OOTD: Collective

A few weeks ago I was asked by a reader on my Tumblr to post my take on business attire. It's not a style I'm very familiar with, but I decided to give it a shot anyhow. Let's get to it!

Blazer: Forever 21+

Top: Macy's

Skirt: Macy's

Shoes: Madden Girl

Over the past few years of writing His Black Dress, I've steadily been working on shifting my wardrobe to skirts & dresses. When I started out, I only had a few items that I felt good about, but a little while back I finally reached a point where I felt I had a fully developed wardrobe. While I still make occasional purchases of garments I really love, my focus largely shifted to filling in any gaps in my closet, and one such gap was professional / business attire.

I've not interviewed for a job in well over ten years, and I've never worked in an environment which required professional attire, so it's a sartorial area that I've never really explored. Earlier this year I decided that it would be a fun experience to try to find at least a few items that I could wear if the need arose for business attire, which is what led to the purchase of all of the items I'm wearing here. 

I've actually started to love the look of blazers, so it was only a matter of time before I picked one up. Once the weather cools down a bit here, I'll probably try to incorporate blazers into my casual attire, but for now this one is all business. I've always been really angered by the idea of dress codes and the like (it's part of my nature to rebel against conformity, ya'll), and as looks like this are a staple of that scene, it was usually my tendency to dislike them.

Yet, I can't help but love this look. It feels pretty fun, and is pretty different from what I usually wear, so I'm kinda digging that. The hot pink shirt probably doesn't hurt either, haha, and man this top photographs brighter than the sun.

I seem to be tucking in my tops a lot recently, which is a bit odd to me because that's also something I haven't been prone to do in the past. Being completely candid, I've always been a bit self-conscious about my belly, but I'm beginning to think that I've finally managed to get over that. Yay for body acceptance, ya'll!

These heels are part of a quadrilogy of awesome in my closet, as I have this same style in three other colors (and you've seen them all on the blog by now, ya'll). I think this picture turned out pretty great, anyhow.

If you've made it this far, here's a little bonus factoid about my life. While I'm a makeup artist by trade, I also have a data entry job that I do from home to help pay the bills. I've got a monumental amount of work to get done today on that front, so I thought it might be fun to try to "dress the part" so to speak to inspire myself to work better. Of course, I've now taken up a good chunk of that time getting dressed, taking & editing these photos, and writing this post, but hey! I'm off to go focus on that now though, so let me know what you think of this look in the comments below while I sit here and type type type.

OOTN: Parley

Hey, everyone! So as promised, it's time for an Outfit of the Night post! I think I've only ever done one other OOTN here on the blog, so let's get to it!

Top: Marshalls

Dress: Macy's

Tights: We Love Colors

Shoes: Target

So last night I had a work meeting to attend. There wasn't any sort of dress code, so instead of trying to put together something business-y and such (like I did at the last work meeting, here), I decided to go for something casual and cute. 

I've had this dress in my closet for a long while. It was originally going to wind up on the blog way back in February when I had my first ever jury duty summons to attend. Sadly, I talked myself out of wearing a dress that day because I was worried about the possibility of being unjustly punished for stepping outside of accepted social norms in such a setting (next time, though, I'm so wearing a dress, haha), so I put together a fun kilt look that was slightly more conservative while not entirely compromising my values. Anyhow, I'm digressing a bit here, so back to this dress. I've always really enjoyed the look of pinafores layered over a top, so I bought this dress in hopes of experimenting with that style. I've got a really nice sheer navy button down that works really well with this dress, but I decided to try something a bit more whimsical for this look. I'm sure I'll show the other top with this dress on the blog at some point here, though.

I suspect some readers may be wondering exactly what type of job Mr. Spookshow could have that would allow a boy to wear a dress without any issue. I'm a makeup artist. For as long as I've been employed at this particular company, we've always been allowed a lot of leeway in terms of self-expression, which is great. While I'm sure I'm no doubt not likely to be used for any media or on camera-related gigs, I'm okay with that.

