Monday, May 27, 2013

My Janus-Faced Wardrobe

When I first started to really develop a sense of style, I had a tendency to ransack thrift stores for anything that looked remotely like what I wanted, regardless of fit or color. This worked out better than one might think it would, but after a few years I started to put more effort into building a practical wardrobe where I only wore exactly what I like, had something to wear for every occasion, and where everything matched everything else (or at least could go into multiple outfits.)

I'm almost there now. My lust for more clothes is beginning to settle down and turn itself into creative motivation, and my laundry pile is pretty much a huge pile of black with a few white and jewel-tone garments. Which works--I like black. I don't struggle much to put together decent outfits--if I wanted, I could fairly easily toss together an okay outfit at the last second every morning (except that would take too much precious time that could be better spent sleeping or scrolling through Tumblr, so I don't o__o). This is nice.

Now that color isn't an obstacle and everything fits decently, it becomes more obvious that some of my garments simply don't work together because of style. On the one hand, I like rippy ragged things with holes and fishnet. Sometimes goth- and punk-influenced, sometimes just ragged looking. Decay is pretty. Cotton is comfortable. Put enough ragged edges together and it starts to look like some sort of gutter finery, or armor, depending on one's taste. It suits me.

But my black cords and pyramid stud belt simply don't go with my blouses. Or the oxford shirt. Which brings me to the other side--clean, elegant perfection (or as close as I can damn well get) with a pretty massive lolita streak. The decadence and childishness from that look adds up to an eccentric feel that I find quite pleasing when it doesn't look contrived or overly feminine ("is there any other kind of lolita?" you scoff--I mean the difference between black a-line skirts with ruffles and lacy pink cupcake-shaped jumperskirts, of course.) The childishness also allows me a way to play with looks that are considered especially feminine or masculine while still feeling androgynous--ouji doesn't exactly look anywhere near manly even if it is "boystyle", and if your shoulders aren't exceptionally wide you can hide all kinds of features under typical lolita silhouettes. Sure, it'll probably still get read as female by others, but it doesn't *feel* overly feminine to me.

There is of course some middle ground. For example, the short pants I use for ouji outfits also look good with mesh shirts. And I have a wonderful black turtleneck that goes with pretty much everything. What usually results from this middle ground is monochromatic preppy-casual sort of outfits, with the occasional outfit bordering on punk lolita.

Actually it all blends together fairly well. Just enough variety so I don't get bored. If I was more of a minimalist when it came to my wardrobe maybe they'd all go together. Wool trousers, black cords, black leather belt, black docs (of a laceless variety that I actually haven't managed to acquire yet), sweater vest, white oxford, tie, blazer, coat, beret, and a mess of various long- and short-sleeved black knit shirts.

... I'd get bored of looking like a classy ninja no matter how easy dressing became. Guess everything doesn't have to match everything else XD.

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