Black Pencil Skirt, mid length, kick pleated back, black & white lining.
Cashmere poly blend, Tahari, Nordstrom's Rack $75.
The infamous black pencil skirt.
I know, it's wrinkled in the picture, but trust me, this skirt is great. I am a huge advocate of the black pencil skirt. In fact, I would say it is almost more important to a wardrobe than the Little Black Dress. If you are of the pear shape and self conscious about a pencil, then by all means go for an A-line instead (I have one of those too, future blog in the works).
World Fantasy San Jose, Soulless Launch Party, 2009.
So perhaps this skirt is a little tight. But my goodness I love it. And honestly, I'm in my 30's I've made peace with the dreaded girl tum. Frankly, I'm a chick and I'm curvy and I have a tum because I'm not an airbrushed model. Besides, I don't want to be one of those crazy razor sharp Hollywood women who do 800 sit-ups a day and look like they not only live on endives but might actually turn into an endive at any moment.
Gail & Marilyn, real women with girl tums. A model who is not.
So while I can still zip up the darn thing, I'm going to wear it. For World Fantasy in 2009 I paired it with a pink blouse (which I no longer own) to match the cover of Soulless, and some Irregular Choice shoes.
Jet tassel necklace from Dark Garden at Dickens Fair, $30; matched earrings $10 PantheaCon dealers room; black simulated leather opera gloves, inherited from Grandma; Irregular Choice shoes, Haight Street San Francisco, gift.
Irregular Choice makes the most wonderful looking shoes on the planet . . . and possibly the most painful. Mine are wedges (unlike the ones above) and I love them, but I can't wear them for more than a few hours even with inserts. Sadness.
However, Fashionable Reader, this is meant to be a WorldCon retrospective and so here I am, in the black pencil skirt at WorldCon 2008 . . .
Gail and Lawrence Person in the Con Suite.
This time I wore it with a gray silk sailor blouse and gray spectator pumps.
Vintage gray blouse, possibly 1940s Thrifted $15, Via Spiga spectators, gift
I have several other black pencil skirts but this one sits apart because of the length. Normally, I do not go for a mid length skirt, in this case several inches below the knee. Nor do I recommend it for any but the very tall. For that reason I always wear this skirt with the highest heals possible.
Vintage wise, this length is best suited to a 1940's Dior look. That said, the black pencil is a staple that always seems to show up on the fall/winter runways and this year was no exception. I even spotted a few in this, a more vintage, length.
Fall 2011 runway; Sarah Jessica Parker in Marc Jacobs; Christina Ricci
More on the black skirt in future, I have several different versions and I intend to go into the relative merits of each.
Oh my, I almost forgot!
The winner of the red necklaces set, assorted swag, and a signed copy of Heartless is . . .
dorkavecunespork
Please contact me via my website's Calling Card with your address and dedication preferences or if you would prefer Heartless just signed.
For future references my contests are always open world wide unless otherwise noted.
