Wore: Fancy Dancing Lady

Some days, in my head, I am a fancy lady.  I'm really not and the pics prove it but I like it when I feel fancy.  This dress does that for me.

Dress: SWAK Designs
Bracelet: Wish
Necklace: made by me

It's floor length, hugs the boobages nicely, and flows nicely over the rest of me.  It doesn't cling, either.  The downside is that the fabric doesn't breathe well which kinda sucks in this Atlanta heat.  I'm an indoor kitty that just moves from A/C to A/C anyway, though, so I make do.

I kinda needed the pick-me-up this week.  My right knee started hurting and has been getting worse so I went to urgent care after it kept me up all night; the doctor there just told me it's an arthritis flare up.  I was told in my mid-20's that I had arthritis in my knees and ankles (due to so many injuries from being clumsy) but it's never been this bad.  So I am icing it and taking over the counter pain killers and avoiding foods that cause inflammation.  It's a little better but I still can't walk well without a noticeable limp.

The worst part of the whole thing, though, was the doctor's attitude.  She seemed SO BORED while talking with me, like I was wasting her time.  Her "exam" consisted of poking my knee twice with her index finger then sending me for x-rays.

After her diagnosis she said,  "You are also so..." then puffs out her cheeks and puts her arms & hands out from her sides about a foot "...you have a lot of excess weight which will make your knees worse."

Yep, the doctor mimed to me how fat I am.

I laughed.  Hard.  I have no idea what she said after that.

It's no secret to anyone that I am a big girl.  I don't attempt to hide it and I don't apologize for it.  I love me no matter what size I am and don't let the scale dictate how happy I am.  Sure, I could stand to lose a bunch of weight for health reasons but I am who I am.  I just thought that was extremely unprofessional, though, and the old me from 10+ years ago would have been devastated.

So, topic change: my necklace.  :)  This is one of my fancy lady necklaces that I only wear on special occasions.

I made it myself to wear when I was the matron of honor at my sister's wedding in 2011.  I made it to coordinate with the one I made for HER:

I don't have a picture of it but I also made our mom one that she wore that was a straight strand of beads with just the skully cameo.  I wish I had a picture of my sister's dress on my phone that I could share.  It was a strapless white dress with a black sash tied around the waist and she wore a long sleeve black shrug over it.  It was a good combo of the traditional white that she wanted to wear with her gothy/punky aesthetic.

I am 7 years older than her and when I was 18, I went off to college so she was more-or-less an only child from age 11 and on.  I didn't start embracing my darker side until later in life and it's funny how she and I have turned out to have A LOT of the same tastes.  Unfortunately for me, she is still in Minnesota where we grew up so I don't get to see her (or the rest of family) nearly often enough.

We also ended up going through our separations and subsequent divorces at around the same time which we both thought was interesting.

Do you wear anything specific if you need a mood booster?

Wore: Operatic Bats

The whole bad lighting thing at work is getting to me. It's making me a little batty every time I try to take a picture of what I am wearing but I honestly have no idea how to get around it.  My apartment is seriously tiny and all I have is my phone camera.  I think, though, that if any other super plus size goth-y types come across this blog, they'll at least get an idea that we all can dress dark and still fit within corporate guidelines.

I snapped this silly moment when trying to figure out how to avoid the shadows on my face that I usually get. :)

Top: Torrid
Skirt: Jessica London
Operatic Stylings: Me

I don't usually post links to the things I wear because 1) most of the time they are old enough that they are no longer active on the website and 2) they'll probably disappear from the website so anyone going through older posts will end up with bad links.  I really do try to avoid the latter.

Since I was feeling a little batty today, I decided I needed to wear one of my batty bat pendants.  It also glows in the dark, which I never get to see at work but I like knowing that it'll glow if the lights go out or if I stick my head down shirt... which I may or may not have done just to see my necklace glow. :P

Glow In The Dark Bat pendant: Wish

My hand got cut off... in the top pic so you can't see my favorite bracelet.  I had lost the original about a month ago which me kind of sad because I wore it almost every day.  So I ordered a new one... and a back up to be on the safe side.  The snap pn the back is fairly secure but it must have gotten caught on something while we were running errands.

I only paid $2 total for it and I'm glad I got a back up because right now I don't see it listed on the site any more!

Bracelet: Wish
Ring: Amazon

That ring is actually my engagement ring. :)  I really wanted a red stone in a silver setting so we both looked online and kept narrowing it down and we found the exact one that we both loved.  On our wedding day, I am going to move it over to my right hand and wear just the band on my left.  It has a hart or white stag on either side of it which appealed to both of us.

From Amazon

There is a lot of legend and folk lore surrounding the white stag.  There are a lot of sites if you do the Google Fu on it but here's one of my favorites.

Wore: A hearse! A hearse! My queendom for a hearse!

I know it's cliche but one of my dream cars is a vintage hearse painted either dark purple or dark green with a black top and white wall tires.  Kind of like this one:

Source

I've always loved the aesthetics of hearses plus the fact that they make the necessary transportation of our loved ones into something special instead of just throwing the casket in the back of a van or strapping it to the top of a Toyota.

I recently discovered that there are 2! dealerships near me that sell new and used so who knows?  Maybe some day. :)

In the mean time, I can live vicariously through people on the internet and jewelry!

Necklace: ProjectPinUpAccessories.com

I got this from Project Pin Up Accessories and had to switch out the chain for a slightly longer black cord.  I love that the headlights are actually crystals!  Because the pendant is on the larger side, I have to wear it with tops that have more open necklines otherwise it just looks awkward but I absolutely love it.

I have no way of getting decent outfit shots but here's one of my 2 typical looks :

Top: SWAK Designs
Skirt: Jessica London
Necklace: Project Pin Up Accessories
Bracelet: Lane Bryant (from about 12-15 years ago)

I look so shapeless in this photo!  My apartment is too small and dark for pics like this so I have to use the mirror at work.  Unfortunately, it has a small wall right in front of it so I have to get really close to the mirror in order to see all of me and there's not a lot of room for fancy poses.

Since the details blend, the skirt is a jersey knit floor length piece of heaven and the top is a jersey knit with a high-low hem.  Most of my clothes are jersey knit, actually.  I have extremely sensitive skin so I tend to stay with soft fabrics in order to make it through the day.

I don't really wear a lot of make up unless we are going out for the evening.  For work, on a good day, it's just a little eyeliner and a touch of lip gloss.  If my skin is especially red that day, I might wear a little primer to even things out.

Here I am with no make up at all first thing in the morning with no caffeine.  I was not feeling well all weekend and still felt horrible that morning but managed to at least get myself dressed and to work.  I didn't even fix my hair!  I don't really see many people during the day so I let my sleepy eye bags fly free.  :D