Solstice party

Every time I try and wear my hair up.

I'm so fucking full of holiday cheer right now Yankee Candle could light me up and sell me for three months a year.

I woke up thinking "Yeah! It's December! We just got a pretty dusting of snow! I can starting listening to Christmas carols without pissing myself off! I can even watch Christmas movies without pissing myself off! We're gonna fill this woodshed with wood and this house with cookies!"

Shirt-Van Heusen
Suspenders-Hot Topic
Skirt- Villager
Bloomers- Handmade
Stockings- Basketman
Shoes- T. U. K.

How Kittywitch dresses in the winter.

I wasn't scheduled to do this for another ten days, but seeing as it's already cold enough to snow, I'm dressing like this anyway, and I have two followers and two votes for "How many layers are you wearing?" I think I might as well make this post now.

Plus I forgot about the poll deadline and took the pictures today. This is a long, image heavy post so most of it is under a cut. By the way, if you are offended by multiple layers of underwear, the following post might be upsetting. Fair warning.

My dear man...

Here we see a sad little fangirl who only owns black desperately trying to look like the third Doctor.
So I didn’t have time to make a Halloween costume this year. So I pulled a ruffly shirt and a velvet jacket out of my closet. And felt damn pretty badass.
I so want to cosplay this properly, but velvet is so expensive… and surprisingly hard to find.

Brace yourselves, winter is coming.

And it's getting cold!
That means I'm going to be dressing even more like the period in which my house was built than usual.


I am this close to putting on a sweater. I'm not even kidding. The vest is keeping my chest warm but my back feels exposed.

More to the point, there is a question I'd like to ask.
In several books on historical periods I read as a child, there was a section showing the layers that were worn in those periods and how the people got dressed.

Given that I live in a wood-heated eighteenth century house, I  tend to spend the winter dressing in the style of the time it was built. It's simply more practical than dressing like I do in the summer and surrounding myself with space heaters.

So I was thinking of maybe doing a photo essay on how I dress in the winter.

I've made a poll about it.

On the subject of sexy girl costumes.

I'm not sure, having never been a young man (or at least not recently enough to remember), but as a young woman you find yourself observing a theme about clothing. If you put Cinderella in a ballgown, her stepmother won't recognize her and the prince will fall in love with her. Or, in every other Sandra Bullock movie, we can convince ourselves that if you tie her hair up and put glasses on her, she isn't pretty anymore. With enough primping and the right clothes, anyone can suddenly look beautiful.
Now, as a costumer I can attest to there being some truth in this. There is such a variety in every part of creating one's appearance, hairdressing, makeup, carriage and costuming that if you think there is no way any given person cannot become a work of art, you are simply wrong. Anyone can, with the proper effort, time and materials, can transform into something striking, something artistically beautiful. Whether or not that will fall into their own (or their chosen mate's) range of what they find attractive or not cannot be guaranteed, but beautiful and attractive are two different things.
But, like any other art form, beauty is hard. And people don't like doing things that are hard, especially not for something with the strange double standard of "appearance doesn't really matter, beauty comes from within" and "it is good to be beautiful". This means we have it in our heads that we must be beautiful all the time, but not put effort into it. Which frankly, I find disrespectful to beauty as an art form. It's hard work.
So if you don't want to apply the time and energy into find what about yourself is beautiful and accentuating that; (which I can understand, as it is hard) you might take a much simpler alternative. Substitute "sexy" for "beautiful". As a costumer, I can say that sexy is generally much easier to achieve. There is much less variety in legs than, say, faces, and most people feel more confident about the sexual appeal of their legs than the aesthetic beauty of their face. So the first step is usually to bear them. Often the bosom will also be exposed or accentuated. A single layer of petticoat about a foot in length is another common addition, when there is a skirt, which serves to further feminize the outfit, accent the hip to waist ratio, which as we all know has been a indication of physical attractiveness for much of history (stupid nineteen twenties throwing off statistics) and in some cases present the bottom's exposure as a possibility. As you can see, this is a simple formula and easy to achieve, and can be applied to nearly anyone or anything.
But beauty without sexualization takes time and effort; and many people do not want to exert that into something they will be wearing for less than ten hours for one day. I do not know what happens when a lazy young man wants to be beautiful for ten hours a year. Drinks alone and cries, I suspect.

