Jenny January - Day 7 (last day): Ice Blue Harlequin Print Dress

For the last day of Miss Amy May's Jenny January, I chose to wear the last Jenny dress I bought from Pinup Girl Clothing: the ice blue harlequin print! I am a harlequin diamond nut. I love this motif, so much, and so, outside of the Halloween harlequin (which I wasn't fond of the orange in it) and the purple harlequin print (which I didn't like the green and purple combo that doesn't look good on my skin tone), I have at last one item in every colorway. This dress... I didn't think I was going to be able to afford it, but my Tommy Lee surprised me with it as a Christmas present, and I am so glad that he did because it is really versatile, and the fit is amazing, in my opinion.

And that does it for another year of Jenny January posts. I am ready for a wiggle skirt tomorrow, though, and I'll be filming another episode of the Mid-Century Kitchen with Molly Starlite. What should I cook? I'm thinking potato salad.

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Jenny January - Day 6: Cherry Border Print Dress

My second favorite Jenny dress that I own is this cherry border print dress that I wore for Miss Amy May's Jenny January Day 6. I ADORE this print because it is unusual compared to traditional all-over cherry prints... plus, this one is a dress that is actually three sizes too big for me that I tailored to fit me. That means that the waistline of the dress makes it all the way to my navel and my natural waist, accommodating my freakishly long waist better than any other dress I own.

I wore this dress to walk in the Women's March on Washington Sister March in Sandpoint, Idaho this morning/afternoon. It was a near-blizzard out there today, and, while the weather ruined my wet set, it couldn't stop our spirit and determination and solidarity... and my dress kept me warm while we were out there for about 2 and half hours with about 800 other like-minded souls.

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Jenny January - Day Five: Black/Teal Harlequin Jenny Dress!

This is, bar none, my favorite Jenny dress, mostly because of the print and color scheme. I wore this dress for Day Five of Miss Amy May's Jenny January, where you wear a different Jenny dress or skirt every day for seven days. This was the first Jenny dress I bought from Pinup Girl Clothing and the start of a bit of an obsession: I love the cut and style of this dress as well as the whole midcentury harlequin motif. So much heart-eyes.







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Jenny January, Day 4: Jenny Skirt in Black!

A plain black swing skirt is a must-have staple for any pinup wardrobe. It's simple, elegant, and pairs with virtually any top or blouse by virtue of its neutrality. The black Jenny skirt from Pinup Girl Clothing that I chose to wear for Day Four of Miss Amy May's Jenny January is a high quality choice for putting such a work horse in your closet. I found mine to be rather long when I got it - and I am pretty tall at just a hair under six feet - so I have hemmed mine 2 inches. While you'll want to keep a lint roller on hand - as you would with any black or dark colored apparel - the black Jenny skirt is such a versatile piece that I can't see how anyone wouldn't recommend it. For my Day Four outfit, I paired my black Jenny skirt with the Carole top in Villain's print (with art by Stephanie Buscema) and the perfect pinup shrug in black, all from PUG.

Like what you see here? Want to help me make more awesome stuff? Support me on Patreon.com and get instant rewards! You could get a custom song, free copies of my books, free jewelry, a say in my projects, and so much more! Thank you for your patronage!

Jenny January - Day 3: White Harlequin Jenny!

Day three of Miss Amy May's Jenny January, and I chose to wear the Jenny dress in white harlequin. I love the harlequin diamond motif; it's so retro and 1950s kitsch... it instantly calls to mind that time period, and this print adds to that with its color scheme on a white background. The moment I saw it, I thought of this Sears ad:

And it doesn't get any more retro, 1950s than that!

Jenny January Day Two: Pink Mary Blair Parasols!

Day Two of Miss Amy May's Jenny January is the first Pinup Girl Clothing skirt I ever stalked on their "coming soon" page: the Mary Blair pink parasols print Jenny skirt! Literally, as soon as I saw this skirt, I knew I had to have it. I literally watched the "coming soon" page for months, waiting for it to be released. The moment I got the "your products are in stock" email, I rushed to the site and bought the skirt - as well as the cardigan I am wearing in the picture, which matches perfectly, BTW - ten minutes from receiving the in-stock email!

