Nerdy, Sparkly & Gothy! Plus Size & Budget Friendly! Shoppable Links in Posts!
Welcome to NerdySparkleGoth.com!
Our latest look is from Torrid.
I absolutely love this Black Panther dress. It can be dressed up or down, depending on where you are going to wear it. Buy your own here.
I paired this with a purple belt from Amazon and a purple petticoat, also from Amazon.
Shoes are from Biion Footwear. These saddle shoes can be worn without socks because they are a plastic material, like a Croc. So comfy!
Click on links to buy!
Happy Shopping!
xoxo
Kim
Our latest outfit of the day comes from Torrid.
This Spiderman dress is super versatile and comfortable.
I’ve worn this to theme parks and out to dinner and the movies. I absolutely love it!
I paired this with a red tee underneath to add sleeves. Tee is from Amazon.
I added a belt from Amazon and a petticoat, also from Amazon to give it a nice retro look.
Lastly, I put on my new saddle shoes from Biion Footwear. They feel like Crocs, but don’t look like them in the best possible way!
Click on links to shop!
xoxo
Kim
When you are prepping a new dapper look for a convention or just trying to accessorize a new dress, one key item you need to think about are shoes to complete your look.
Here are a few styles that will work with vintage-inspired fashions. All the choices are reasonably priced with shopping links below as well as photo examples.
This style is perfect for not only dresses, but pedal-pushers or capri pants as well. I’ve never been a big fan, because they have a tendency to give me a blister on my heels. However, I just found this flat from Skechers that stays put. The shoes also have more cushioning than the usual ballet flat. Buy your Skechers ballet flat here.
The OxfordThis shoe has a few different types as far as heel styles. There are flat, block heeled and traditional heeled options. I really love this block heeled version I got from Amazon. They have padding on the inside and the block heel gives me lots of support. Buy your Block-heeled Oxford here.
This shoe is not only great for 50’s looks, but for 80’s, goth, punk or rock looks as well. It is the ultimate casual shoe. Now, while it is not padded on the inside, you can get insoles that provide support if you need it. Chucks come in every color imaginable, and a high-top version as well. Buy your classic Chucks here.
Besides the Chuck Taylors, the other shoe that leaps to mind when someone is thinking about vintage 50s fashions is the saddle shoe. Named because the contrasting stripe resembles a saddle on the shoe. You can get saddle shoes in a variety of colors and even high heel versions, but the classic black and white flat-heeled version is the best way to go. Get your saddle shoes here.
Saddle shoes aren’t the best for long days on your feet, so I created a comfy version from a white sneaker. To create your own, will only take a few minutes of your time. Click here for the how-to instructions.
If you have any go-to styles for your dapper looks, please leave us a comment below. We love to hear from you!
Until next time…
Love, Kim and Benji
I’ve talked a lot about these DIY sneakers as of late. It is about time to show you how to make your own.
You will need:
First, the shoe. I have arthritis in my right knee, which makes walking a lot difficult. So, I found a great walking shoe from Skechers. Get your own with this link.
Now, the fabric paint. Click on this link to get your own. Lastly, the brush. Click here to get your paint brush.
Now, basically a saddle shoe is just what the name implies. It is a shoe that looks like it has a little saddle on it. You can get any color shoe and any color paint and just go bananas if you want to. There are no rules here. You can match them with your outfit. You can get a very inexpensive shoe if you they are for a one-off costume. You can find very inexpensive sneakers in a variety of colors just about anywhere. I chose my shoe because it was super good for walking all day.
So first thing, you need to chose how big or small you want the saddle to be. Choose a natural line on the shoe to mark it. Like in the pic below:
You can see where the stitching makes a guide line for me to paint.
Then you just put a coat of paint on the shoe, wait a day and do one more and you are all set!
And there is the finished product! They turned out great, and have saved my feet at a number of adventures since.
Happy painting!
Love, Kim and Benji
*Pro photos by Justin Davidson Photography
Previously, we spoke about how to style an outfit. Now, here are some examples and some suggestions how you could re-style them for different situations.
Loki dress by Her Universe for Disney Dress Shop. All paired pieces are from Amazon. I styled this look specifically for blog photos. So I have on all the accessories here. The headband, necklace, tesseract-inspired bag, petticoat and shoes. The bag, petticoat and shoes are mid-century styles, which match the dress’s style. I chose a blue lucite bag instead of a clear bag so it would look like the tesseract and fit the Loki theme of the dress. The Loki helmet necklace compliments the dress as well. How to change this look? For cons or theme parks, I would lose the petticoat and change the shoes to a saddle shoe or a pair of Chucks. For work, I’d lose the headband and change the bag.
My stealth Cap uniform dress is from Amazon. Stars and stripes are a DIY. I paired it with a brown belt, petticoat, foam shield and my DIY saddle shoes. The petticoat and saddle shoes are 50’s style, which matches the dress. For work, I’d change the shoes and add a bag.
This Universal monster dress is from Unique Vintage. I paired it with a monster bag and a pair of Chucks. For a more formal or business type of event, change the shoes and go with a smaller bag.
My Alan Grant bound that I wore at Universal Studios was a big hit at the theme park. Skirt by Retrolicious. Shirt and bandana from Amazon. There really isn’t a time period associated with this outfit, but the pieces I chose are for the character. To wear this skirt to work, lose the bandana and maybe a different shirt or sweater.
