The great wig unveiling!

Outfit details

1940s black felt hat with red and light pink bands: eBay
Silver hop earrings: dollar store in Kelowna
Black turtleneck sweater: Thrifted (Salvation Army)
Vintage silver tone arrow rose brooch: eBay 1940s style grey a-line skirt: Thrifted (Value Village)
Red bangle bracelet: Forever 21
Black carved bangle bracelet: Ten Thousand Villages
Leopard cuff black velvet gloves: eBay
Red vintage purse: etsy seller I Love Vintage Stuff
Black opaque tights: (probably) Arden
Black 1940s style shoes: Thrifted (Salvation Army)
Lip colour: MAC Russian Red
Photography by Antonio Cangiano    
                 

                              ♥ ♥ ♥

In many respects, the title of this post assumes that you read last week's post here, in which I discussed the fact that, due to many years of ongoing hair loss, I've recently started wearing a wig for the first time in my life. If you didn't get a chance to check out that post, you may want to do so quickly, and then scurry back here, as it really goes into far greater detail on the subject that I'll be delving into in today's post.

The photos here were the first that we took of me in this wig after I received it, and stand as my favourite prior to when I trimmed the bangs. As mentioned in my recent intro-to-the-wig post, after three shoots, the last of which the length of the bags bugged me the most, I trimmed them a bit and am so, so glad that I did!

There wasn't anything overly wrong with them as they were, but I don't have a very large face over all compared to many other adult women, so the bangs sat pretty low down on my forehead before I cut them, nearly obscuring my eyebrows. If I was going for a Zooey Deschanel/Katy Perry/Olivia Wilde/Taylor Swift kind of look, this would have been perfect, but I'm not. As much a pre-styled wig will permit, I'm trying to keep my hair looking as vintage appropriate as I can, so I'd much rather my bangs channelled someone like, say, Bettie Page, and that's who I kept squarely in mind as I (super carefully - wig hair, after all, doesn't grow back if you cut too much off!) trimmed my wig bangs a few days ago.

Autumn lingered on, rather delightfully, well into November here in Penticton. Even after the leaves had lost their golden luster and the hours of daylight dwindled, the temperatures were kind enough to remain above freezing. In early December though, as is so often the case, all that changed and winter really and properly showed up, brining scads of snow in tow with it as it did.

Naturally, as many of us who regularly take outfit photos know, snow can make grabbing snaps outdoors a bit tricky sometimes, but unless you're dealing with gale force winds and/or blinding snow, it doesn't have to be a deal breaker entirely. On the damp afternoon when Tony and I popped down to a stretch of land beside the marina at Okanagan Lake to take these photos, both the wind and the snow were howling, but amidst the flakes, we were able to get in quite a few photos (albeit quick ones!), many of which we were really happy with once they were uploaded.

Turtlenecks are an interesting garment to me. I've always enjoyed wearing them, appreciate their warmth, and doubt I've ever gone a whole winter without sporting one, but I'm also the first to admit, that they aren't always the most flattering item of clothing on many people. They tend to swallow up your neck, give you the an additional chin or two, and can also snag on longer length earrings. Nevertheless, they're a winter wardrobe must for most folks, myself included, so I figured it was high time I busted out my trusty black one and sported a turtleneck on camera.

I suppose I'm resisting winter's chill in a way, because, so far, I've been dressing a touch more like it was still October then December or (now) January. I love winter, I truly do, but as I discussed in this post last fall, my warm weather clothes far outnumber my cold weather ones at the moment, so I've not got as many snow appropriate garments to turn to as I do ones to, for example, wear to a picnic in June.

To partner with this black turtleneck, I opted for notes of silver, grey, and red. I've always loved this colour combo, and find I reach for it most often during the coldest months of the year. Long after the last Christmas decoration comes down, there's just something about red that makes it seem so very well suited to winter, if you ask me. Perhaps it calls to mind thoughts of flames dancing in a fireplace on a bitterly cold eve, or of rose hips poking out of the snow in the garden, and of course, there's always the abundance of crimson that Valentine's Day entails come February. Whatever the case, I love love to enliven winter's palette with red, and opted to do so with this outfit in the form of the purse, one of the bangles, and as an accent colour on my vintage hat (on top of my usual vibrant red lipstick, that is).

Though, admittedly, it can be a wee bit bone-chilling indeed, I actually love shooting outfit photos in the snow. The cool palette of icy whites, greys, bleached browns, and delicate, almost melancholic blues can make for a fantastic backdrop against which to highlight the true colours of your ensemble. They can also be very flattering to one's skin tone. If you've been on the fence about taking outfit photos in the snow, I highly recommend it to one and all - just make sure you wear sturdy footwear with good tread/grip on the soles, as you don't want to risk injuring yourself in the name of fashion by slipping on the ice or snow.

I was thoroughly impressed with how well this wig stayed put that day (just as it's continued to do each time I've worn it since). We got hit with a few mighty big blasts of powerful wind, and it really didn't budge an inch (I should note, I'm not wearing any wig glue or tape underneath, the wig is merely resting on my scalp). That hat wasn't holding it down either, if you were thinking as much, it was just gingerly resting on top, and would have been far more likely to have blown off than than the wig itself, I think (luckily neither happened).

Suddenly wearing a wig fulltime is a change for sure, but not an unpleasant one at all, and - especially once I trimmed the bags - I'm continuing to be very happy with this cute, inexpensive topper. I sincerely appreciate all of the thoughtful, caring, supportive comments that I received on my post about the wig last week, they really meant a lot to me as I adjust to life sans natural hair.

This is a fun, exciting journey and development to my personal style, and one which I'm eager to share with all of you throughout the brand new year that lies ahead of us - and beyond.