Outfit Collection: Halloween Costumes

I'm sure if I went back and re-read all my posts leading up to Halloween each year, I probably have said many times that I just don't have any ideas for a Halloween costume and then at the last minute, inspiration strikes and I pull something together.  Well, this year, I actually didn't come up with anything.  I mean nothing at all.  So, I thought I would just revisit all the previous years of costumes instead for this week's outfit collection.  Maybe I'll try to make up for it by doing something extra extravagant next year, but for now, let's take a look back at past Halloween faves.  Above you'll see Alice, and below you'll see Miss Peregrine, Fleur Delacour, Flapper Girl, Basic Witch, Marie Antoinette, and Evelyn from The Mummy.  

A Little Trip to GownTown

As much as I have thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in this summer, I have been mentally gearing up and verbally trying to get Mr. Bleu geared up as well, because I have known from the start that as soon as those beautiful fall colors appeared, I would be out getting as many photos as possible.  That time is now, my friends.

been awhile since I've collaborated with GownTown Vintage, but every time I wear their dresses to work or socialize, I get asked, Where'd you get that dress?!  Well, I am happy to answer that in this post and share a special promo code with you too.

GownTown Vintage offers vintage style dresses made from amazingly soft fabric for under $40.  Their sizes run from Small to 3XL and most dresses come with belts or pockets or both like this little color-block beauty.

And, hello, holiday dress!  This dress is going to be perfect for the upcoming holidays.  I can so see myself wearing a cotton apron and cooking a large holiday dinner in this dress, ready to shed the apron just in time for the guests to arrive.  This fabric is so stretchy and comfortable that if you are looking for a little glam in your housework or office work, this dress will feel just like wearing your cozy clothes.

I gotta say, the holidays are already looking pretty bright now that I have one of the biggest stressors, What Will I Wear, taken care of and GownTown made it incredibly easy and affordable too.

Outfit Info:  GownTown 1950 Women Dress Midi Shirt Dress Cocktail Dress with Belt-$39.99  Use my code 203Y2VH3 from 10/26 through 10/31 to save 20%

Retro-Stage Red Jumpsuit for Autumn

One of the very best things about Red is that it's an all year round kind of color.  Personally, I need my warm red things in the coldest of seasons and we are definitely heading that way, so this collab with Retro-Stage could not have come along at a better time.

I remember a few years ago thinking I did not have the kind of figure for jumpsuits, but after a collab let me try one, I realized they're pretty great and this Wine Red 1930s V Neck Solid Jumpsuit is the most flattering jumpsuit silhouette in existence.  And you can save 15% off your order with Retro-Stage by using my code Leandra.

I have loved this style for so very long, everything about it seems so feminine and romantic.  Roomy in the legs--fellow curvy girls, rejoice!!-- ruching at the sleeves with just the right amount of coverage and super comfy fabric, this jumpsuit has it all.

The best part of this jumpsuit is that it has the shape built into it so your body doesn't have to do all the work.  It's got those hourglass curves right there and waiting to make you look amazing.

While it's perfect with all the fall colors, I think this is going to make the perfect outfit to wear to Thanksgiving and especially to Christmas parties.  Eesh!  The holidays are already almost here, can you believe it!  Better get this ruby gem in your closet before the invitations start rolling in and you need it.

I have done a few collabs with Retro-Stage and truly I have loved everything from them, but this is my absolute favorite so far.

Outfit Info:  WINE RED 1930S V-NECK SOLID WRAP JUMPSUIT-$69.99  from Retro-Stage.com  

use my code leandra to save 15% off your purchase

Sewing Alterations: Selkie Coat of (Longer) Arms

Do I love my cottage Puff dresses?  Yes!  Do I love the way they look on me?  No!  So, rather than give up and resell them, I have decided to keep them and make a couple of modifications so that I have a dress I love and that looks tasteful on me.  Let's dive in.

The Coat of Arms dress was released in my pre-Selkie days.  I only learned about it after the fact and it's very hard to come by in resale sites.  So, I had to settle for one that was two sizes larger than what I wear and then alter it myself to fit my bust. 

As much as I adored the print, it was so stinking short, I felt too embarrassed to wear it anywhere.  Even with bloomers and even in summer.  It just didn't fit my shape, my style, or my life.  But, as I was cleaning out my clothes over the summer, I had to face some hard facts about my cottage puffs.  I accepted the fact that as much as I love them I was never going to wear them as they were.  My options were: to sell them, donate them, or (attempt to) fix them.   I'm pretty much done reselling my clothes because I think it only encourages me to spend more, and donation didn't feel like the right route because I still really love the dresses.  My final option was to alter it.

As I mentioned, this dress released some time ago, and it was difficult finding one the first time around.  So, after all this time has passed, finding a second one seemed very unlikely, but I did manage to find one that the seller was willing to part with extremely cheap because they had gotten a few small stains on the skirt.  I would not have paid full price for a dress I was going to scrap for parts and I could work around the stained part, so it was a win for everyone.  Until I made a critical error.....

My procedure for adding this ruffle is quite simple:  I cut the skirt off of one dress, fold it in half, iron it, cut it, sew those to halves together and now I have a long lean ruffle to sew instead of a short wide skirt.  I learned an important lesson about cutting something off one dress to sew onto another.  Make sure you have the right dress before you start cutting.  

That's right, I was half way through cutting the skirt, when I got to the zipper and thought, "oh, hey, this person altered their dress just like I did---NOOOOOOOO!"  Yes, I had just cut the skirt off of my own dress.  I think if there had been another dress out there, I would have just bought it and started over, but there wasn't.  My only avenue for salvation was to finish cutting the skirt off and then reattach it by hand.  Which I did, and it was just as agonizing as it sounds.  Then I put this project away for a few weeks, because I needed a break.