I hope that these tips helped you out. Let us know in the comments if you have any tips or tricks that you would like to share. We love to hear from you!
Until next time…
Love, Kim and Benji
We got to go to our second Dapper Day at Disneyland recently. We spent a day in the parks and a day at the Dapper Day Expo. For our parks day, I wore my new Captain America Stealth dress to both parks.
Dress is from Grace Karin on Amazon. Belt is from Amazon. Foam shield from Disneyland park. Shoes are my DIY saddle shoes, which you can get instructions to make your own here. For DIY for the star and bars for the dress, click here.
Cap himself said that he had never worn that uniform so well, so he liked it!
Spidey also loved it, and asked if he could “borrow” my shield.
Captain Marvel also loved the look and really liked the idea of comfy saddle shoes! I also crossed universes and went to Batuu!
Please enjoy the pics and send us pics from your Dapper Day. We love to hear from you!
Until next time…
Love, Kim and Benji
For my latest cosplay, I put together a look for Dapper Day of my favorite Captain America suit, the stealth suit.
The dress is pretty easy to put together. I found some iron-on transfer paper at a craft store. With that, a star-shaped cookie cutter and a straight edge, I was able to create the stealth dress.
When choosing your star, make sure you choose one that is good scale to your body. Then you will need three stripes on each side, again, keep an eye on the scale. The stripes end at the arms at a 90 degree angle, but are diagonally cut to fit close to the star. The lengths also vary, with two shorter stripes on the top and bottom and the longest in the middle.
Here are some reference pictures for you:
Here is a shopping guide for the look:
Dress by Grace Karin on amazon.com
Happy shopping and crafting!
Love, Kim and Benji
*Captain Rogers photo marvelstudios.com
The other day we broke down Benji’s Robin Hood dapper look, and now it is my turn.
I went to Dapper Day as Robin Hood’s bestie, Little John.
Disney’s Little John is my favorite Disney character. I love his sense of fun, positivity, loyalty and justice. I know that is a lot to attach to an animated character, but he made quite an impression on me as a kid.
Here is a reference photo:
Now, let’s break it down using the Team Build Checklist:
The Leader for this bound would be the bear ears. I decided to go with a Mickey ear headband, but with brown ears because, bear. I also got really lucky and found these custom-made ears by To Never Neverland on Etsy. These ladies have tons of great ear headbands for every character imaginable. Please check out their page. The headband is also super comfortable. The little feather detail was just perfect.
My “supersuit” would be my dress, the foundation for any Dapper Day look. This dress is from Unique Vintage. The petticoat is from Amazon.
Little John’s outfit is pretty simple. Green tunic, shoes and hat. The best detail to let people know I was bounding Little John was a money bag. We found these perfect purses on Amazon. I actually added jump rings, removed the strap and attached the purse to my belt to create a fanny pack of sorts. The belt is from Amazon as well.
There really wasn’t any special make-up or hair needed for this bound, but because it was Dapper Day, a red lip was the perfect finishing touch. My red lip is MAC in Ruby Woo.
I hope that our latest bounds got you inspired for Spring Dapper Day! Hope to see you there, and happy shopping!
Love, Kim and Benji
I recently got to take part in my first ever Disneyland After Dark event, Heroes Assemble.
It was an amazing time! The event took place at Disney’s California Adventure park in Anaheim. All the heroes, ALL of them, were there for photo ops, which was just great. Star Lord and the Guardians had a DJ’d dance party going on. Ashley Eckstein from Her Universe was also there for a meet and greet. The park had special themed food and drinks, including infinity churros! I had a lovely boozy lemonade with red, white and blue stars sprinkled on top. Yummy! 
I became a part of the collector’s collection…
BF and I got to meet Doctor Strange…
And I met Carol Danvers!!!!
Now, let’s break down the fashion, shall we!
I did a basic pin-up style Captain Marvel bound for the event. Here are the pieces:
The Leader and The Brick are one in the same here with the dress by Her Universe for Disney Dress Shop.
The Scientist are my trusty DIY saddle shoes.
The Exotic is my cardigan from Amazon.
The Blaster is my everday make-up and hair, but I really love this red lipstick from Revlon. Get yours on Amazon here.
Print your own Team Build Checklist here.
That’s it! Happy shopping and see you next time!
Love, Kim and Benji
Well, I mean, who hasn’t yet? I will warn you that there are tons ‘o spoilers here, but it has been over a week since the movie’s release, so the spoiler-free zone is over!
As always, here are some of our favorite moments from the film. We aren’t movie reviewers, and we aren’t going to start trying to be one now!
So we are in the Endgame now…
OK, those are just some of our favorite moments. Please let us know yours in the comments.
Now for wardrobe… Benji’s hoodie is from Amazon. My bobby soxer Avenger cosplay build has the following pieces:
The Leader– Avengers bomber jacket from Torrid (online exclusive)
The Brick– Dress from Amazon
The Scientist– My DIY saddle shoes
The Exotic– Scarf from Amazon; Belt also from Amazon; Star Necklace from Amazon as well and Infinity Gauntlet bracelet from Hot Topic
The Blaster– Wore a nice red lip from Revlon called “Love Is On”
Print your own Team Build Checklist here.
Happy Shopping and until next time…
Love, Kim and Benji
