Blogging Society Challenge: Glamour in a Giant Men's Shirt

So everyone should totally check out The Blogging Society Challenge over at The Fashion-y Blog. I submitted a look a couple of days ago and a couple of others have as well. So go! Look! (But--maybe you want to finish reading this first?)


I took an XL men's shirt, put it on upside down (so the collar is in the small of my back and the hem is creating a collar around my neck), rolled the giant sleeves way up, and buttoned it asymmetrically across the front, then I belted it with the cummerbund.


I love the way this looks but it's not the best outfit in terms of arm freedom. My range of movement there is a bit limited, so this outfit may be only for events that don't involve much reaching and gesturing.


Outfit details:
Shirt and cummerbund: thrifted
Skirt, argyle tights, ankle boots, and necklace: Target

Playing Dress-Up

Halloween is coming, and I still don't know what I'm going to wear. I'm really bad at coming up with costume ideas. I never feel up to putting a lot of extra effort into making a costume and I don't like the more common/obvious costumes, but I want my costume to be recognizable. Quite a pickle I've created for myself, no?

Last year I dressed up as Marla Singer from Fight Club. I tinted my hair a couple of shades darker with some very temporary dye, styled it crazier than usual, put on lots of dark eye makeup, wore a black dress (though I can't remember which black dress I chose--it might've been an old black lace party dress) with a black sweater and black ankle boots. It was pretty good, but not identifiable enough. A cigarette might've done it, but I don't smoke. Also, I needed to add a name tag, I think. Sadly, I don't have a picture of myself in this costume.


I could do Marla Singer again and improve upon it. I could live with that. I might even enjoy doing that again. But I'd also love to try something new.

I have a couple of ideas already. The first is Mary Quant. I have a black wig that could approximate (but not really match) her somewhat geometric jet black hairstyle. I could wear lots of eye makeup, my short short black thrifted a-line dress, one of my pairs of boots (with or without heels, I'm not sure yet), and perhaps a pair of tights. On the other hand, wig and eye makeup aside, I would wear this on a normal day, so it doesn't feel enough like I would be costumed.


I don't have the long hair for it, but Annie Hall would be fun. I have the pants and the tie. I have an almost-appropriate vest and can easily acquire the men's shirt (and likely a new vest). I do have a dark-brown wig, but it's not long like Diane Keaton's in the movie. Maybe it'd be close enough? This would feel more like dressing up for me. The slouchy menswear style is not a direction I normally take in my everyday dress.


So those are my ideas. If anyone out there has any other suggestions or feedback about my ideas, I'd love to hear it. What are you wearing? Do you have any ideas for fairly easy costumes for someone like me (someone like me here referring to someone who is lazy or, if you're feeling generous, merely very busy)?

Also, the Blogging Society Challenge has truly begun, so I will be working on playing dress-up with a men's shirt in the next couple of weeks. I have a couple of vague ideas, but haven't begun actual work yet. Look for results soon!

Fashion Challenges

In addition to my personal challenge of the No New Clothes Initiative, in which I will buy nothing new (read: unused) for the next six months, I've discovered and taken up a couple of other short-term challenges or projects thought up by others.

Kori over at The Fashion-y Blog has proposed a Blogging Society Challenge in which participants will start with a plain men's button-down shirt and use that as the foundation for a unique outfit. I think it'll be fun to do myself and to see what others come up with. She's already posted some fabulous photos of others' ideas (handpicked for this purpose from The Sartorialist) on her blog. Check it out!

And over at Wardrobe_Remix, where I spend so much of my online time these days keeping up with the hundreds of awesome outfits that are posted daily, there is this project to dress up another wardrobe_remixer or allow yourself to be dressed up. I've suggested an outfit for one participant already and been dressed by another.


It's a bit of a challenge to look at someone's else clothes (at least what's been posted to wardrobe_remix) and try to remix them in a way that will be interesting, fun, and flattering for that person. But it's certainly fun, too. And it's great fun having someone else put together your outfit. Truly, I love planning an outfit and testing options and seeing it work or, sometimes, not work, so it's fun to practice this on someone else. Also, it's neat to get a fresh take on clothes you've already worn, a perspective outside your own. This is especially great in this particular community, friendly and supportive as it is.