Since this is the time of year for yellows, I decided it was now or never and I jumped back in to this project.  I removed one layer of organza from the under skirts so that the dress would lay flatter, attached the bodice to the remaining layers by hand, and then set about hand gathering and attaching this ruffle to the bottom, oh and also going back and taking the dress in after the cutting fiasco.

Even though this dress was waaaaaay more work than I bargain for, I am so pleased with results.  In fact, I showed it to a friend who absolutely hates the puff dress style and instead of wrinkling her nose as she usually does at sight of these dresses, this time she smiled and said, "Oh, that is so tasteful, I love it!"  And I do too.  So, much in fact that even though this project went a little south, I am going to keep at it until I have transformed all my cottage puffs into wearable tasteful dresses.

Posts That Bear Repeating: Collectif Leaves

As part of my series, Posts That Bear Repeating, I thought we'd have a little blast from the not so distant past with this lovely leafy brown dress by Collectif.  The original post was in 2020 and you can see it here.  Quite a lot has changed since then, but this beautiful dress remains a fall favorite to this day.

Mindfulism: Cutting Spending= Cutting Shopping

We live in a world with an over abundance of inexpensive things that we like but don't really need.  In other words, we all have too much stuff because it's just so darn easy to get it.  Add to that the fact that everywhere we look there are ads encouraging us to buy more, more, more and it can feel impossible to escape a consumer based life.  But, it's not.

Part of my plan to keep my home clutter free is to cut spending, which means identifying my shopping triggers.   For me, it's boredom and the internet, with boredom being the catalyst and the internet being the supplier. In my own life, I have noticed when I'm out with friends, on a trip, or having some kind of adventure, I'm not thinking about internet shopping.  I'm happy being in that moment.  On a busy day at work, I also don't think about shopping.  It's when I'm bored that shopping calls my name.  I need a plan for success and here's what I'm going to do.  I've set myself a No-Buy challenge for the next month.  But, that also means a no-internet challenge, because even when I just sit down to do a blog post, Oh! Wait!  I need to get the shopping info for this post, and then I'm browsing and the cycle begins again.   And it is a cycle, specifically it's part of an addiction cycle that many of us are caught up in without realizing it, but mindfulness is the first step in cutting any addiction.

But, before I begin this challenge, I printed out two calendars for this month and started tracking my spending AND my shopping.  So, every time I shopped in any way, I marked it on my calendar and anytime I bought, I marked it on my other calendar.  A pattern emerged.  Stressful or boring days triggered shopping and shopping triggered buying, usually in a pattern of 1-2 days of shopping and then on days 3-4 I would return and buy something I had seen.  Clearly, I am not the kind of person who can just look; if I wanted to cut spending, it had to start with cutting shopping.

How do you cut shopping?  Well, if you're like me and use it as a coping mechanism, then all the tips and tricks people suggest like going for a walk, meditating, etc. aren't really helpful when you're stuck at a desk all day and you can't leave or sit there with your eyes closed or even listen to music, but you can shop on your phone to alleviate stress.  What now?!  Well, I started slowly by unsubscribing from about 90% of the newsletters that I receive.  In between all this, I had to finish working on my house because spending is spending and shopping is shopping and one kind of shopping always leads to another.  Next I deleted apps off my phone and left chat groups that talked about fashion, because even those talks were triggering.  The final thing was to start bringing books and small embroidery projects to work so that in the stressful moments, I could take a second to skim a few lines or get in a few stitches.

Now, in this moment, I want to note that when I am not constantly buying new things, traffic to my blog takes a dive.  Readers/People aren't really interested in seeing me recycle a piece of clothing over and over, the dopamine-craving centers of their brains want something new, new, new just as much as mine does.  And so, you see, the very act of having this blog has in its own way partially fueled my problem.  Ultimately I am responsible for the content of this blog, but I have felt pressured at times when I saw my numbers nosedive. 

Part of my reason for blogging less has been that I have been busy renovating my house. The other part was that I have been trying to avoid some serious shopping triggers, which is also why I decided to give away my clothes instead of selling them.  Whenever I would check to see if I had any offers or orders, I would invariably browse.  And, of course, selling something on Posh and having that sale as credit to spend also made shopping so much more tantalizing.  So, I decided to give it all away and bless others with some beautiful things while avoiding my temptation to shop.

 So, for the month of October, I have not and will not be buying anything new.  I have even asked Mr. Bleu to do all the grocery shopping and all the home renovation shopping, so I won't be tempted.  I think he's fully on board for me spending less.  I will be writing down any time I shop, and I have decided to make a point to check the bank account daily as that gives me a lot of accountability into our finances.  I hope to be 100% successful, but I plan to keep at it and keep trying no matter what.  Two weeks in, things are going really well, but I will keep you posted.

Outfit Info:  Dress is by Universal Thread, Shoes are by Bettie Page

Outfit Collection: Victorian Autumn

I wonder what it is that draws us to certain things instead of others, why some people form an obsession where others barely notice.  I don't have answers, of course, but I do have obsessions of my own of which I often ponder over their beginnings.  One such devotion belongs to all things Victorian/Edwardian.

Over the years I have amassed a collection of tops, skirts, dresses, petticoats, and bloomers that all portray my love of this most special of style eras.  From the newer brands like Free People's blouses to Belle Poque's skirts and Tambukiki's steampunk blazers, and all the way to actual antique frocks, I have run the gambit and emerged as in love with this style as ever.

Without further ado, I present the Victorian Autumn collection: