Of Absences and Employment

First of all I have to apologise for being away so long! I have been meaning to take outfit photos and write posts, but working 7 days a week (even if those work days are short) was far less manageable than I had hoped.

I started my new jobs on my 24th birthday (in April) and other than 1 week of annual leave (when I traveled to Yorkshire to visit my mum and go to a meeting with a fellow academic) I have been working every day since. It was tiring, never having any down time, always having to get up to an alarm, getting buses every day (sometimes 2 buses or a bus and a train in each direction). I have a confession to make, I started grabbing clothes pretty much at random from the clean washing pile (thank you so much Ash for keeping on top of the washing), thinking only of how weather appropriate they were and feeling pampered if I managed to find time to shave my legs once a fortnight!

I used a lot of my time in the evenings to fill in job applications and do research for the local history group and tried to stay on top of my PhD reading on quiet days at work. Luckily for me, the job applications have paid off and I've landed another part-time museum job! But 'Wait!' I hear you cry, 'How does having MORE jobs help? Wasn't 3 enough?!'. The new job is only two days a week but the museum has longer opening hours, so I do 15 hours over 2 days. This means I can cut down to 6 days a week, and eventually down to 5 days a week (I'm needed more during the summer holidays). Hallelujah! Also this job isn't seasonal so I won't be completely unemployed in November!! I also have an interview in September for a paid internship which would be a big step forward in my career =]

I celebrated my first real day off yesterday (Sundays are my new day off) by lounging around in bed for hours, watching bad TV and FINALLY putting my clean washing away. Such luxury. I even planned an outfit for today =]

Here's the outfit:

I was working with the local history group this morning, and they are completely used to my odd clothes, so I could dress how I liked.

I forgot my camera so please excuse the phone camera pics. The light in my room at dad's isn't great either. Do you like my glow in the dark skeleton friend? I have 3 on different mirrors around my room =]

What I'm Wearing:
Leggings: Carousel Ink on Etsy (reducing to $25 due to one leg being an inch shorter than the other)
Bloomers: Bodyline £11.65 (yen trick + free shipping sale)
Blouse: Miss Selfridge via charity shop £4.50
Waistcoat: Dorothy Perkins via charity shop - I've lost track of what I paid for each faintly identical black waistcoat but it was probably around £3
Boots: New Look £20
Pentagram Necklace: Alchemy Gothic, present from my brother
Poison Bottle Necklace: Claire's accessories, present from my friend Bethany

Feels so good to look and feel more like myself again. Also I tidied my room at dad's as well so I now have order and serenity wherever I stay! The photos were taken after I found the floor under the piles of paper but before I put my 'bedtime reading' stack of books back on the shelf! What do you like to do on your days off  to pamper yourself?

I hope you are glad to see me back, I've missed reading all your blogs! I promise it won't be as long before my next post!!

What's In Your Suitcase? Conference Style

I recently attended a fabulous conference in Edinburgh on the subject of 'Death in Scotland; Medieval to the Modern' where I met loads of great people and learned so much.

I was travelling by train and only taking one small suitcase, to stay for a week, including 3 days of conference, one day exploring the city and 2 days fieldwork. The fieldwork clothes consisted of jeans, jumpers and thermals so I won't bore you with them, but here's what else I crammed into my case!
When I got to my hotel unpacked the case and laid each outfit out to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything.

Day 1

I spent the first day exploring Edinburgh. I visited Carlton Old Burial Ground, Greyfriars Kirkyard and the central library in Edinburgh.

Black Turtleneck: Miss Selfridge. Christmas Present from Mum
Black Waistcoat: Via a charity shop, I think it was around £3.
Red Velvet Skirt: Metamorphose Temps de Fille via egl-comm-sales. The bow is one of the detachable ones from the skirt.
I wore this with black tights, black boot covers and black DMs (good for muddy graveyards)

Day 2

The first day of the conference. I toned down a frilly lolita blouse by wearing it with a professional looking skirt. More velvet because it's was cold up there!

Black Blouse: RQ-BL from Sai Sai
Black Pinstripe Blazer: New Look
Black Velvet Skirt: Next
Also worn with black tights and black oxford shoes from Primark

Day 3
I decided that I could wear a more OTT skirt if I wore it with a simpler blouse, as long as I picked the  right one. The conference was held in the School of Divinity building, so I thought that the Churches on this one would go down well! I did get several compliments =]

(this photo refused to rotate the right way round, I have no idea why)

Black and White Stripe Blouse: Warehouse
Black Velvet Skirt with Church Embroidery: Handmade via egl-comm-sales
Jabot: From the RQ-BL blouse
Also with the same waistcoat as Day 1, more black tights and the same shoes.

