At least I'm not mixing them to make The Other Kind of Goth Suffragist.

[mrissa]

Apparently last weekend a small person of my acquaintance announced that he wanted to look like a college professor. I only heard this after the fact, but he succeeded admirably. And I sometimes think that the combination of him being in the single digits of age and autistic means that he will admit to stuff like that when other people mostly don't, and I think that's awesome of him. I remember when I was his age, I tried to compose Bohemian Artist outfits and Very Serious Scientist outfits, but I did not disclose this intention to my parents or godparents. (My godfathers, God love them, would have been no help whatsoever with this endeavor, as they were rather committed to the Person With A Modicum Of Fashion Sense oeuvre of small child outfits. But explaining my thinking at least might have explained some of the attempted combinations to my baffled and long-suffering mother.) And I did wind up with a Budding Suffragist On A Bicycle outfit that my grandmother and I both adored, but again, I did not tell her why I liked it. It was a very 1905 sort of bow on the thing.

So in the spirit of full disclosure, I will report that I am wearing my Sensible Grown-Up From An E. Nesbit Novel Visits The Mod Sixties outfit. I have had this reaction to this outfit (particularly the skirt) since I bought it. Every single time. I also have Wednesday Addams Appears on Laugh In and Piano Teacher Uninterested In Your Bullshit and Why Yes I Do Own A Krumkake Iron Why Do You Ask, among other fashion choices. A lot of the time, of course, I am dressed as Person Who Hates Complicated Laundry or Person Whose Feet Are Toasty Warm Despite The Weather Thanks. But sometimes we change things up.

The closest I ever came to buying non-hiking boots in the three digits of price was when I looked at a pair of boots and thought, "Every time I wore those, I would think, 'No, The Other Kind Of Goth.'" And that seemed like a very appealing thing to me. I still didn't buy them, but I was tempted.

Do you do this?

Comments

[alecaustin.livejournal.com]

I must confess that every time I put on a dress shirt and a tie, I am stricken with the feeling that I am pretending to be a Very Serious Grown-Up (or possibly Businessman).

When I wore my usual college outfit of pin-decorated beret, stompy boots, and black microfiber raincoat, I liked to see the pin as a cap badge. If any of the Gaunt's Ghosts novels had been out and I'd read them, I would have imagined myself as a Very Gothy Imperial Guardsman.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

I have the Girl Detective Raincoat, and the Airship Pilot outfit, and I definitely don't tell my federal colleagues that I always wear suits to work because it's What You Wear to Fight Lovecraftian Horrors. And a variety of other outfits that I keep around because sometimes you just want to be armored, or decked out, in a particular story--even if no one outside the house knows what it means.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

It's totally What You Wear to Fight Lovecraftian Horrors.

And I want a Girl Detective Raincoat. And also a Composed Adventuress Raincoat. And like that. I am a huge sucker for coats.

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

Yes, but not, alas, as often as I'd like to. Right now I am hemming the new Aubergine Garment of Imperial Administration; if only I had a proper mantle with tablia</> to go with it!

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

I try to dress to meet a standard of companion-readiness: if the TARDIS shows up and takes me away, I want to be in an outfit that is attractive, mildly quirky, and would let me outrun a Cyberman.

[genarti]

This may be the best sartorial policy I have ever heard.

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

I do, although the tendency atrophied a bit during my years working in chemistry labs when I was generally dressed as Person Who Despite Her Best Efforts Keeps Acid-Burning or Bleaching Her Clothes.

When I was in junior high, I had an outfit that was As Goth As I Can Get And Still Comply with the Dresscode. Whenever I wore it, my father called me The Little Amish Girl.

In college, my default outfit was Because A Person Might Need to Climb a Fence at a Moment's Notice. I didn't know this until my sister confided in me that her therapist (who had met me while I was decked out in an army jacket, jeans with holes at the knees, and a pair of bright green Doc Martens) had opined that I maybe "needed to get more in touch with my feminine side." I replied with, "I'm not unfeminine, I just might need to climb a fence or something!" I can think of precisely zero occasions on which I've needed to climb a fence, and only a handful on which I've chosen to climb a fence rather than go through the gate like a sensible person.

[timprov.livejournal.com]

Jeans with holes in the knees are inadvisable for that anyway.

[zwol.livejournal.com]

Do you have recommendations for how to keep one's feet toasty warm despite the weather? Despite that it never gets to Minnesota levels of cold out here, cold feet are a serious problem chez moi (mostly for haloedrain).

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

SmartWool.

And occasional applications of the flax pack.

And SmartWool.

And sometimes tights under the jeans.

And SmartWool.

Not the wussy dress sock level of Smart Wool, either. The key word here is "mountaineering."

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Every day. ;-) When I'm in a turtleneck, I am always Performing The Yankee Stereotype, unless it's a black one (Beatnik, Baby) or a black one worn with a blazer, in which case I am Sixties Spy, Ask Me About My Shoulder Holster. *g*

It's all costumery.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

This weekend when I was wearing a fitted black turtleneck sweater and jeans, alecaustin told me I looked very authorial. And I think there's a certain place where authorial equates with Beatnik in this culture.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. This year I finally made the distinction between one's image and oneself. Better late than never.