Lovely new blouse.

Always time for tea. And cookies.

Funny story. We just dug up some old photographs of my ancestors, and I can really see the resemblance...
In the way we dress.

That's my great-grandmother Ellie, from whom I get my marvelous peanut butter cookie recipe.

She's not eating a cookie here, we think it's maple sugar.

Being fabulous.

Necklace- Lolikats
Jacket- Tripp
Corset-Fiona's Fineries
Skirt-Lolikats
 Tights- I'm not sure, but similar ones can be bought at Guess
Boots-Dolce Vita

An adventure.

I'm sorry I haven't been updating this as much as I used to, but I intend to pick up again; largely because I find the reactions people have to my outfits amusing.
Read about my adventure in this outfit here.

Falls-Hot Topic
Collar-Agway
Gloves-Five Below
Dress- Tripp
Red Net Shirt- Garment District
Vertical stocking-Smoke and Fire co.
Horizontal stocking- Basketman
Boots- Demonia 


Kat is approached by a strange man who looks about twice her age and three times as old as she looks.
Stranger: I like your drawings.
Kat: Oh, thank you.
Stranger: And that outfit's hot.
Kat: Oh, thanks.
Stranger: You got a husband?
Kat: Uh, I'm not sure how to answer that, sir!

It's true, I still don't know how to answer "I am not married but you are not to hit on me." in a businesslike tone.
For what it matters, I was illustrating a Dr. Who fic. Six and Peri and ten and Rose split ice cream cones as a time native runs toward the camera in panic.

A pagan is explaining paganism to an outside observer, who has noticed a large festival with pretty good music, lots of shops and even more happy people.
Pagan: ...no, it predates Christanty, mostly old-world traditions...
Observer: So like witches and stuff?
Pagan: Some of us practice witchcraft, but it's not required.
Kat passes
Observer: If that's what a pagan looks like, I want to be one!
Kat: Faith and fashion are unconnected, sir. Believe what you want and to believe and dress how you want to dress.

And of course, at least five "I love your outfit!" from passing people; mostly young women.

Companion Closetplay-Ct. Jack Harkness

Hello ladies. And hello gentlemen, as well. Look at your man, now look at me. Now back at your man, now back at me. Sadly, he isn't me. But if he traveled through space and time conning strangers and sleeping with them, he'd have the same profession as me.

What's that around your wrist? I have it. It's a device for capsuleless  time travel. Anything's possible when no one wants to hurt you and they couldn't if they tried.

I'm on a bomb!

Companion Closetplay-Amy Pond

I wondered what was up with the scarf until I put this outfit on, then I realized why you would wear a scarf in high temperatures. Then I soaked it.

I also tried to make a silly face at the camera,  as we see her doing this when faced with cameras (you know, the myspace face. Like the duck face, but not so extreme), but then my hair hit me in the face and I knew exactly how toolish I as being.

"I was expecting Rio!"

Companion Closetplay-Stephen Taylor

With a gun in one hand and a cuddly mascot in the other, this man is here as a combination voice of reason and strongarm.


I just imagine the Doctor, Dodo and Stephen landing on a planet, looking as motley as any TARDIS crew and announcing that they are here to save everyone. Heaven help the planet.



"I forgot my mascot!"

Companion Closetplay-Ben Jackson

Remember when I said I didn't have a cockney sailor in my closet? The fact is, I didn't check because Ben wasn't in the closet bout being a Duchess-Sexual. I forgot, however, that he is still a sailor.


"You alright there, Duchess?"

Companion Closetplay- Sarah-Jane

"Call me old girl again... and I'll spit in your eye." I described this as being attacked by the seventies, and then the other kind of seventies attacked, so off came the vest.
I attempted, several times to add the appropriate sweep to my hair with the curling tongs. My hair rebelled.

Companion Closetplay- Polly

“You’re not turning me into a fish!”
Can I just take a minute here to say how much I love Polly? She just strikes me as a really fun girl to have around and she was a great companion.
I know I’m missing a key accessory, but I didn’t have a cockney sailor in my closet. I have a hard time thinking of Ben and Polly as separate entities.