This is the first-run version, so it doesn't have pockets, but I love it so much. I wear this skirt all the time, even though the pink is a tough color to match. It really looks best with a white top and this pink cardigan, which, upon looking for it to link it for you all, appears to have been discontinued. :(

In this picture, I have accessorized my outfit with chrome Mary Janes from Zappos, vintage starburst jewelry, and a two-tone pink pinup hair flower from my Valentine's Day collection.

Jenny January - Day One: Red Harlequin

Jenny January is an event started by Miss Amy May in which pinup ladies dress in a different Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress or skirt every day for a week. It's a lot of fun, and you sometimes get to match outfits with other pinup ladies. It's a huge event on Instagram, and last year, I collaborated with over a dozen pinup ladies to match outfits for all seven days.

This year, I have been too busy to schedule any collaborations on purpose, but I am still participating. For Day One of Jenny January, I am wearing one of my favorite Jenny dresses: the chocolate harlequin Jenny dress! I love this dress because the color scheme looks great with my coloring, and it's a bigger size that I tailored to fit me, so the bodice fits all the way to my bellybutton on my freakishly long waist. It's eye-catching and a perfect precursor to Valentine's Day next month.

Looking Forward...

February. Always a stressful month. Winter's winding down, but the days are still short and the snow is murky and dingy and there's virtually nothing to look forward to. It's easy to get down in the dumps, and I have been lately, but a bright spot that just appeared, for me, anyway, is that Pinup Girl Clothing is coming out with some awesome new stuff and re-issuing some discontinued items that I am really looking forward to!

Coming back (that they've announced so far that I am REALLY looking forward to) is the Sky Blue Jenny dress, the baby blue Vamp top, the Havana Nights dress in red, the solid color Harley dresses (yellow, olive, and blue), and, one of my unicorns, the Jenny skirt in black harlequin print.

Among the new stuff coming soon that I really, really, really am looking forward to is the new peasant tops in bright blue, mint, dark green, and olive, and...

A photo posted by Pinup Girl Clothing (@pinupgirlclothing) on Feb 12, 2016 at 9:11am PST

Jenny dresses in pale pink and, hopefully, pale yellow (they've not announced yellow, though... green would be cool, too...)!

I am also glad that they're restocking the peasant top in pale pink, and I hope that they get more of the peasant top in pale yellow, too... I have this dream outfit of the Little Jun jacket and skirt set in turquoise layered over a peasant top in yellow...

They're also going to have new Mary Blair prints in scarves, skirts, and dresses, as well as new prints for the Harley dresses and solid color Jenny skirts... I'm going to have to get a second job... LOL!

A photo posted by Pinup Girl Clothing (@pinupgirlclothing) on Feb 11, 2016 at 11:50am PST

Jenny January Round Up

Many of those who enjoy pinup life have heard of Jenny January, started by Miss Amy May, wherein those who own Pinup Girl Clothing's Jenny skirts and dresses wear exclusively that style of skirts and dresses for their OOTD (outfit of the day) posts on Instagram (and sometimes, they're posted elsewhere). This year, I finally had enough Jenny skirts/dresses to participate, and, not only that, I got a bunch of gals from the #ImAPUGDuh crew to join in, twinning, tripletting, quadrupletting (and more)... basically, setting up days where we all agreed to photograph ourselves wearing the same Jenny skirt or dress on the same day.

Monday was the Mary Blair Commuters print Jenny:

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 18, 2016 at 2:58pm PST

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 19, 2016 at 12:25am PST

Tuesday was the black and teal harlequin Jenny:

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 19, 2016 at 1:25pm PST

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 19, 2016 at 7:23pm PST

Wednesday was the cherry border print Jenny:

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 20, 2016 at 6:11pm PST

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 20, 2016 at 8:28pm PST

Thursday was the Mary Blair Parasols print Jenny:

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 21, 2016 at 5:55pm PST

Friday was the orange border print Jenny:

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 22, 2016 at 2:09pm PST

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 22, 2016 at 5:25pm PST

Saturday was the red and chocolate harlequin Jenny:

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 23, 2016 at 4:44pm PST

And, finally, Sunday was the castles print Jenny:

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 24, 2016 at 4:06pm PST

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 24, 2016 at 4:22pm PST

I had a blast! It was the first time I had gotten to participate in an event like this with some like-minded women, and I am so glad that I got to! It's quite a community that Pinup Girl Clothing has fostered with their clothing!