That being said, I've been rocking the "Sexy Beatnik Prepared to Do Business" look, lately. And there are also lots of variations on Puritans, specifically what I wear to early music concerts, which vaguely suggest: "Hester Prynne Drops the Scarlet Letter, but Still Gets Frowned at by Margaret Thatcher in Church." I think I'm trying to look respectable without looking particularly pious. Projecting respect for the traditions of the communities I'm visiting, while still making it clear I do not appear of Popes or Royalty as the heads of churches or states. Funny, I didn't realize I was doing that until you wrote this post.

I know other people do this, too, how else would we be able to spot Bloomsbury people from miles away?

(I would very much like to see Sensible Grown-Up From An E. Nesbit Novel Visits The Mod Sixties.)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Respectful Non-Authoritarian is a great dress code.

[asciikitty.livejournal.com]

I have my Semi-Respectable-Yarn-Shop-Girl outfits, and a couple of Actually-Respectable-Yarn-Shop-Girl outfits, and my Grown-Up-Lady outfits. There is significant overlap between ARYSG and GUL, with the main difference being accessories.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Accessories are key.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, particularly in my early teens. I was very fond of Pioneer Ballerina and Cowgirl Archeologist. There was also Ski Bum French Actress.

[apis-mellifera.livejournal.com]

All my current favorite clothes evoke Wacky Middle Aged Lady Who Doesn't Give A Shit What Anyone Thinks About Her Clothes Anymore to a certain degree.

[dancing-crow.livejournal.com]

Ha!! you have described me as well, with a side order of I Work With Horses and Sweat and I Am Not Apologetic, Deal With It Elsewhere Please.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

A lot of my most comfortable outfits are some variant of either Superhero or Ballerina. (The former is most often "Superhero pulls a skirt over her uniform and thereby fools everyone into believing in her alter ego". A skirt is to me what glasses were to Clark Kent.) However, today is "Emma Peel Goes Western".

Last Friday was "I've been listening to Gary P. Nunn and I'm Homesick But I Like the Northwest Better Than the Southwest and I'm *Really* Not Texan". I was pretty impressed that a coworker managed to get some of that - at least, he commented that it was an American country sort of outfit. (Corduroy shirt, red suede vest over, camisole under, jeans, belts, cowboy boots.)

Oh, and: the other related look I like is "In My Head, I'm On A Mountain Right Now", otherwise known as "You Think I'm Dressed Properly For the Office But Actually Most of My Outfit Came From REI and Places Like That".

[papersky.livejournal.com]

You remember in Fourth Street when Patrick said that he knew that clothes were semiotically sending out messages and he wished that his would just shut up? I applauded.

I have 26 blue shirts and 3 pairs of summer pants and 3 pairs of winter pants and a skirt for when it's really hot and a coat for when it's cold, and a thing my aunt got me that goes over my clothes for signings to make me dressed up without drawing it to my attention.

I'm delighted that other people have fun with clothes, but mine just provide decency, pockets, and protection from the weather.

I only have one look and it is Blue Figure In Changing Landscape.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yes, what your clothes say to me is Jo Likes Blue.

[bradipo.livejournal.com]

After long ago discovering that most people look lame when they wear a cloak, I was especially intrigued to notice that Hamid Karzai didn't look lame when he wore a cloak. After careful consideration, I decided it was the suit that made the difference. (Cloak over t-shirt = lame; cloak over suit = striking.)

So, when I manage to get a cloak, I'm planning to wear it over a suit.

[genarti]

Sadly, no, not very often. I kind of wish I did every time someone of my acquaintance mentions doing that sort of thing, because it seems like such an interesting way to approach getting dressed in the morning, but if I started doing that I'm fairly sure I would get self-conscious about all of my outfit choices instantly.

However, every time I see myself in the mirror at work, I think, "Yes! I have successfully disguised myself as A Grown-Up With Fashion Sense!" So I suppose there's that.

[genarti]

Oh yes, and based on other comments, I guess most of my not-at-work outfits come out to Person Who Is Secretly Ready To Go Hiking Or Climb A Tree Right Now, which is not inaccurate!

[aedifica]

I don't usually do that, but I think it's a fun idea and I may start eyeing my wardrobe trying to see what I might say with it other than "I know how to dress for this workplace." (Which is a deliberate message.) Some of my cool-weather gear says "yeah, I do also work at Fest," but that's more the unintentional message than an intentional one. (The wool hat ariadani made me gets worn a lot during the fall and winter, and when it's cool and rainy I sometimes wear that hat with the cloak I made myself. The combination works very well in the rain as long as I don't sit where the cloak would trail in a puddle.)

[laurel]

Your post reminded me of my "Laugh-In Dress" which was really a bit fancier and more modern than a true Laugh-In Dress would be, but it sure was loud and short and I wonder whatever became of it. It might not fit me now, but it'd make a stunning throw pillow. Or, er. something. It's look nice hanging on the door of my closet; sadly I can't think of anyone I know who'd fit it and even if I did, I suspect not many would want to wear it or could pull it off.

