One Sweater, Three Ways: Voodoo Vixen Faux Fur Cardigan

This week's installment of 'One Piece, Three Ways' features one of my current favorite sweaters, and that's saying a lot. I'm slightly obsessed with green, faux fur collars, and wearing my sleeveless dresses all year round, and lo and behold, I found a garment that ticks all three of those boxes: the Voodoo Vixen Faux Fur Collar Cardigan in olive green.

That somewhat smug face means two things: 1) I really like this sweater, and 2) I'm trying really hard to take a good selfie.

This sweater seems quite well made, and runs slightly bigger than most of my other retro-repro wear. Ordinarily I'm a large in most brands (the exception being Lindy Bop), but I sized down to a medium after reading reviews on Amazon and it fits perfectly. This is no mean feat! Usually I avoid button-up tops, as they have an alarming tendency to gape and I honestly just don't have time for that nonsense, but the buttons of this sweater are close enough together to prevent any unintended flashing. The fur collar is detachable, and when detached, reveals another collar in the same knit as the rest of the sweater. (D'oh! Just realized that I should've taken it off for at least one of the outfits. But what's the point of buying a sweater with a faux-fur collar if you don't wear that collar in the depths of winter?) 

Moving on. This sweater is a great length to wear buttoned, as a top, over a skirt: it's not quite short enough to be considered cropped, but short enough to hit in a very flattering spot while still covering your midriff no matter how much you move around. Here's how I wore it:

I was totally psyched about all three of these looks!

Outfit #1

Apparently, photoshoots in the grocery store are now A Thing, much to my fiancé's chagrin.

This outfit is the one that immediately occurred to me when I first spotted the sweater online, and I was quite pleased that it lived up to my expectations. The skirt is actually the same one I wore in this post, in a very 1970s colorway that I adore. I chose to forgo a petticoat with this outfit and instead channel my late great-grandmother, who was the queen of wool midi skirts as well as everything else she did. With her in mind, I also chose store-brand everything (pasta, canned tomatoes, etc) on this shopping trip. But I digress.

Shades of brown and tan don't usually make me happy, but with this skirt, and paired with the olive sweater, I was practically dancing up and down the aisles of the market. To complete the outfit, I pinned on my sparkly green and white boomerang brooch, zipped up some totally incongruous combat boots, and wore one of my favorite pairs of earrings.

Chuffed as chips!

This triptych brought to you by Captain Try-hard and the Failure Gang.

Skirt: Amazon

Boots: Seychelles, from at least four years ago

Brooch: VivaLaLux, available in other colors

Outfit #2

Pink and olive is a fun, unexpected color combination, so I chose to build my second outfit around a statement necklace I picked up from Charming Charlie's last year. The olive on the necklace matched the cardigan, and the pink went quite nicely with my Hell Bunny circle skirt! Kismet.

This is the world's coolest shower curtain. It perfectly matched the very 1970s bathroom in my pre-cohabitation apartment. I'm never giving it up.

I liked how this outfit came out, though I'd like it better if I hadn't had to add thick opaque tights and knee-high boots to survive my outdoor photoshoot. I like the skirt and the sweater, but would likely prefer this outfit with nude stockings, pink shoes, a white belt. I think it would also look better if I wore the sweater at least partially closed with this skirt.

On the bright side, I was 100% more successful at twirling in this outfit! See?

I mean, it flared all the way out. I still haven't gotten the hang of twirling for the self-timer.

Skirt: Hell Bunny, available in tan or turquoise here

Shirt: Gap, from high school (!?!)

Necklace: Charming Charlie

Petticoat: Malco Modes Jennifer in Dusty Rose

Outfit #3

Apologies for the absolutely appalling indoor lighting. It was too cold to go out with bare legs.

For my third outfit, I went with the classics: a leopard-print dress and matching green shoes. I love the red petticoat with this dress, so I went with it here. Red and green are my OTP, people. I thought the addition of the purple belt would lessen the Christmassy impact of the look, but I could've just as easily left it out. To me, this is an early fall sort of look, though owing to my shocking disregard of propriety, I'd wear it in spring as well. I wore my new Erstwilder brooch here, and a very large pouf in my hair.

Dress: Pinup Girl Clothing Heidi in leopard print

Brooch: Erstwilder, available here

Shoes: B.A.I.T. Footwear

Belt: a no-name Amazon purchase. It's not the greatest.

Overall, this is a very versatile piece! I think it would also look cute buttoned over a black pencil skirt, worn with any shade of purple, or even (gasp!) with jeans for a casual look.

Which of these outfits is your favorite? How would you style this sweater?