SAMHAIN STYLE

  The most important aspect of Nelland is beauty. I love everything beautiful and pretty. I define beauty by my own standards, and I definitely do not follow fashion or the latest trends. I wear whatever I think makes me look good. And this is what I recommend everybody else to do too! I see too many people walking down the street wearing something by the latest trends, and looking terrible! One of my favorite examples is the skinny jeans and leggings worn by so many today, who really shouldn´t do that. Or at least put a long tunic over them! My point being, there is nothing wrong with the shape/size of these people, but only the clothes they´ve put on themselves. Only because it looks good in a catalogue on a super-skinny model, photographed from one angle!
  One big problem I find with many of today´s tops, tunics, and blouses sold in stores, is that they look horrible seen from the side view. They just don´t fit. The female figure isn´t easy to dress shapely. For me 98% of the clothes I try on in stores just don´t fit. There are loads of basically beautiful and stylish clothes out there,  but they just don´t fit. What a waste of material and work!

  So to fix this problem I initially started learning to sew clothes for myself. No, it is not always easy, and yes, it is very time-consuming, but all in all, I think it takes less money and time even, to make my own clothes. Not all of them of course, but most.
  There are many good magazines, books, and patterns with instructions on them to use and learn from. That´s what I´ve done. Lived and learned as I go. 

  Normally I have five different looks for work, for each sabbat. That gives me just enough variety to dress differently each work day of the week, but still not go overboard with gathering earthly possessions.
  But, now I´m pregnant and am not able to wear my usual Samhain-clothes, which has forced me to find new outfits to wear. I figure three different will have to do. I will only use these for this year anyway (although I will save them to offer my friends to use, if they decide to multiply in the future =).

  So here´s the first look of Samhain I´ve conjured: 

I always love my wide-legged pants! They´re great for every season, materials vary. These ones are made of soft, thick fleece. I use the same pattern as I did before getting pregnant, now I just add the tummy piece to hold them in place. The whole idea of the look is to create a slightly 40´s glamour feeling. Wide pants were fashionable already in Marlene Dietrich´s time, and to that I added a subtle basic grey t-shirt with puffed long sleeves. The big bow gives the shirt a blouse-like taste, making it look more sophisticated. Repeating the opposite colors on top (violet hairband) and bottom (grey stripes) gives a well-put-together sense.

Speaking of using regular patterns, instead of special maternity ones, the shirt is just that also. I altered it a bit on the front piece, widening it at tummy area, and lengthening it by 10cm. Then I simply gathered the extra length on the side seams and sew it on! I´ve found most maternity clothes horribly shaped when seen from the side view. This one is very much to my taste! It shows just what the bump is, without making it (and myself) look any bigger.

Makeup. 40´s glamour in mind, I do my everyday makeup for this look. (In the picture it seems like I don´t have much on, but my face reflects light so much, that it tones down the shades.) I make my eyebrows strongish, and with as much of an arch as naturally is reasonable for this look. Eyeshadow is metallic grey on the whole lid and crease area, finished off with a dark violet on the outer corner of the eye. No eyeliner, but lashes are curled and coated with black mascara. Blush is merely the color of a shade in the face, giving structure, not color. Lips are dabbed with purplish darker red, but not as strongly as in the genuine 40´s (I would find maintaining them too hard during a work day). Earrings are small and simple, old-fashioned.

A close-up detail of the grey stripe on the bottom of the leg. I can´t show off using highly sophisticated shoes, because in my work I need sturdy and super-comfortable ones    =(