Anyhow, the meeting went very well, and I actually received a lot of compliments on my attire from fellow artists. I felt this ensemble really showed off a good eye for color coordination, as I'd managed to repeat each color twice in the outfit, with I think is fun. One girl in particularly gave me some very nice compliments about this outfit and all of my fashion pictures that I post to Facebook as well, and I was really flattered because I love all of her outfits she posts as well, haha. It's always nice to hear you are doing good from someone that you admire as well, right? So thanks for that!

There was one guy at the meeting who gave me a lot of shit over my outfit, but he's one of those jokester guys anyways, so I've learned to not take it personally. There's a lot of easy, if lame, material to use about a guy in a dress, so I can't fault him too much, haha. There was a bit of patriarchy reinforcement to it all though, which is a bit unfortunate. I like him anyways, though, and I know I looked damn cute so ... whateva, haha!  

This has been a pretty wordy post so far, so apologies for that. I've actually managed to be pretty brief with most of my OOTDs lately (does anyone really read all this? haha), but I've got a good amount of photos in this post too for those of you who just scroll through, haha. These shoes are really fun, and I really love them. Unfortunately, they aren't exactly massively comfortable, so I don't wear them as much as I'd probably like to. They are stretching and becoming more comfortable as I wear them, though, so that's nice. I actually did a lot of Google searching about white tights for this outfit, because I had some concerns about wearing opaque tights in the middle of summer, and if that was super weird. That's ironic in itself, I guess, since I'm already a man wearing a dress, which is already pretty high on the weird-o-meter for some folks. Anyhow, I knew I'd be chilling in an environment that was well air-conditioned anyways, so it seemed acceptable. I actually saw a lot of posts saying that white tights are a "no" anyways, unless you are a little girl or nurse, haha. And that they make your legs look fat (to which I will resist posting a long body acceptance rant in this already long post). Well, I think they are super cute and I'll continue to wear them without shame, thank you very much, haha.

Anyhow, I think I've gone on long enough in this one, ya'll. If you've made it this far, thank you, and why not talk to me below in the comments? I really dig this look a lot, and I'd like to know what you think as well. See you soon, everyone!

OOTD: Tend

Hey, everyone. Time for another OOTD! Let's get to it!

Top: Macys

Belt: Forever 21+

Skirt: ASOS Curve

Shoes: Payless

I'm finally starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of dressing for the summer heat here in Florida, or at least that I'm not battling it as much as usual. It's probably just because my skirts have gotten shorter lately, haha. I've had this top in my closet for ages, and haven't ever figured out anything cute to wear it with. I think it goes pretty nicely with this wet look skater skirt, though, so it was time to finally pull it out.

The addiction to skater skirts continues. I'm crazy excited that they are so available right now, as I've always loved that style of skirt. It's hard not to buy them all, ya'll, haha.

Another thing I really love is gladiator sandals. I think they are a really cool look, although I don't have many pairs or wear them often because I feel they don't interact so well with tights, which I wear like all the time. They're fun to bring out every once and awhile though, so I couldn't resist wearing them with this outfit to kinda "summer" it up a bit. I like it.

That's really all I've got to say for this one, so that's it for another OOTD. Stay tuned, because later this evening (or tomorrow morning-ish) I'll be posting an OOTN featuring my look for the work meeting tonight. See ya'll soon!

OOTD: Airwaves Remix

Today was just one of those days where it took me forever to figure out what to wear. Gotta hate that, but in the end I decided to remix a look that I wasn't quite happy with the first time around. Let's get to it!

Top: Mrs. Spookshow's Designs

Shorts: ?

Shoes: ?

So, I totally can't remember where I got these shorts or shoes. Oops. The top, however, was made by Mrs. Spookshow, and is the main focus of this remix anyhow. I first wore it here, and in retrospect after posting it I wasn't entirely happy with the proportions of the outfit. It's such an awesome top that it's a crime I haven't remixed it into something better before now, but here we are now.

I'm not quite sure how to pair a top like this with a skirt (can it really even be done?), so I decided to just let it be the star here and put on my short shorts, haha. I think it would work really well with pants (or more likely leggings, as I don't really wear pants ever), but it's summer time here and I wanted to show some leg anyways, heh.

