Inspired Outfits: Bordertown

The Bordertown series was my first exposure to urban fantasy, and oh what an exposure! 1980s punk rock, traditional fairy lore, a crazy juxtaposition and jumble of elves, drugs, and rock and roll. It's a little old-world, a little youth culture. A little hard-edged, a little sentimental. It's everything I love in books, all wrapped up into one delightful series (and it's a shared world, so there are many authors to discover).

Oh, and if you haven't gathered this already, if you haven't read the books, you should.

Rather importantly, the Bordertown books are both about and not about the aesthetic. It's punk rock and folklore jammed together, but that's as much the culture of the stories as the fashion within them. As such, they're terribly inspiring books in terms of fashion.

This outfit is my attempt to recreate the vibe that I got from the very first few pages I turned, my introduction to Bordertown. The two worlds, rammed together in a rough-and-tumble swirl of awesomeness, brought to mind high contrast. Black and white, engineered and hard metal with soft and natural leather or feathers. The cheeky (and I do mean that pun) fairy is just the sort of thing I'd expect to see in Bordertown, aware of the history but... rather irreverent... in terms of that awareness.

This is, then, what I'd wear fresh off the Nevernever, taking my first steps into Bordertown.

Furthermore, I've got to give credit to my favorite Bordertown character, Screaming Lord Neville. The proprietor of Cafe Cubana, "your host(ess), Screaming Lord Neville, has a collection of shoes and gowns that would be the envy of any screen goddess." S/he is simply fantastic, so I designed this outfit for him/her:

Screaming Lord Neville is originally from "Hot Water" by Ellen Kushner in 'The Essential Bordertown.' A loud, brash, sparkling drag queen tottering by on platform heels in a sequined dress. And, better yet, this is one character who knows his/her tea. I wanted to get drag queen glitz and the peacocky performance I saw in this character. Also, teapot. Anyone who divides tea into "leaded" and "unleaded" varieties is fine by me.

This isn't an outfit I'd necessarily wear, but I wanted it to be fabulous as all get out as a tribute. I hope I succeeded.
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EDIT 5-7-2012

Ohmygod. Ellen Kushner (not to mention Screaming Lord Neville) likes the second outfit! And the first, but, seriously, look at these:

Her comment on the original posting on Polyvore

She posted it to Tumblr. I can't even...

I can't even... I just... <squee> Be still, my nerdy heart. I've just about died and gone to nerdvana.