Tuesday, October 25, 2016

One Skirt, Three Ways: Pumpkin Border-Print Jenny Skirt

2016 is officially the year that I fell headlong down the Halloween-print rabbit hole. Over the past few weeks, I've let my inner Jack Skellington freak flag fly, and it's been awesome. Sparkly pumpkin brooches? Check. Spiderweb-print everything? Yes please! Halloween Harlequin? I'll take the top and the skirt, please. But the petite pumpkin border-print Jenny skirt from Pinup Girl Clothing? This, my friends, is the One Novelty Print Skirt to Rule Them All.

pinup girl clothing pumpkin border-print skirt

Sadly, it's already sold out, though the Allison dress in this print is still available in most sizes, but I'm taking this to mean that most of the pinup-style world picked this little beauty up, so I figured it was the perfect candidate for the One Skirt, Three Ways treatment.

Outfit #1

if you've got it haunt it shirt target 

For its first outing, I decided to pair this skirt with another staple of my Instagram feed this Halloween: this gloriously punny Target top. (Sidebar: I made a special trip to Target just to pick this up, which of course meant that I left with three new shirts, a pair of tights, and a new cardigan. Such is the peril of setting foot inside Target.)


Since fall has finally decided to put in a brief appearance in Chicago, I layered one of my ancient long-sleeved tees under the sleeveless top. It was incredibly windy when I wore this outfit, so I wore my Jennifer petticoat from Malco Modes for an extra bit of insulation, corralled my hair into my go-to quiff-and-bun combination, and shot approximately twice as many skirt-up-over-my-head outtakes as usual. I finished the look off with my favorite red no-name flats and my new spiderweb earrings from Atomic Lucite, just in case anyone doubted my commitment to Halloween.

Outfit #2

jessica simpson mandalaye flats

It is a truth universally acknowledged (on this blog, at least) that stripes go with absolutely everything. I decided to test this theory with one of my impulse buys from my Halloween Target run. Verdict: even the most intricate novelty print works if you pick the right stripe. I think this skirt works better with an uneven stripe, like the one I'm wearing, rather than one with stripes of equal width. The effect of black stripes on a white background just strikes me as a better match for this border print.

When your hair falls below the waistband of your skirt, you 1) need to be careful not to get it caught in the zipper, and 2) desperately need a haircut.

I went for broke on the sparkly-accessory front, with orange Atomic Lucite earrings, an incredible pumpkin brooch from Nuclear Novelties, and an armful of bangles. To balance that out, I chose a somewhat more muted lipstick than usual, and black flats. This look is a fun way to style such a bold print for work, if, like me, you're lucky enough to work in a less-traditional office.

Outfit #3

pug olive lauren top pumpkin border skirt

For my final look, I went with an unorthodox choice: my olive-green Lauren top from Pinup Girl Clothing. One of my favorite ways to style a novelty-print skirt is to match my top to one of the accent colors in the skirt, rather than the colors that make up the bulk of the print. This skirt has a bit of olive in it, which I chose to view as a license to wear one of my favorite colors. Patterned tights, black ballet flats, my black Zooey petticoat, and a wide black belt finished off the look.

I really love how the Lauren top fits, so it was a natural choice now that the weather is cool enough for sleeves and collars. If I were wearing this outfit to work, I'd add a cami or a bandeau under the top, but for the weekend, I like it without.


After putting this post together, I'm even more in love with this skirt than I was when it first arrived. For such a busy print, it's surprisingly easy to wear with a variety of different patterns and colors. I'm especially looking forward to wearing it with my orange peasant top, as well as bright yellow and black-and-white polka dots.

Which outfit do you like best, and how would you wear this skirt?

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6 comments:

  1. You know, the Lauren top may be my favorite with this skirt! The green works so well with the green detail in the skirt! But you can never go wrong with stripes - I love pairing stripes and polka dots with patterns. They count as neutrals, right??

    Also, if the windy day you photographed on was this past Sunday, OMG I tried to shoot in it as well and it was HILARIOUS! It's my most recent post going live today that may have involved confetti so yes, it was quite amusing to shoot in the wind... ;)

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    1. Thank you! I couldn't resist the temptation to add green to a fiery skirt. I need some new polka-dot tops -- all of my old ones are threadbare from loving them too much. But yes: stripes, polka dots, and leopard print are all neutrals in my book!

      The windy day was Saturday here -- I guess that wind must've blown itself east overnight! The confetti-gun pics in today's post on your blog absolutely made my night. Your reaction was especially amazing!

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  2. It's such a fabulous skirt, isn't it?? I love it best with that green Lauren top. I'm wearing my skirt again tomorrow, ha.
    And yes, such is a trip to Target, ha! You always leave with more than you went in for!

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    1. This skirt is better than I ever dreamed! I'll probably end up wearing it three times this week, because if you can't wear it the week before Halloween, when CAN you wear it? And Target must have some sort of magical mind-control power...

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  3. Love all these outfits! My favorite is with the black target ghost top. So fun! I just got to add this skirt to my collection earlier this week! Hope I will be able to wear it before Halloween hits. ;) They are really killing it with the Halloween prints and accessories this year! So glad to find another Halloween loving full skirted enthusiast! :D

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    1. That Target top makes me laugh every time I think of it! Can't wait to see how you style this skirt, too <3! I'm holiday-obsessed…just wait till Christmas season. But I'm just as excited for Halloween itself, since I have a costume that I'm wearing to work this year! Are you dressing up?

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