But, honestly: after a week of nothing but swing dresses, I am ready for wiggle:

A photo posted by ✨Molly Starlite✨ (@sixstringlass) on Jan 25, 2016 at 5:37pm PST

We All Have Our Favorites...

As much as I have grown - fashion-wise - since embracing the pinup lifestyle, I am still drawn - as I think we all are, at times - to little black dresses. My 15-year-old self would be shocked - nay, stunned - to look into the closet of her future self and see pinks, yellows, greens, and blues; I wasn't goth, but my wardrobe as a teenager consisted primarily of black and, occasionally, red. Today, I am wearing one of my favorite dresses: the Pinup Girl Clothing Jenny dress in cherry border print. I really love this dress. The cut and color are so flattering; I feel like a princess every time I wear it.

I have a stupid-long torso. The waistline on most dresses hits me at least 4 to 5 inches above my bellybutton and my natural waist, so I have started buying clothes that are too big for me and then taking them in to fit my waist and rib cage circumference... and then they have the length in the waistband to hit me at my natural waist.

Such is the case with my cherries Jenny. I bought it as a 4X and then took it in 4.5 inches on each side and removed the boning so that it would lay flat under my bust, define my bustline, and have the extra three inches of length in the waist to reach my natural waistline. I have four other Jenny dresses - the orange border, and three of the four harlequin prints - and this cherry border fits the best of all of them. The red harlequin fits second best, mostly because it is a 3X I took in and de-boned it, as well. The others are all 2X, and are still a little big in the waist and sit a little too high.

Now, you might be asking how I can edit and modify dresses that cost what these do, and the answer is that I buy them used, or on clearance... at least the ones I have altered, anyway. The ones that I have paid full price for, new, from the pinupgirlclothing.com web site... I haven't altered those because the miser in me won't let me; guess I don't really trust my own sewing skills enough yet.

Taking these dresses in is actually fairly simple, even for the novice seamstress, like me. I think I may have used my sewing machine fewer than 25 times the whole time I've had it - six years or so. So, yeah, I don't sew much, but I still felt confident enough to tackle this project. All I did was put the dress on inside out and then put a pin at the point that would be narrowest and another pin at the top of the bust under the armpit where it would need to be to be fitted. Then, I took the dress off, and, still inside out, sewed a half moon shaped stitch from the waistline, in to the narrowest point, and then back out to the second pin in the underarm. Repeat for the other side, and you're done. Yes, there is a more complicated way of doing it that involves taking the lining apart and doing it the "right way," the way that a pro would do it. I am not a professional. I just left the extra fabric and ironed in flat toward the back of dress. I don't even notice it when it's on and nobody can see it.

The only issue that I have noticed with this method is that there ends up being a small "bunch" of fabric in the skirt area right below the stitch. No one has ever pointed it out to me, so I guess it's not noticeable except to me.

If you're even the slightest bit scared of doing this, I wouldn't recommend doing it. The thing I kept reminding myself was that I could undo it and get a pro to do it for me if it got too complicated or I got too frustrated. In the end, it was just a 15-minute procedure and I am thrilled with the results.

OTHER NEWS: I signed up for ispy. I have never been too big into makeup and will just use whatever I come across that I like... the only exception to this being in the case of foundation because my skin is pretty sensitive and will break out if I don't use Cover Girl foundation and powders. But beyond that, I am not too picky and I even like a lot of the Dollar Store brands like Jordana and Wet'n'Wild and e.l.f as well - if not better than - more expensive brands and products. (The main example of this is Wet'n'Wild's glitter lip gloss which is the bomb. Serious sparkle, not heavy, blendable to lipsticks... it's perfect and freaking hard to find.) But those are posts for another day.