Speaking of legs, here's a closer shot of these shoes. I've somehow managed to not photograph these for the blog either, as they've just kinda lurked in my closet since I bought them last year. Truthfully, they've been neglected because more often than not the pantyhose I wear have a reinforced toe, but since these barely black pantyhose have a sandal foot it seemed a perfect time to give these shoes a spin. It occurs to me now that you can't really make out the details of the shoe much in the photo above, but it was my favorite leg shot so there you go, haha. You'll just have to trust me when I tell you that the shoes have a low heel on them (about 1.5 inches, I'd guesstimate).

That's all for this one, ya'll. I hope you enjoyed this little remix OOTD. I think I should try to do more remixes here on the blog, so if you're up for a His Black Dress adventure, why not go take a look through the rest of my OOTDs and let me know what pieces you'd like to see remixed!

OOTD: Bonehead

Hey, everyone! Time for another OOTD, okay? Let's go!

Top: ASOS Curve

Belt: ASOS Curve

Skirt: ASOS Curve

Shoes: Madden Girl

Whoa, spamming ASOS a bit today, eh? Ah, well, I love it! I think I've got a theme going on here at the blog, as I feel I'm posting a lot of  looks with similar silhouettes lately. I never really knew the terms for it before, but I've always really enjoyed skater / fit & flare skirts, and thankfully they seem to be pretty hot right now, which means more availability! Seems clothing that I really like has been "in" over the past few seasons, which has been great for building up my wardrobe (but bad for my finances, haha).

Slam the brakes! Sexy pose time, haha. I'm not quite sure what possessed me, but it seemed fun, so here you go. I really love these Madden Girl heels (I've got them in 3 other colors, yowzah!), and couldn't resist picking them up in nude. I'm not entirely sure what I'll pair them with, but I'm pretty pleased with the purchase anyhow.

Skulls rank pretty high for me too (hey, I am Mr. Spookshow, after all), so I'm wearing this cool blue skull print top today. I think the dark blue and wet look skirt look really awesome together, something about the texture just works really well. I think gold and blue is a pretty good and seemingly underused combo, so I decided to throw in a gold belt and bracelet to the mix.

Oh yeah, so I also thought it would be fun for little Bridget to make her OOTD debut today! She's wearing a skull print as well, although it's a bit hard to tell from the photo. It's hard to believe it's been over four months since she came into our lives, and it's been quite an adventure already, haha! Thankfully, she's pretty much the happiest baby I've ever met (although you couldn't exactly tell from this picture, but she was waking up from a nap, haha), so it's been a pretty good situation. I've managed to adjust relatively easily to my new role as a stay at home dad (I should probably do more vacuuming, though, haha), and it's been great. Running after a baby in heels can be a challenge, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

That's it for this one, ya'll. Hope you enjoyed, and feel free to let me know what you think in the comments below! See ya soon!

Playing Dress Up with Mr. Spookshow!

Hey, everyone! It's time for something a little different from what I usually do here on the blog ... I've put together four looks to choose from, and instead of making the choice myself and posting an OOTD after the fact, I've decided to let ya'll decide what I will wear! Oh my, haha!

So, I've got a work meeting to go to on Monday evening. It's not anything formal and there's no dress code. It's largely just a get together with management to discuss events over the rest of the year. Anyhow, I'm sure most people will just wear jeans and a tee or some such, but not Mr. Spookshow. That's where you come in! I've spent the morning today putting together four looks to wear, but I'm leaving it up to ya'll. So, without more rambling, let's get to that!

Here's look number 1. I've worn and talked about this dress a lot on this blog over the years, and it's one I feel very comfortable in, so it seemed right to include it. 

I did, however, decide to change it up from my usual by pairing it with nude pantyhose and nude high heels. Fun! That's look 1!

Here's look number 2, a bit of a classic Spookshow look (I guess that's a thing now? haha). I've got a sheer black button up shirt over a skeleton print tee. The skeleton print doesn't show through in the photos as well as in person, though. Ah, well.

A faux leather tiered skirt and black wedge booties complete this one. I decided to throw in this new gold belt at the last minute, just for an extra pop of something. There's look 2!

Here's look number 3, which I feel is a little bit more casual than the previous two. This one started with the shoes, a rockin' pair of red and white sneaker wedges from Target! This skirt is a lot of fun, and I wanted to try it out again here, having previously only worn it for a bit of an experimental look a month or so back. 

