Hello all! I hope that you all had a happy healthy Thanksgiving holiday!
To celebrate the holidays, I am offering my new book, “In Plain Sight” at a special price- $5.00 off the usual retail price of $24.95, so now available at $19.95!
In addition, these copies will be personally signed by me and addressed to the person of your choice! Lastly, I will throw in a ducky and some stickers to complete your gift package!
Please hurry, because I have a limited number of copies at this price that will be available in time for holiday gift-giving.
Just email me at inplainsight.style@gmail.com to get yours today!
When the book, “In Plain Sight” was published, I sent copies to various YouTubers and bloggers I admire. I was thrilled to see that Ordinary Adventures unboxed the book and really like it!
Please enjoy the whole video, but In Plain Sight content starts at 23:30.
Ordinary Adventures is a great YouTube channel to follow for fun nerdy content. I have been enjoying their videos for a year or so, and I highly recommend. They have positive and celebratory videos for tons of different fandoms. Click here to go directly to their channel.
So, you found the perfect dress or the perfect outfit. Congrats! However, now you need to know how to style it.
What is styling exactly? Dictionary.com defines it as, “to design or arrange in accordance with a given or new style.” Accessorizing the outfit is a start, but there is also your make-up to consider as well as jewelry.
Jewelry is technically an accessory, but it is important enough to be listed seperately in this case.
So, how do you get started styling an outfit? Here are some steps to consider while you are styling. There are no hard set rules by any means, but this is a handy guide to help get you started. You’ll be styling your own outfits in no time at all!
Even if you aren’t using this guide to style a cosplay or bound, the tips still apply.
Consider the style of the outfit.
Is your outfit a vintage style or 80’s inspired? Maybe it is a more formal style or a business suit. If it is a 50’s style dress, then you’ll want to pair it with more vintage-style accessories. A business suit would be paired with more subdued and professional accessories.
Consider the venue and/or event for the outfit.
Are you wearing this 50’s style dress to work or to a con? Are you wearing this dress to Disneyland for Dapper Day? How about to a wedding? I’ve worn the same dress to all of the above, but it was styled differently for each event. What’s great for Disneyland is not appropriate for work and so on.
Consider the functionality needed from your accessories.
While you are considering your venue or event, think about what kind of functionality you need. Are you going to a con? You’ll need the most comfortable shoes you can get that also compliment the outfit. Disneyland? What is the temperature going to be that day? If your day out is in August, then you might want to leave the petticoat at home (trust me on this one). Do you have a parasol? If yes, then you can leave your hat at home if you want. What kind of bag should you carry? Take all this into consideration when putting the pieces together.
Balance in all the things.
Your base outfit is what you work from here. A big fit and flare dress should really have smaller, more tailored accessories to create a balance. If you have a hat, then make it smaller with the big dress. Same with the bag. Very colorful dress or outfit? Then more subdued make-up.
Lastly, What story do you want your outfit to tell?
The last piece when you are styling an outfit is what do you want people to see? I know your outfit is the focal point, but what do you want people to take away from it? If you have a bound, this is kind of done for you. If you are bounding Captain America for example, then the star on the chest or the red and white stripes on the bodice tell people that you are bounding Cap. If you have a dress that is a great color, then you want to keep things simple and just draw the eyes to the pretty color. Don’t overthink it.
I hope that these tips help you. In our next post, I will post some photos of outfits with explanations why I styled them the way I did, and how I would, and do, style them differently in different situations.
InPlainSight.style’s latest group cosplay was for Fall Dapper Day at Disneyland. We went as Robin Hood and Little John.
In this post, we’ll break-down Benji’s Robin Hood dapper cosplay using the Team Build Checklist.
Here is a good reference photo to build upon.
Photo: Walt Disney Company
This photo has Robin wearing a yellow hat, however, in appearances in the parks and for most of the film, he is wearing a green hat. So, we went with a green hat.
The Leader and The Brick
Robin’s hat serves as both the Leader and the Brick because his ears are a part of that. His hat was important to show the character as Robin Hood, but also a dapper version of Robin.
We chose a newsboy cap from Amazon. Then we purchased a set of fox ears and tail from Spirit Halloween. I cut the ears off of the headband, cut holes in the hat and worked the ears through the holes. Then I secured the ears with hot glue.
The Exotic needs to be the outfit itself. What makes him Robin Hood and not just a fox wearing clothes. Now for the tunic. A tunic is not dapper, so we went with a button down and tie. Because Robin is an outlaw, we decided with a business tie, but left undone. The shirt and tie and both from Amazon.
The pants we went with brown as a substitute for the fox fur legs.
The Blaster
We opted to not do fox make-up because it is Dapper Day and not a full-on cosplay. WE did need one more item to finish the look. Because Robin is busy robbing, he needed a money bag to keep his treasure in. As luck would have it, I found a purse literally shaped like a money bag on Amazon.
Next up is my Little John look. Until then, happy shopping!
The kiddo and I recently hosted our very first (first of many, I hope) couture meet-up at The Federal in North Hollywood.
We had a great time! I was recently inspired by the Lolita tea houses all over the world where Lolitas can meet up with each other in their favorite looks and hang out, inspire each other, take fun pictures, etc.
I wanted to widen the scope of the invite to include all kinds of geekery, so we put in the invite that there were no dress-code rules; wear whatever you want. As you can see, we had some great looks sported by some awesome ladies:
I chose to wear my new Black Widow dapper look.
Let’s break it down with the Team Build Checklist. Click on the link to print your own.
When you’re putting together an everyday cosplay or bound, one of the best and easiest-to-use tools in your easy reach is jewelry.
Jewelry falls under “The Exotic” category on your team build checklist. I’ve attached a team build here for you to print and use.
If you have a dress that is a color inspired by a character, then the jewelry you choose can be the perfect touch to complete your bound.
Below are a couple of examples of outfits that I wear on the regular that have a great jewelry component. I’ve also included shopping links for all the pieces.
My first outfit is my Avengers Engame everyday cosplay. I have a great Avengers dress that I like to wear along with this great bomber jacket, both from Torrid. Once you pair the outfit with a great Captain Marvel necklace and infinity gauntlet bracelet (from Hot Topic and Amazon, respectively), then you have a great complete look! Click on the links to shop.
My next look are two necklaces that you can use in a screen accurate cosplay, but bring them into an everyday outfit to turn it into a great Marvel bound.
Next up is my Han Solo bound. I paired a Han Solo wrap skirt with a vest to make a great gender-bend Han Solo bound, but a great finishing touch is this Millenium Falcon necklace from Amazon.
Recently Her Universe released a whole line of clothing for “Avengers Endgame” at Torrid and torrid.com.
I was lucky enough to nab two of my favorites, this dress…
This dress fits perfectly, and I absolutely love the print on the skirt.
And this jacket…
This jacket is also perfection! The jacket is a bomber-style jacket, but windbreaker weight, which is perfect for LA. I want to wear it until I just can’t wear it anymore!!!
We had an amazing time at WonderCon, but easily the best part of the trip was our panel, “In Plain Sight”, on Sunday afternoon.
We had an absolutely amazing time discussing how to integrate geeky and nerdy fashions into your daily wardrobe. We filled up the room and handed out all the ducks too!
We were all in agreement that by bringing your fandoms into your daily wardrobe is a great way to bring out your inner superhero on a daily basis.
Happy shopping!
