All Out

This was an outfit I wore last week, and since it happened to by my birthday that day, I figured that a harness, some wild leggings, and a pair of giant platform shoes was really not too much at all. If you can't go all out on your birthday, when can you?

As it turned out, the adorable open-front black cardigan, a birthday present from my aunt, had just arrived the day before and this ended up being the perfect outfit to pair it with. The cardigan is soft and lightweight, but added just enough warmth for the chilly day. It also brought some more black into the top half of the outfit, balancing out those big bulky shoes. The leggings are a pair I picked up a couple weeks ago; this is their first wearing and I absolutely love 'em.

Mark made this harness for me just before we left for Burning Man, and it got quite a bit of use on the playa. This is the Ryder style done in a gunmetal gray metallic leather, and it has proven to be quite a versatile piece, as well as being really comfortable. I have to say though, that the leather is a bear to work with; since it's not dyed all the way through, the edges must be blackened by hand once the pieces are all cut out. I did that part of the process myself, and it took ages to finish. These specialty leathers can be difficult to find, especially at prices that aren't prohibitively expensive, but I'll be making it my quest to find a suitable alternative to this leather, because I'd like to introduce more items to the shop in a similar finish.

After I got home from work I changed up the outfit a little, since Mark and I were going out to dinner with Laura and I needed a pair of shoes that's more suited to walking. So I swapped the black boots for my comfy brown ones and adjusted the rest of the outfit accordingly, trading the gray harness for my brown one and the tie-dye leggings for solid gray.

Dress: Red Dress Shoppe
Cardigan: Express (thanks auntie!)
Harnesses: Audra Jean
Black Boots: Jeffrey Campbell
Brown Boots: Bata
Tie dye leggings: local import shop P-kok
Gray tights: MP, via Sock Dreams