This one's got some fun details, and for whatever it's worth I think it's probably the most comfortable to wear out of all of these looks (although the next one is a close second there, I think). Anyhow, there's look 3!

Time for the final option, look number 4! This one is probably the most "out there" of this collection, and most represents what I've been doing with my style lately. Anyhow, this is a navy pinafore dress over a black and white stripe top, with white tights and blue striped flats. This dress has been in my closet for a while without showing up on the blog, though I was going to wear it for jury duty back in February (albeit with much different style and accessories).

I had a lot of fun putting this outfit together, and it feels like the most fun outfit of the collection to me. I tried to make sure to work in every color twice in this one, so I've got navy in the dress and shoes, Black in the top and left hand bracelet, white in the top and tights, and ocean blue in the right hand bracelet and shoes. I should have taken a closer shot of that blue bracelet, 'cause it's little blue skulls, ya'll! Anyhow, that's look 4!

So, now it's time for you to let me know what you think in the comments below! Tell me which outfit is yout favorite and which one you think I should wear on Monday. I'll be tallying votes here and on Tumblr and whichever look has the most votes will be what I wear. I'll feature that look in an OOTD on Tuesday (with more poses and details shots and all that fun) and talk a bit about what my experience was like. I'll most likely feature each of these looks at a later point on the blog, so don't feel too sad if your choice doesn't win! Anyhow, that's it for this one. Time to play dress up with Mr. Spookshow in the comments below, ya'll!

OOTD: Coil

Time for another OOTD! This one's a bit of a timewarp, as I'm writing it from the future but setting the date back to the day I wore it. 1.21 GIGAWATS?!

Top: Target

Skirt: ASOS Curve

Shoes: Target

Noting too crazy here, I don't think, just a fun and casual look. I've somehow managed to not feature this top at all on the blog (strange), so I wanted to put a look together to show it off!

I've been wearing these shoes a lot since I got them, and I think they've been on the blog too much as well, but oh well. I'm kinda addicted to skater skirts and dresses, and just fit & flare skirts in general lately, so there's more of that here too, haha.

I don't usually wear nude pantyhose, but decided to wear them for this look. I actually liked it a lot, and might be wearing them more in the future, honestly. At least during the summer, anyhow (I can't go without my tights, ya'll).

Anyhow, that's it for this one. Super short and sweet, I know, but hey ... look for more soon. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

OOTD: Swear

Hey, everyone! Told ya I'd be back soon, haha! Let's get to it!

Top: Evans

Skirt: ASOS Curve

Tights: Torrid

Shoes: Wanted

 Today I decided to go through my closet and pull out all the stuff I've yet to wear, which thankfully turned out too not be too much stuff, actually. Sometimes stuff just gets lost in my closet, either because I just can't figure out what to wear it with when I get it, or just because other stuff takes the spotlight. This top is one that's been hiding in there for a while. I picked it up on the cheap because I thought the pattern was cool, even though I wasn't sure exactly how I would wear it. Well, apparently it was just waiting for this awesome skater skirt.

My obsession with skater dresses has pretty well been covered, so when I saw this basic black skater skirt at ASOS Curve I just knew I had to pick it up. The top in this outfit is actually a tunic, and the length is just a little bit shorter than this skirt. I've somehow managed to get quite a few tunics, despite the fact I very rarely wear shorts or leggings, so they kinda get pushed aside. For whatever reason it's never really occurred to me to just tuck them in to skirts, haha.

My mom actually bought these tights for me earlier in the week while she was out shopping. They've got a pretty fun pattern, and as with pretty much all fishnets I wear I layered some pantyhose underneath. I bet these would look pretty fun with beige tights underneath as well, and perhaps I'll try that the next time I wear this outfit.

So, just a fun outfit that came from a bit of closet delving. I'll have to make sure to do that more often, haha. Anyhow, that's all for this one, ya'll. Thanks for reading!

OOTD: Fuh!

Hey, everyone! Sorry it's been a little while ... I've been really busy being a stay at home dad! Let's get straight to it, shall we?

