Wicked Wednesday: April Showers Bring Steamy Flowers

Gosh, it's been ages since I did a Wicked Wednesday post, hasn't it?  Well, when I set out to write today's post, I knew I wanted to do a gothic homage to spring.  But how to showcase the darker side of such a bright, sunny season...?  Simple.  Flowers!  Flowers are one of the first things I think of when I think spring, and while they can certainly be bright and cheerful, they can also be dark and elegant--just think of roses.

I found a lot of great flowers floating about the Etsysphere, but I finally narrowed my choices down to jewelry items and, quite serendipitously, this collection came to be more "steampunk" than "goth."  But to heck with labels.  Let's just call it all beautiful!

Black Dahlia Earrings by smilingsoul2 

Antique Gold Rose Filigree Ring by edmdesigns

 

Silver and Sapphire Cameo Cuff with Flowers by earthfirestudios

So there are my picks.  Now let's see your steamy, springy favorites!

Wicked Wednesday: Steampunk

Good afternoon, my fine readers! It's time for another Wicked Wednesday. The new year is just around the bend, so I thought I'd devote today's installment to a style/subculture/aesthetic (call it what you will) that's rather new to me.

Steampunk!

This is my latest stylistic obsession, and I am oh-so-happy to see oh-so-much steamy awesomeness floating around the Etsy.  Here is a brief sampling of some of my favorite items...

I don't think it's come up here before (amazingly), but I have a big thing for corsets.  I love looking at them, I love wearing them, I even made one (granted, it was a waist cincher and not a full corset, but it totally counts).  So of course, any fashion that supports the wearing of corsets is going to be right up my alley.  Thank you, steampunk.

And thank you damselinthisdress for giving me so many beautiful corsets to lust after.  Seriously, everything in this shop is just gorgeous.  But we're talking steampunk here, so have a look at this baby:

So beautiful I'm having trouble thinking of anything intelligent to say.  I just love everything about it--the brown, the velvet, the buttons.  Oh, the buttons...  Did I mention I have a thing for buttons, too?

You know what else I love?  Hats.  Especially top hats.  So of course, if I got this corset, I'd have to buy a hat to go with it.  And it would have to be this hat:

I love those little leather bits.  The whole thing kind of reminds me of an old trunk.  And I love old trunks.  Of course, I also love everything else GypsyLadyHats has to offer.  I wouldn't mind having one of everything.

In fact, I spent a good deal of time browsing through their shop, trying to pick something to feature here.  Precisely how much time, I don't know.  Because I don't have one of these:

But boy I wish I did.  I've been wanting a pocket watch for a while now, and when I get around to buying one, I think it's going to have to be from finkgifts.  They have oodles of beautiful watches, including a wide selection of specifically steampunk watches.  And there's just something extra cool about a watch with all its gears hangin' out...

I could go on for ages, really.  There's so much cool stuff out there.  But I've got work to do, so I'm out, and now it's your turn.  Spotted some steamy goodness?  Leave a comment and let's see it!