Dramatis Personæ

I have a new goal in life. It's not succeeding professionally or learning a new language or marrying and having children - it's swanning around dramatically in veiled hats.

There is just something about wearing a veil that makes everything you do seem more exciting and glamorous. I'm now firmly convinced that they also make you at least 30% more attractive, the same way that sunglasses do. 

I ordered this hat from the talented Tanith Rowan through her Etsy shop, and I had such a hard time choosing it. She's got so many lovely things, including a pink velvet turban and a bat wing-inspired hat that I was absolutely drooling over. What I loved about this one was that it managed to be both subtle and bold - small and low profile, but with a veil (always fun) and rendered in vivid red. 

The United States Postal Service gave me some palpitations about whether it was going to arrive - I was tracking it, and it just stopped moving for about 2 weeks - but when it did I was happy to see that it was as lovely in person as the photos had led me to believe.

This outfit felt like a good match, tonally speaking. It sounds straightforward enough - a white blouse under a black dress - but in practice the body-con silhouette and trumpet sleeves are pretty attention getting. It's kind of similar to a few outfits that I've photographed in recent months, but there's this Victorian/Elizabethan thing that I've really fallen in love with and I'm just having fun exploring different variations on it. 

I must admit, though, that as soon as I got home I took it off and put on pants and a sweater. This is not the shirt to wear if you want to do things, aside from gazing dramatically off into the distance. 

Hat: Tanith Rowan
Dress: Asos
Blouse: H&M
Boots: Modcloth
Lipstick: MAC Retro Matte in Feels So Grand