Day 4
This outfit had to be both the most practical and the warmest because the conference ended with a  tour of Warrington Cemetery.

Black Peter Pan Collar Jumper: Muji, it was a present
Purple Velvet Skirt: I got this in a charity shop, several years ago in Weymouth
Purple Cardigan: H&M
Worn with 2 pairs of warm black tights, boot covers and my DMs.

I hung each outfit on one hanger (there were only 6) with another one for my petticoats and the final one for my coat etc.

(I don't know why these photos aren't rotating properly)

I needed a place to hang my hat, found a bulldog clip in my pencil case that was the perfect solution

(Argh! These pictures...)

I hope you enjoyed this look into my trip to Edinburgh! I'll post some photos of the beautiful graveyards soon.

Blue Thursday

Ok, it doesn't have quite the same ring to it as Blue Monday but both of the outfits I am posting both contain blue garments so I couldn't resist.

This is an outfit I wore to work when I wanted to add some subtle touches of Magique Victorienne flair.

I like to think that I look like a casual witch ready to read tea leaves for her fairy friends =P

What I'm wearing:
Shrug: via a charity shop, I added the trim myself; velvet ribbon and eyelet lace.
Strap top: New Look many years ago.
Skirt: H & M for my 17th birthday.
Lace Skirt: New Look, later the same year
Blue Tights: present from my auntie last Xmas
Lace tights: Primark, 2 quid
Witchy boots: Rag Market. I think they cost about a fiver.
Neclace: from my wonderful friend Sam for my birthday 2 years ago.

I also have to show you 2 different ways of wearing the same dress. It's a check dress with blue rose print that I got a couple of years ago. It shrunk horribly in the wash; so the sleeves are a bit short and the skirt is indecently short. So I can't wear it on it's own any more.

In the top picture I am wearing it with a velvet skirt my friend Anya gave me. I stitched the waist-tie from the dress around the bottom to make it look like a matching outfit. In the other outfit I'm wearing the dress as a blouse under my pinafore (because I don't like to wear full length skirts to work; too many things in the office to fall over!). I went to town shopping in the morning, then changed my skirt before work in the afternoon =]

What I'm wearing:
Dress: M Butterfly. 20 quid.
Scarf (as belt): present many years ago.
Capelet: Phaze. I've featured it before here
Chocker: Handmade by me.

Pinafore: Miss Selfridge. I posted an outfit with in a couple of days ago (it really is one of my favourite things to wear at the moment).
Cardigan: Miss Selfridge, sale 2 years ago.

Goth in the Office. Phase 2. Outfit 3.

I'm posting yesterday's outfit, because honestly today's was pretty dull (purple tights, black skirt, black blouse and purple cardigan).

I finally broke out some work trousers yesterday, although I don't think I'll ever be wearing these ones again; at least not quite like this.

What I'm wearing:
Velvet jacket. Vintage. You've all seen it before.
Silk blouse: Oasis, a long time ago, I don't remember how much I paid for it, but I think it was expensive (simply because I have to handwash it and it still bleeds dye everywhere =P)
Black T-shirt: Dorothy Perkins, for warmth and because it looks good behind the lace in the blouse.
Black and Pink Pinstripe trousers. M&S, hand me downs from my friend Olivia =]

I like the trousers and they fit nicely around the waist, but the cut is unflattering, so I think I'm going to alter them, if I ever get time.

I might even turn them into breeches like these, I've owned my pair for like 3 years and they are really great.

I could use the leftover fabric for the front of a matching waistcoat...

Good idea?

Goth in the Office. Phase 2. Outfits 1 and 2.

Sorry I didn't post yesterday; I was really knackered after a weekend of travelling and work.

As I mentioned last week, Phase 2 is to include typically gothy details in my outfits, but balance them out by including colour.

For the first day I decided to start small; including patterned tights which aren't typically part of most people's work wardrobe.

What I'm wearing:
Jacket: New Look 24.99.
Flower brooch: Claire's accessories 2.50.
Purple top: Laura Ashley, Present from my auntie.
Velvet Skirt: Next
Purple tights: Pamella Mann. Present from my friend Anya.
Black flower print tights: Primark 2.50.

Today's outfit was a bit more risky, I decided to play with the silhouette a bit, wearing a bit poofy skirt instead of the narrow A-line and pencil skirts I've been wearing so far. This skirt isn't really work appropriate; to be honest I didn't realise how short it was until I got home tonight! I was in too much of a rush to look in the mirror this morning. No one complained though thankfully- it's a pretty laid back office! Sitting down all day probably helped...

