed-toe shoes during my trip from home to work to avoid suede getting rained on (I hear it's not the greatest, hey), but you better believe I took these in in my Bag of Holding and changed into them once I was at work. When pink suede heels are in the offing, who could choose sensible shoes?

Details (click picture for larger version): Black/grey linen/wool-blend dress with scoop back, handmade. Black cotton leggings, Glassons. Pink/cream suede heels, Ultra Shoes. Black patent belt, Cue. Pearl strand, vintage via Trademe. Pink rose brooch, from EGL sales community. Tattoos, Dan at New Zealand Tattoo.

Daily outfit: oh, how I love grey and chiffon

After a week of sick leave, I am BACK at WORK doing worky things and hopefully not dying or giving my workmates Plague. I'm sure they appreciate it. So anyway, in getting dressed this morning, I revelled in the joy of being able to dress up for work again and not just throwing on a pair of leggings, a long singlet and a hoodie in which I could skulk around the house coughing up a lung (somehow, I don't think "illness wear" is going to be the new "resort wear" anytime soon). Or at least, I would have revelled in the joy, had I not slept in a wee bit and thus been on a slightly tight getting-ready-for-work schedule. In any case, I decided that I hadn't worn this dress in a wee while, and I had never outfit-blogged it, so it deserved to be worn with a pair of leggings and my new, ridiculously fantastic high heels.

These heels, dear readers, are a full five inches (although, bless them, a good inch and a half of the height is in the platform). I am usually an even five-five, a not-too-shabby height, but standing at five-ten and having a full couple of inches height on my Tall And Statuesque flatmate is really rather fantastic. The dress is silk chiffon, bought on Amazing End Of Season Sale (it is from Ricochet's autumn/winter 11 collection, which as previously mentioned I am in complete love with), and I feel just a little bit Rule Breaky while wearing it. It's very clearly an empire line, and I'm not sure whether that makes me look a little pregnant or whether that's just the received wisdom (well, "wisdom") about empire lines on everyone ever, and the skirt has intriguing volume in slightly odd places, and the sleeves are also super-voluminous with their big gathered puffs. And I'm not a model-thin waif on whom volume adds the illusion of curves - I already have plenty of those. But I fucking love this dress, and anyone who tells me it's not flattering can a) eat a dick and b) go talk to my friend Pearls in Vinegar while she is wearing this shirt. 

Details (click picture for larger version): Grey silk chiffon dress, Ricochet via Gregory. Black leather belt, Agnes B via Trademe. Black cotton leggings, Glassons. Black wood-sole heels, Ultra Shoes. Birdcage necklace, birthday gifted from a friend.

They're not pants, but they are awesome

It is time, you guys, to talk about leggings. Because leggings, they are awesome. What is this, I hear you all say. They're tubes of cotton and lycra. People wear them to the gym. Or with puffer jackets and ugg boots and it's just all kinds of wrong. Well, yes. Leggings are all of these things, but also they can be so right. A good friend of mine recently said, "You know, I never thought I was a footless-leggings-and-high-heels kind of girl, but I guess I so am!" You know why she came to this conclusion, dear readers? Because Leggings Are Awesome.


Why? Why are they awesome? I have to justify my love for leggings? I suppose I do. WELL THEN.

• Ankle-length leggings make your ankles look Super Dainty. Really truly. My best friend is, by her own admission, large-framed. She is of Dutch-German heritage and has a good three inches on me. Yet in a pair of footless leggings and heels, her ankles look as tiny as the twee-est of Disney princesses. 
• The seasons, they are changing. If you're in the southern hemisphere like me, the twinkling of spring is probably beginning to make you flirt with the idea of changing up Sturdy Boots for cute little peep-toe high heels, and if you're up in the mystical lands of the north, it's probably not quite cold enough yet to justify putting away all your cute summer shoes. But either way, if you try to go barelegged, or even add a pair of sheer stockings, you will Probably Freeze, especially if you're anywhere with something as tricksy as a Wellington southerly. Leggings (especially with a pair of sheer knee-high stockings layered underneath) work excellently for letting you break out awesome shoes while still keeping your legs unfrostbitten, and let's be serious, frostbite is never the new black.
• Footless leggings let your shoe be the statement. You might have read the above line and thought, with a snort of disgust, "Yeah, but thick, opaque black tights will keep me warm and aren't leggings!" This is true, and I have an undying love for opaque black tights. But sometimes they Just Don't Go. My Fantastic Pink Shoes, for example, just wouldn't work with thick black stockings - they're peep-toe, and a light colour, and obviously meant to be worn with bare feet (or, let's be honest, sheer stockings. I very rarely go completely barelegged, and I think Kate Middleton has the right idea about sheers.) I'm not saying you can never wear dark stockings in light shoes - I love rocking my white lolita wedges with contrast black tights - but leggings add excellent versatility. AND, if you have a pair of dark-coloured shoes, wearing black tights often turns the shoes into sneakily invisible ninja shoes. This can also be a great look, but to let the shoe really shine, blocking it with a peek of bare skin works wonders.
• Leggings are utterly invaluable when it comes to layering. For something like a short dress or a long tunic, even the thickest of opaque tights might still be a wee bit too risque for anything short of a night out on the town. They're not pants (as legions of internet complainypants have pointed out ad nauseum) but they're very close to, so my take on the matter is that if you're covering your bum with another layer then you're good to go. They're generally more slim-line than even the most fitted of jeans, so you can layer over them without weird lumps and bumpy sticky-out zip bits.
• Okay honestly I cannot legitimately make a post about how great leggings are and not mention this because I would be a LYING LIAR: they are really super comfortable. As just mentioned, jeans have lumps and bumps and sticky-out zip bits. And they're a nightmare to shop for, and you either get low-riding awfulness or, as a delightfully down-to-earth shopgirl in a rather high-fashion clothes shop here said to me recently "They're high-waisted and they squish your uterus and it sucks". Indeed, such are my trials with jeans. Leggings, dear readers, will never squish your uterus. Cotton-blend leggings do need replacing more often than the nylon version (they fade and get shabby fairly quickly), but they are soft and gentle and you don't get static cling from long skirts and are generally just all kinds of comfort to wear.
• You can get fantastically awesome printed leggings to liven up a plain outfit. No, seriously. Look. BlackMilk have the Best Ever, including galaxy print (DO WANT) and sequins (also DO WANT). Sometimes I find myself falling into a slightly-lazy outfit involving All Of The Black (yes, it's very Wellington, but a bit of pattern or colour always makes things better) and I do think that these awesome leggings have a place in my life.

So there, you guys. Six inarguable points on the merits of leggings. GO FORTH IN YOUR NEW KNOWLEDGE.


Details (click picture for larger version): Turquoise/cream print dress, handmade. Black patent belt, Cue. Black leggings, Glassons. Brown peep-toe wedge heels, Overland Shoes. Black and pink metal beads, Bling. And because I liked it, have a semi-informative shot of my makeup and general face. That's some liquid eyeliner right there.