Inspiration: The Night Circus

My copy of The Night Circus

UK/Australian edition of The Night Circus

The Night Circus is written by Erin Morgenstern. It was a book I happened to pick up in the beginning of my travels in the US back in Christmas 2011 and into the new year for 2012. It's a phantasmagorical novel featuring a travelling circus that only opens at night. Two magicians who had been groomed to be opponents in a "competition" happen to fall in love. Most of the cover is black and white because the circus in the book is completely monochrome, except for the rêveurs (the circus fans) who wear items of red so others can identify them. 

I thought this novel was cleverly written and the descriptions of the circus were so intricate, I felt like I was almost there. There are a couple of allusions to Shakespeare's works - particularly Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. Some of themes in this book are heavy and philosophical, so it would be understood better by maturer readers. It is not written as a linear story, giving us various perspectives but these points-of-view join up together in the end. The book focuses more on the circus and its development rather than the two main characters and their love, so I didn't feel much chemistry between the two lovers. I'd love to go more in depth about the book but then it wouldn't be a fashion blog post.

In terms of fashion, I had always imagined the characters in steampunk garb. The novel certainly had a setting that was inspired by steampunk. However, I was particularly inspired by the black, white and red of the book covers and in the books. 

In fact, I had thought of the Kuranosuke Stripe Jumperskirt in Baby the Stars Shine Bright's Kuragehime (Princess Jellyfish) collaboration. To be accurate, it was in Alice & the Pirates (one of the lines of Baby the Stars Shine Bright that focuses on a pirate/punk/goth aesthetic). 

I thought I would coordinate an outfit with stripes and the black-white-red theme. I typically don't reach for stripes. I really liked the idea of wearing stripes back in high school but I never really went for it because I was most comfortable in plaid.

I recalled an outfit on Aria (from Pretty Little Liars) that changed my mind on sheer clothing:

The outfit was gorgeous and I loved the pleated skirt. Initially, I thought it was a dress and apparently, all of those items are from American Apparel. It was a puffy sheer blouse over a striped bodysuit and paired with the pleated skirt, it ended up looking like a dress. Definitely not something a high schooler would wear to school but it certainly gave me ideas.

Unfortunately, I don't have anything vertically striped. I gained my love for vertical stripes since the day I saw the K-ON first season ending where Yui (one of the main characters) with vertical striped stockings.

I would've loved to do a cosplay with this outfit... even more epic with a Les Paul.

I fooled around with Polyvore to come up with this:

There are supposed to be two outfits in mind here. I tried for a dressier one for a night out and a slightly more casual outfit for the day.