[I remember how I acquired it, it was on clearance somewhere or other and a size 3 or 2 or somesuch. Back in the day when I wore those sizes or bit above or below, I had such fun shopping because in Minnesota the smallest size things often end up on clearance eventually for ridiculously cheap. Or at least they did back then. Even more so in South Dakota. I ended up acquiring many fabulous things, though it was much harder to find places where one could wear them as they were often dressy or quirky and I suppose that was also part of how they wound up staying on the rack. And then I discovered science fiction conventions and suddenly I had somewhere I could actually wear those sorts of things, provided I found the guts. And was in the mood.]

I miss having fun with clothes. I used to do it a lot and I'm sure some people never saw me in the same outfit twice unless they saw me an awful lot. I've been trying to buy myself a new wardrobe over the last year or so, but have yet to get it properly organized and then actually wear much of the new stuff. Plus it's so hard to get out of the house at all when I do it tends to be in Twins gear (er, most of my outings over the last couple of years have been to ballgames) or whatever comfortable thing I have that I'd been wearing of late. D'oh.

And I suppose part of why I've been uneasy being out of the house has been because I haven't had Just The Outfit for so long or Outfits On A Certain Theme. These things can be armor, even in a fun way, and make such a difference in attitude.

I think I'll be happier once I go through my clothing and purge a ton of it and make it so I just have things I love again (well, and some necessary basics). Be they things I can wear anytime anywhere or pieces that fit certain themes.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

It's frustrating when half the stuff in your closet is almost-right-but-not-really-right, so I hope the purge goes well.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Okay, I really want to know what Why Yes I Do Own A Krumkake Iron Why Do You Ask looks like, because I do own a krumkake iron, and now feel I ought to dress the part occasionally.

I can't think of clever titles for my outfits, alas -- they're mostly some variant on Shut Up Everything Works With Jeans -- though I suppose there is the one skirt which could be called I Am Ready For My Folk Dance Now. (And a crap-ton of costumes, but those don't really count.)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

The basic element is a sweater with Scandinavian-style elements in the knitting; this one is black. It goes with clogs and pewter jewelry.

If I'm going to do the Spirit Of Minneapolis Dammit outfit, it goes with an asymmetric-hemmed black skirt for the urban chic element of the thing, a hand-knit hat for the Midwestern craftiness, and a Hmong purse for the Midwestern craftiness as performed by recent talented transplants.

It can also go with jeans, though.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

My clothes are mostly Why Yes, I Have Clothes or, more rarely, I Am A Grown-Up And You Will Listen To Me. That's for working at high schools and junior highs, when the height thing doesn't give me authority. But mostly, clothes is clothes. Dressing up looks like fun, but is not for me. Not usually.

We have a school picture of my brother in which he is not smiling because he wanted to look like Sherlock Holmes.

[mkille.livejournal.com]

Sort of? I don't know that I can put labels on them, but I definitely have outfits that say, in different ways, I Am A Person Who Totally Dresses Like This. Or: These Are The Clothes That Give Me This Body Language.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Hah! I do this. Today I am Dorothy Parker Meets the Stereotypical New York Art World (basic black pressed dress pants, black boat-necked shirt with elbow-length sleeves, black suede Peter Pan boots, BRIGHT ORANGE raw silk scarf). Yesterday I was Professional But Still Quirky Dammit. Last night, for the concert I went to, I was a Parkdale Tomboy But Not Really.

I had not had names for these. Naming them's kinda fun.

[hypatia-j.livejournal.com]

Oh I love Professional But Still Quirky Dammit, one of my favorites!

[hypatia-j.livejournal.com]

Since college I've become very aware of what I'm signalling with my clothes, though I don't think of it in such creative ways... I may be overdoing this a bit, I frequently don't stop at my favorite coffee shop on afternoons when I'm coming back from a client meeting because I would be over-dressed and might look out of place. I might also have to admit to changing a shirt or shoes depending on which grocery store I plan to shop at.

At cons I usually wear "I'm given to understand that some people find my neck/collarbone/shoulder blades rather fetching" outfits.

Oh, and my glasses are always chosen to convey "Why yes, I do read a great deal, why do you ask?"

[columbina.livejournal.com]

I would love to see what the Wednesday Addams Appears On Laugh-In outfit looks like.

The fact that I don't do this kind of thing myself illustrates one of the (many) problems I have with Boy Clothing. It's hard to do this with Boy Clothing. I'm not saying impossible; just hard. There's less room for variation.

[rmnilsson.livejournal.com]

I have my I Don't Have To Be Gray When The Weather Is raincoat, which took effort to track down. I have my Do What I Say Because You Are Intimidated By My Sexy Brains outfits for meetings where I expect trouble getting my way.
I am working on more No Really I'm A Massive Geek Even Though I'm Technically In The Marketing Organization wardrobe, but that's a tough needle to thread.