Companion Closetplay-Rose Tyler

I actually bought this skirt to do Amy, but it will serve.


I had a different outfit in mind for Rose; a hoodie, jeans and pinkish t-shirt, but it's too damn hot for that. As it is way too hot to wear the blond wig. So...

In three minutes, Queen Victoria will tell me that you're 'naked'. We wouldn't want to make a liar out of the queen, now would we?

"But what do I do every day, mum? What do I do? Get up. catch the bus, go to work, come back home, eat chips and go to bed, is that it?!"

Companion Closetplay-Who wears short shorts?

Vislor Turlough, the world's creepiest ginger kid. I'm not one for claiming gingers have no souls, or are of the devil, or anything like that; and in any case young girls of any coloration are creepier than young boys. But Turlough spent half his time talking to someone no one else could see plotting to kill the older man looking after him; and the other half tied up.


I'm wearing the Planet of Fire outfit because New England has turned into a planet of fire. Besides, in that serial everyone was sort of stripping down. Even the Doctor gave up his coat and sweater and wore this flowered waistcoat. He even dropped that and ran around in his shirtsleeves halfway through the day. I only mention this because for some reason whenever the Doctor changes his clothing, especially into a non-standard outfit, that commands my full attention. I don't even know what happened in the Green Death, besides the fact that that moss-green frock coat made it's first appearance and he went through two different disguises. I think there was also probably an alien.

For sheer lack of clothing, I've got his tattoo exposed. I'm guessing it's going to transfer to my desk over the course of the day.


""The worst place in the universe--English public school!"-Vislor Turlough, Dr. Who "

Companion Closetplay-Victoria Waterfield

 This link does not show where she wore a dress like this, but rather the scene the quote is from.


The Doctor: You look very nice in that dress, Victoria.
Victoria: Thank you. Don't you think it's a bit... , uh?
The Doctor: A bit short? Oh, I shouldn't worry about that. Look at Jamie's.

Companion Closetplay day 12-Melanie Bush

You can't properly tell, but this shirt is striped with rainbows. Of course, it should be striped red and white but at least it matches my socks.

"There are times in our relationship that I feel an interpreter wouldn't come amiss."

Companion Closetplay day 11- Ian Chester... err...

Chesterton! No, Chesterson! No, Chesterfield! Hm? I said it right the first time? Nonsense, my dear boy.

"Any hope is better than none!"

Companion Closetplay day 10- Peri Brown

"I may have a puny mind, but I have an amazing rack you don't need to be Albert Einstein to find the off switch!!"

Companion Closetplay day 9- Dodo

Companion Closetplay day 8-I AM LEELA, WARRIOR OF THE SEVATEEM!

It's kind of weird how you can't see my knife in this shot.

A day in the life of Kat: Sleep until noon, wake up and dress up as a Dr. Who character, spend about three minutes bouncing around declaring yourself "LEELA, WARRIOR OF THE TESH!" then find the latest article your cat has peed on and clean it up.

Summer does bad things to me.
For one thing, it made me forget that Leela was a Sevateem warrior, not a Tesh warrior until midway through the day.

Companion Closetplay day 7- Jamie McCribbon

"Och, Doctor! Me leg!"
There are two things I need to say about Jamie. First, if you kept injuring your leg in every other episode, then maybe you should have gotten a longer kilt or stopped kicking everyone's asses.
Second, thank you for the fanservice. You set the bar high and you set the bar early.


"I think this is one of those instances when discretion is the better part of valor; Jamie has an idea."-The Doctor, Doctor Who

Liz Shaw and Romana I

Companion Closetplay day 4- Susan Foreman

I've actually owned this sweater for years, but I've never worn it for a full day because it reminded me of someone who was both irritating and looked like hell in horizontally striped sweaters. However, in going through my wardrobe for companion closetplay, I realised Susan wore a very similar sweater on the show.


"I can't do this problem without the other two dimensions..."

Companion Closetplay day 3- Jo Grant

Why the heck am I doing all the blondes first?