Top: ASOS Curve

Skirt: ASOS Curve

Shoes: Sanita

This is what I wore to go visit my parents on Mother's Day. It's pretty casual and fun, but also comfortable, so that was a win. I really enjoy this shirt, and got lots of compliments on it, though most people seem to think it's either a Rocky Horror or Rolling Stones shirt. To my knowledge it isn't affiliated with either, though I can see where that thought would come from. Rocky is awesome, but I've never been a Stones fan, haha.

I really love this skirt! It's just so much fun. I was actually a little hesitant about buying a navy polka dot skirt, as I just wasn't sure how it would fit into my wardrobe or if it was really my style anyhow, but I'm glad I took the chance. It's made me realize that I actually wouldn't mind bringing some more whimsy or cutesy type stuff into my wardrobe.

Hot pink clogs! That's all.

Hope ya'll had a good weekend! That's all for this one. As always, feel free to leave me a comment below. See you soon!

OOTD: Otaku

Hey, everyone! Time for another OOTD, so let's get to it!

Blazer: Forever 21+

Top: Macy's

Skirt: ASOS Curve

Tights: We Love Colors

Shoes: Franco Sarto

I've been watching too much anime recently, and it's kinda bled over into this outfit. I'm not sure how much it actually reads as anime / manga inspired, but that's what was in my head when I put it together. This outfit actually started from the shoes, as I wanted to wear these around the house today to start breaking them in. The shoes are actually for a cosplay I'm working on (this seems a perfect time to mention my cosplay blog I've started recently, KigurumiForVillains.com, so check that out if you're interested), and while I actually kinda hated them when I bought them, I'm kinda digging them here, haha.

Since I was already talking about the shoes, I'm going to interrupt my usual OOTD photo flow and go ahead with the shoe photo. They are just basic black loafers, essentially japanese school uniform style. I decided to pair them with white tights here, for maximum kawaii!

Here's a shot sans jacket, just to show this top. I purchased this top from Macy's a while back (in this hot pink as well as black) when I was looking for some more business / professional type clothing. I've previously really never had any need for business type clothing, so I don't have any, but remember jury duty back in February? It kinda highlighted that weak spot in my wardrobe, and so it's something I wanted to try to get at least one outfit together for. That's where this top and the jacket came from, and I also picked up a pretty nice but basic black suit skirt as well. Perhaps I'll do an OOTD with all of that sometime here, and show you my office look, haha.

I thought it would be fun to pose with an anime magazine in this set, so here I am making a weird face at the latest copy of Otaku USA, haha. Speaking of anime, I've been watching The Future Diary recently, and I just wanna say how awesome it is! This is a fashion blog, though, and not an anime blog, so I'll just say I highly recommend it if you are an otaku like me! 

That's all I've got for this one, guys. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think in the comments below!

OOTD: Hunted

Hey, everyone! Back with another OOTD, but just a quick one today! Let's get to it!

Dress: City Chic Online

Shoes: Target

So this is the last of the colorblock skater dresses that I bought in multiple colors. It's also got reverse colors from last OOTD, fun! I love these skater dresses, ya'll, because they are super comfortable and super fun. This pink one didn't seem to photograph very true to color, as it's a really hot pink similar to a lot of the other hot pinks I've worn here on the blog lately. Hey, it's my new favorite color, haha.

Once again it's game night at the Spookshow lair, which meant another perfect opportunity to dress up. That makes me pretty happy. As a minor note on my wardrobe in general, today I made a huge step towards making sure I stay out of the fashion blahs by getting rid of all of my "around the house" shorts. I now only actually own 4 pairs of shorts / pants, which is awesome but kinda surreal. I guess it really is skirts and dresses all the time now for me, though, haha.

I really dig these shoes, though they are a bit tight. I'm hoping they'll break in a bit as I wear 'em, as I think they add a lot of fun possibilities to my wardrobe. It's kinda mind blowing to me how much my sartorial tastes have broadened since I started this fashion blog, as the Michael Spookshow of two years ago would have never even looked twice at all these pops of bright color. It's been very enriching, and I've had a lot of fun experimenting with new choices. I definitely encourage ya'll to take risks and step outside your usual sartorial preferences every once and awhile. You never know what you might love!

Anywho, that's all for this one, folks. I've had a really interesting opportunity come my way recently, and hopefully I'll be able to talk about that here soon if it all pans out. Until next time, keep rockin'!