Thrift event

Last weekend I went to a thrift event for the first time. My boyfriend's mom is an experienced thrifter and knows just where to find the best stuff. This event was for clothing only and it was pretty well organized. No big piles of clothes, but every item on a clothes hanger. And there were fitting rooms as well. As a late birthday present, I was allowed to pick out clothing for a total of 60 euros, but I ended up finding much more. Of course I intended to pay for this myself, but then my boyfriend's mom told me that everything was a present! I'm still a bit overwhelmed...such a great gift!
Some items were only a couple of euros, the more expensive looking ones about ten. I mainly found tops and skirts, but also two pair of jeans to wear at my job.
Since I brought a gigantic bag full of clothing, I've only picked a few pieces to photograph:

Two more pictures!

I received two more pictures of my recent Victorian photoshoot! One from each photographer. I love how they are so different!

Photograph: Henk van Rijssen

Photograph: Stephanie Braaksma

Dark Sunshine Award

I've been nominated by Aristocratic Elegance for the Dark Sunshine Award! How cool!

Rules:
Post the award picture with a backlink to the person who nominated you.
Answer the ten questions posed to you.
Pass on the award to 10 or more bloggers.

Questions:
Favorite color: Red
Favorite animal: I used to be obessed with cats, but since my mom has a dog (which is practically mine too), I really appreciate that animal as well. I can't choose anymore. :) But I also love llamas! 
Favorite number: 2 and 8 (both numbers seem to pop up everywhere in my life)
Favorite non-alcoholic drink: fresh orange juice mixed with strawberries
Facebook or Twitter: Facebook
My passion: Archaeology, cultural heritage, travelling, sewing, writing, reading, movies...lots of things!
Getting or giving presents: Giving! I love to hunt for things that have a personal meaning to people and wrap them up beautifully. 
Favorite pattern: lace
Favorite day of the week: Monday (I never see my boyfriend during the weekend since I'm at my family's then, so Monday is always a happy day for us)
Favorite flower: piony rose (cliché, but so very beautiful)


Nominees (I tried to nominate blogs that haven't been nominated before.)


Beauty and Metal (My friend's blog. Has awesome dark make-up reviews!)
o.O (Kakuidori has great EOTD posts. Love to follow her blog!)
Cemetery Dreams (An archaeologist, like me! Also great low-budget inspiration.)
Long Haired at Heart (Not a gothic blog in itself, but really interesting if you want to grow very long hair.)
GumPlum (This girl sure knows how to apply make-up in a stunning way!)
SpOOkyuniversity (Very inspiring outfit posts!)
Written before dawn (Beautiful dark fashion and interesting sewing projects)
Abby's Fairytale (A wide range of interesting topics)


I don't have enough time right now to nominate more blogs (most ones I follow have been nominated already), but I might add some others later! 

Outfit post: flowers

This is an outfit post by request, inspired by Sophitiqué Noir's monthly theme post! I'm wearing one of the skirts today that I photographed for April's flower theme. I have to say I'm not completely happy with the way I put the outfit together (I didn't have much inspiration this morning!), but it's passable I presume. I added the broad belt to the victorian top to make the look a bit tougher. It also nicely accentuates the waist! Almost like a waist cincher.

Blouse: thrifted

Skirt: King Louie

Belt: V&D

Green necklace: Alchemy Gothic

Yesterday's photoshoot: behind the scenes

Yesterday I spent many hours posing for a Victorian photoshoot. It was a lot of fun, but I was incredibly tired afterwards. It takes up so much energy to concentrate on your body and facial expression all the time. The photoshoot was held in Katwijk, at the beach and dunes. Although it wasn't particularly cold outside, the strong wind chilled us to the bone! I do believe the results will be nice though, from what I've seen on the cameras of the two (amateur) photographers. It will probably take weeks before I'll have more results, because of image retouching. But I can show you some behind-the-scenes photographs that my boyfriend took:

Joyce (from Beauty & Metal) and her boyfriend (both standing on the left) came to watch. I think I kind of look like

 a ghost here, haha.

 My boyfriend, while holding the reflection screen for us, made a picture of people cycling and walking by. They either stared wide-eyed or took pictures. :) Some people asked questions (silly ones, but they 

meant well).

First impression of Victorian photoshoot

Photograph: Henk van Rijssen

Sophistiqué Noir monthly theme post: flowers

For lack of time, I'm not doing an outfit post for this theme or showing you what hairdos can be made using flowers (would have loved to do that!), but I'm only showing you a photograph of the clothes I have that have flowers on them. I really like flowers, but I always pair these items with something less sweet, like combat boots or lavish gothic jewellery.

From left to right:

-Purple skirt: Vive Maria

-Dress with tiny flowers: Vive Maria

-Dress with flowers: King Louie (I'm going to wear this one for Easter)

-Skirt with flowers and baroque print: King Louie

- Skirt in Spanish style: from the market place

- Skirt with English roses: King Louie

I also have a picture to share from a photoshoot that I did last year:

(Photograph: Inge Fienieg)

Sewing a new skirt & a trip to a thrift event

I've been neglecting to reply to your comments on my previous posts because I've been extremely busy that last couple of days. I'll be sure to make up for it next week!
So what have I been working on? First of all, there is this article that I'm writing for a scientific journal about the subject I graduated on last September. I hope to finish it within a couple of days. Secondly, I have a photoshoot in victorian attire coming up on Sunday! The idea is that I'll dress in mourning costume. I have a lot of basic clothing, but I lacked a good skirt. So I really worked like crazy to finish a skirt based on this example:

The mesh layers took me ages to attach!! It wasn't an easy process, but at least I didn't have to pay more than 100 euros to buy this skirt in a shop. Instead I spent 30 to 40 euros. It didn't end up having as much volume as the skirt in the picture above (though I still have to press the layers outwards a bit more), but I like the lace that I added to make it a more of a personal item. Here is the documented process:

Finished:

Here I am wearing a bustle over the skirt:

I also made a mourning veil, attached to a hat:

Tomorrow and on Saturday I'm going to attend a thrift event! I'm really excited about what I will find there and of course I'll  post about it later. 

Superstar summer collection 2012

One of my favourite mainstream clothing brands is called SPS ('Superstar'). I'm afraid it's only available in the Netherlands, but it might still be nice to have a look at their new collection, just for inspiration:

New cardigan: Isla Ibiza

A while back I got a gift from my mother: a beautiful new cardigan by the brand Isla Ibiza. I had tried it on during the winter sales and instantly loved it. The material is good and soft and the knitting just fabulous! Originally the cardigan cost a shocking 140 euros, but my mom only paid 40 euros during the sales.