Shirt-Van Heusen
Shirt studs-Lolikats

Cufflinks-Lolikats
Dress-Dharma
Heels-Earth Shoe

Companion closetplay day 2-Romana II

Hat- Actually, I ordered this from England as well.
Shirt- Lolikats
Skirt-Lolikats
Flats-Faded Glory

Companion Closetplay day 1- Ace

The shirt reads: "I am a bomb technition, if you see me running try to keep up"
Jacket-Mossimo
Shirt-English street vendor
Skirt-Harvé Benard
Leggings- OP
Shoes-Airwalk



"They couldn't understand how blowing up the art room was a creative act!"

Headphones and matching fishnets

 Zipper shirt-Pussycat U.K.
Zipper Dress-Lolikats

I'm wearing three vests.

 Scarf-Dharma
Shirt-
Skirt-
Socks- Basketman
 Boots- Dolce Vita

 Outer vest-Lolikats
Middle vest-
Inner vest-
Blouse-
Tie-Westwater
Skirt-Handmade
Boots- Dolce Vita

Still cute.

Shirt-Van Heusen
Shirt studs-Lolikats

Cufflinks-Lolikats
 Vest-Tripp
Skirt-Lolikats
Stockings-Target

Shoes- Mossino

Serious business!

I swear to gods that's a pun, not a typo.
Headphones-Sanrio
Shirt- George
Vest- Passports
Tie-Puritan  Skirt-Handmade
Bloomers-Handmade
Boots-Dolce Vita
Gloves-Dollar store
Ribbon-Craft Store

Dishabille

Shirt-Van Heusen
Shirt studs-Lolikats
Cufflinks-Lolikats
Tie-Westwater
Vest- Passports
ARmbands-Lolikats
Suspenders-Hot Topic
Jeans-Old Navy
Shoes-Converse

Happy St. Valentine's

Scarf- Dharma, dyed by Willow
Blouse-
Undershirt-Faded Glory
Skirt-
Stockings- Basketman
Shoes- Mossino

I recently got a huge pile of vintage clothes from someone who's moving. I'm really excited about this blouse in particular, as it's pretty much exactly the blouse I was wishing I had for this outfit.

I'm sensing a pattern.

Dammit, Freya.

I thought it was bad when she was just sitting on my shoulders. But now she's upped the ante. Nice work, Freya, but where are you going to go from there?

Hat- Hot Topic
Badge- Nancy Buttons
Collar-Agway
Vest-Tripp 
Undershirt-Target
  Black dress- Faded Glory
Leggings- OP
Boots-Demonia

Don't forget your booties, because it's cold out there!

 It's cold out there every day!

Silk shirt-No Boundaries
Cravat-Dharma
Skirt- Lolikats
Bloomers- Lolikats
Stockings-Target
Shoes- Mossino

Hat- Hot Topic
Badge- Nancy Buttons
Collar-Agway
Shirt-Danskin
Vest-Tripp
Belt- Five Below
Buckle- Fun Buckles
Skirt-Sisrgis Sari Angelo
Leggings- OP
Boots-Demonia

The two faces of Kittywitch.

The middle girly one was me seeing how close I could get to the third doctor's outfit with what I had lying around, then getting distracted and putting on a miniskirt. But we've all done that, gotten dressed aiming at Doctor Who and wound up in a miniskirt?

Funny story about the green outfit.

Troll different:
As many of you already know, I dress in a manner that could be called a little eccentric. It could be called other things as well, but that's not the point. And usually, when we go over to help Mark, he comments on it. Not everyone can appreciate an outfit with almost a pound of metal dispersed around it, or the irony of it being worn by a delicate young woman. You in the back, please stop laughing and let me finish my story. As these are pretty much the only negative comments I ever get on my appearance and he's kind of an ass, I try to ignore him.
Yesterday, however, he had nothing negative to say about my outfit. This is either because he's getting more tactful, or he had no objections. In retrospect, neither sound terribly likely. My clothing was actually very prim, a lolita-style blouse with a high collar and long sleeves, and a matching skirt. Leggings, boots, a cravat and a nice vest to tone down the lace.
Mark is colorblind, so while he might have noticed that my blouse, cravat pin, socks, hairbows, and lipstick all matched, he probably didn't notice that they were neon green. Let me repeat that, because it's the important part. The only person who regularly gives me a hard time about how I dress didn't notice I was wearing green lipstick.