Real World Steampunk Wardrobe Fail No. 2

So here is my second installment in this series, of Real World Steampunk gone wrong.

This particular Sunday, sometime back in 2013, I was aiming for a kind of Adventuress look. . .

Blouse by Apt 9 at Kohl's

Silk cashmere fine-gauge sweater vest from Goodwill*

Earrings by Elaina Louise on Etsy

Corset belt by Cabi

Black knit skirt by Garnet Hill

Tights I don't remember--GAP clearance perhaps?

Boots by La Canadienne

*if the vest looks swirly, it's just your monitor flipping out over the ribbed texture.  Click on the photo to enlarge and it should look fine. 

 . . . and as you can see, pieces that seemed like potential friends just ended up not playing together nicely.

Some individual parts of the look I like, and some I don't; but unlike my previous Real World Steampunk Wardrobe fail, which at least had a certain cohesive retro flair, this is just too. . . incohesive.  I'm finding it hard to choose the right words for what exactly is wrong with this ensemble, but it's all just a little. . . off.

And I wore it in public, taking the photos after I was back home.

Ah, well, these are the realizations that keep me humble.    

So, let's see if we can't disscect this look and figure out where it went awry. . . .  I think the vest over the blouse is the first problem, for two reasons: first, stylistically I thought the sweater vest could be a comfortable, practical way to get a very subtle corset look.  While I think this is still true in theory, this particular vest is just ending up looking more 1960's mod than anything else--esp. when taken together with the belt and boot height and skirt length.  I do like the belt over the vest--but just not when I'm trying to channel Steampunk.  The other problem with the vest over the blouse is that the blouse has a kind of ruffle placket down the front, and it was way too lumpy under this fine-gauge of a sweater.

The hem of the blouse and the hem of the sweater vest were also pulling up as I moved, and not even nicely in unison, so I ended up with even more bunching, and unevenness, and overall awkwardness.   I don't think tucking the blouse in would have worked either, as it does not have that long of a tail.

I do like the skirt and tights together. . . and the tights and boots together. . . but the three are not just working.  See, I'd really like a fun short bustle skirt, but am afraid a) it would look too costumey and not enough "real world," and b) I am too old to get away with it.  So I love this skirt, as a subtle nod to that kind of skirt, and have worn it with other steampunky things with success--just not on this day.

In fact, now that I think about it, a different colored skirt would have made a huge impact on the success of this particular look.  If I changed only that and the bunching of the blouse, this would be a fine look--just perhaps not as pseudo-Steampunk as it was in my mind's eye.

Comments?  Suggestions?  I'd love to hear them.