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.

To the left:
This is the base layer, the underwear under the underwear. Which is why it looks like underwear.

To the right:
The next layer is the "long underwear" layer, consisting of an cotton undershirt and flannel bloomers. I made these bloomers myself, they feature faux pearl buttons on the fly, an elastic waistband and eyelet lace. If you are not familiar with bloomers, then let me summarize what all that means: These are good bloomers.
Having underpants and bloomers with waistbands at different levels prevents a bulky, binding waist.
I also took this time to brush my hair.

 
 The next items to go on are my stockings and the flannel slip. I have to wear the slip quite high on my waist, because the slip is longer than the skirt I will be wearing. Fortunately, the skirt is high-waisted and this will not be an issue.
I often wear striped or patterned stockings, but not if I will be wearing striped or patterned legwarmers. That's just common fashion sense.
The blouses I generally wear are actually men's tuxedo shirts. This means that I have to use shirt studs and cuff links to close it. I made the cufflinks and studs from two sets of buttons tied together with elastic.
I will be wearing them floral-side out today.

I keep them on a bit of ribbon in the heart-shaped trinket box.
Studs are actually pretty easy to use, it's just like buttoning a hole twice. Which I often do anyway because buttons tend to pop open. Less often than studs, now that I think about it.
I'm tucking my pentagram in between my undershirt and my blouse because it interferes with my tie, not because I'm ashamed of my religion. Besides, everyone notices the cat and doesn't see the pentacle for some reason. Also, if it's over my undershirt, it won't bounce from one breast to the other while I run.

The weird thing is, it looks almost like I'm fully dressed in this picture.

The next step is the skirt.
This is another article of clothing that I made myself.
Those buttons are functional, but largely decorative. The actual closure is a zipper which the button placard clovers. It also has a pocket there.

 Now I put on the legwarmers, and my legs look appropriately stripey. The button motif is also carried down to the feet. The arm garters are actually quite useful when I'm washing dishes, or rebuttoning my shirt. They were pretty easy to make, all I needed was a pair of buckles and some elastic. You can also make them covered in cloth, like a scrunchie, but remember to use wide elastic so it won't cut into your flesh. Also to use enough of it, elastic may stretch but it's better if it doesn't have to.
 The collar is left up until the tie has been bowed. I know it's a shame for someone as frilly as me to tie such pathetic bows, but what does it matter. I won't be leaving the house today anyway.
The boots go on after the legwarmers and are tucked under them. This is much easier than the other way around.

 

 To dress my hair, first I rebrush it, define the part, and make a ponytail. I then braid the ponytail.
I keep a darning needle on my vanity for hair taping. There are tutorials for this on Youtube, but essentially what I do is sew my braid to my head. You will want to use two mirrors for this so you can see what you're doing.

 (It looks very elegant at all stages of the process)
That huge bow on the back is not actually part of the ribbon. It is a pretied hair accessory I use to hide the loose ends of the ribbon.
It's that lovely? I did that with a mirror in about five minutes.
Except not really. This morning, I tried to do this three times, failed worse each time, then asked my mother to help. Which is why it looks like it was done by someone who could see what they were doing. Usually I can do it myself, but there were technical difficulties.
Technically, it was difficult.

 

 Almost done! But, as we all know, you aren't fully dressed without loading your pockets with what you'll need over the course of the day.
A handkercheif, a tube of superglue, because whenever anything breaks someone asks if I have any superglue on me. And of course, my trusty pocketknife. I also carry a laser pointer these days, because it's Perpugilliam's favorite toy. We can't let the kitten get pudgy.
Sometimes I carry a pocketwatch as well.

 The final pieces are my fingerless "typing" gloves and a striped cardigan, to match the legwarmers. And add even more buttons to this outfit.

Well! There you have it! A deconstruction of what I am likely to be wearing from October to March.


And now, you may be wondering why I dress like this. I live in an eighteen-ninties New England farmhouse, and my room is heated by a ten inch grate leading to a room with a fireplace in it. That fireplace has not been lit for several years, as a pile of books has fallen into it.