What I'm wearing:
Blazer: As above; you'll be seeing a lot of this!
Green blouse: Miss Selfridge. Another present from Mum, 3 years ago.
Black strap top: M&S. I don't remember buying it... I have so many black strap tops!
Rose Belt: New Look; I think. It was a present last christmas
Black Skirt: River Island. This is new, well quite new. I got it for my birthday =]
Black ribbed tights: Primark 2 quid.

Tomorrow I'm not working so I'll be posting something different for those who are getting a little bored of seeing my work clothes!

Goth in the Office. Phase 1. Outfit 3.

So it's the end of my first week and I'm knackered but very happy =]

This is also the end of Phase 1. No-one has batted an eyelid at anything I've worn this week so I'm jumping straight to Phase 2. I'm going to start introducing small obviously gothy elements to my outfits and but pairing them with colour to balance it out.

Here's today's outfit:

What I'm wearing:
Velvet blazer: Vintage. Present from Mum. I've featured it before
Black and Grey stripe blouse: H&M. I've had it for ages so I'm not sure how much it cost.
Velvet Skirt: Next. The one I wore for my interview.
Grey tights: yet another pair =P They are probably from Primark but I'm not sure.
Shoes: The same ones I've been wearing all week; I really need to get shoes with my first paycheck!
Brooch: Cancer Research UK, £1.95.

I really love collecting costume jewellery, especially brooches! This might be my new favourite.

I've also started to realise that most of the hairstyles I used to wear when I had a foot and a half of hair don't work so well now that I have so little of it =P So I tried out something new today; I decided to do something intentionally messy because that's the way it ends up anyway!

I like the way it turned out but my hair is so fine that it took half a pack of hair-grips to hold it; no so comfortable!

Any suggestions for a hair product that holds fine hair well without making it greasy or ikky looking?

Goth in the Office. Phase 1. Outfit 2.

I'm feeling a little better today although I am very tired.

I managed to take a non-blurry picture today too. I decided it was better to wait until after work when I'd have more time to arrange the picture.

I didn't actually wear this cardigan to the office but it was too warm to keep my blazer (the one I wore yesterday) on by the time I got home so I swapped it. I think it would have been a little too casual for the office without the blazer.

I actually had a slight wardrobe crisis this morning when I realised I hadn't ironed the blouse I wanted to wear! So this is what I threw together in 5 mins before I got on the bus. I thought that the dress was a little short for work so I put another skirt underneath and hoped for the best!

What I'm wearing:
Cardigan: New Look sale, 3 quid.
Dress: Local cheap shop. I got it for a tenner.
Lace Skirt: My old trusty New Look one you've all seen many time!
Tights: I'm not actually sure where these are from, I think they were a present.
Necklace: Present from Ashley 2 years ago.

I'm off to iron my blouse to avoid another disaster tomorrow!

Is everyone as disorganised as me or do you plan outfits in advance to save time (and panic) in the morning?

Goth in the Office. Phase 1. Outfit 1.

Today was my first full day at work and I really enjoyed it. I am however still feeling pretty ill. In fact I've been taking paracetamol to bring my fever down; this is probably the first time I've taken any form of pain-killers for 5 years. I just can't afford to get worse because I have to work again in the morning (normally I won't work Wednesday's but because I had plans to go away for the weekend before I got the job this week is different). At least it helps me sleep.

I hope this will excuse the poor quality of of photographs!

The first phase of Goth in the Office: Infiltration.

I'm sticking to greys and blacks with feminine touches and accessories this week to subtly ease my new colleagues into my style.

This is a horrible picture but I forgot to think of a good set-up for photographs and this was all I could manage early in the morning! I'll improve it tomorrow!

In the meantime here are some jewellery close-ups:

What I'm wearing:

Blazer: New Look 24.99. It's new!

Grey peter-pan collared jumper: Topshop. Present from mum last year.

Skirt: Topshop: Also a present, also from mum. got it for my birthday this year.

Tights: Primark 2.50.

Shoes: Primark 8 quid.

Dragonfly brooch: From Whitby also a present =]

Rose Necklace: Clare's Accessories. Present from my friend Pip many years ago =]

I think I must have been channelling Wednesday Addams at 7.30 this morning =P

For my wardrobe that's a remarkably new ensemble, I surprised myself. I often wear outfits that are older than I am; if you add together how long I've owned everything I'm wearing!

Am I the only one still wearing clothes they've had for a decade?

Tomorrow's pictures will be better I promise.