Goth Sub-Styles That Didn’t Work for Me

Classic Light by SoulStealer

Throughout the years a fashion lover or alt person tries out lots of different styles. There are those I know that partake in several at once, swapping between them! This has never been something I could do. I like to have all of my wardrobe in rotation (I think this is part of why I dislike summer so much). That has never mixed with my love/hate relationship with some sub-sets of Goth. Call me what you will in my style, but these just aren’t one of them.

Cyber-Goth

Okay, so I know I have bagged on Cyber-Goth a little. But there was a point in my life when I wanted nothing more than to shave my eyebrows off and when I learned how to make synthetic dreads. I’m a total hypocrite, right? You’ll get used to it. The reason that I never got too deep into the style wasn’t because I suddenly stopped liking it and started hating it. It was because it was so freakin’ expensive. I have to congratulate any cybergoths reading this because you must be very dedicated!

Lolita

This isn’t exactly a sub-style of the Goth subculture. I’ll include it here anyway. Lolita is a style that I still love, but I don’t feel completely comfortable wearing. When I do wear it I spend most of my time jumping up and down in the mirror, watching my petticoat become a kick-ass balloon (I bet you never expected that sentence). Innocent and ‘younger’ styles have always looked best on me, but I just don’t have the confidence to wear it often.

Victorian Goth

I’m a lazy person and this is not a lazy style!

I have to commend any of you that follow these styles because I just couldn’t do it. Do you have any styles you just couldn’t muster? Why?

My Favourite Types of Headwear

This is a post in the series of The Goth Challenge altered by Darkstalker Girl from a former Lolita Challenge. Find more information here.

My attempts at photoshopping exemplified.

Man, I posted an article a long time ago when I was just starting out blogging about hats [here] – enjoy laughing at my terrible grammar and editing skills! But the point is still there that Hats in the Goth scene are so varied you could only pin-point the cliches! Below is a little list of the hats that I’m currently looking for the perfect fit and to cross off my accessories list.

My short but current list of head-wear I want/wear:

• Berets
• Beanies
• Cloches
• Sheer, rectangular headscarves.
• Curled hair extensions.
• Headbands.

What do you like to wear on your head?

Add A Touch Of Military Goth

Military style seems like a very down trodden style that you don’t see very often these days. There was a period when I was utterly obsessed with military inspired outfits but was a bit too frightened of conflict tor actually dive into it. My feelings toward it were re-awakened greatly by an outfit post made my Sincerely, Boots [that does not exist anymore] – a blog which is without a doubt one of the most well written around. Okay, it’s a Halloween costume but come on! Isn’t that a gorgeous look!

Link

Oh, The Hat Options!

Hats, though they can be controversial if they resemble realistic or Nazi inspired hats can really make an outfit – whether it’s a simple (and very adorable!) beret with pins or garrison hat it can be both an inexpensive hint and pull together an outfit.

I wonder if more brands have catered to Military Lolita. – Link

Whatever The Height or Heel, Boot It

Boots! You can find them anywhere and everywhere for any budget. For a crisp military look boots are certainly a favourite but it’s, of course, not essential. A lovely pair of Mary-janes would make a lovely contrast. For good quality boots though I’d suggest Doc Martens (my personal favourite and I’ve both heard and had great experiences with their quality) or just popping down to a local army supply store – those are rather expensive options though.

Thrift It

It’s common in the thrift stores around my area to find old army and navy coats (the highlight of living in a town on a naval base and air field). It can sometimes be a bit expensive buying these things though, but it’s still a lot cheaper (and probably better quality) than buying something online. Alternatively try military supply stores for a ridiculously high price.

Think Of The Details

Obviously, we don’t want to dumb down significant military pins in the name of fashion. But there are tons of Etsy Stores out there that cater to alternative military style pins and accessories – especially of the Steampunk persuasion.

Link

Be inspired

Being inspired by military in the first place doesn’t mean that you have to stop there. I’ve seen some of the most gorgeous military Lolita outfits before, alas, it takes so much effort for me to be able to look good in a lolita co-ordinate. Mix it up with your usual style and have fun with it. It’s a great look to mix with almost any style or substyle: industrial, cyber, fetish, Deathrock or even a casual look.

Link

If In Doubt Wear it Casually

I have a lot of friends that are army cadets and I’m notorious for stealing their army shirts to use as a coat (they’re so thick) and have very long conversations about the many insane ways you can shine boots. But it really gives you an inside look of casual styling of military details.

• Military boots are always a good hint.
• Army print always goes with black plus it’s so easy to find in stores.
• Unique combinations are easy to make. How about a Bohemian Goth look mixed with military? Since styles and sub-styles are endless there should be an endless amount of creative options.
• You don’t have to be accurate. Besides, you wouldn’t want a mix up that could cause trouble, would you?
• Coats with military inspired buttons and collar are a great and very simple hint to this style.

Whether you’re looking to add just a hint or are looking for a full closet of military clothes it is easy to pull off and water down if necessary. It might be a bit more of a wintery look but that’s never stopped Goth culture before (Goths In Hot Weather, anyone?). What do you think? Is this a look you’d love to take advantage of or is it a bit too attention grabbing and controversial?

Outfit Post: Elizabethan Inspired Coat Transformation – With A Touch of Deathrock

I’m in love with this outfit and I think this is my best outfit yet. I was so happy to wake up to pouring rain and concerning winds (I was very worried about the cats and my partner getting to work) but I was so happy to get a chance to wear this coat that I tailored, for the first time. You would probably remember this coat from it’s review here and another outfit post I did with it here (oh god, it’s embarrassing looking back on). I really wanted to go for an elegant feel today. I’m lucky that it was so cold considering it’s summer here!

Cutting this coat up was so frightening, considering it’s a two hundred dollar coat that was a gift from my partner. Of course I checked with him first and well, he didn’t even remember buying me it. Even so, I knew I had to do something with it, otherwise it would hang under all my other coats for another year. Buying it was a complete catastrophe but I can finally feel better about it. Damn you Fanplusfriend custom sizing!

I ended up raising the waist line and making it straight rather than pointed as it’s more flattering on my figure. I removed the arms, slimmed them down and removed the puff sleeves, made some alterations (some of the buttons were coming off and the lining parts needed adjustment) and completed remodelled the cuffs (though they aren’t what I wanted them to be).

Don’t mind the creme on my nose, it’s Bepanthen. (Yes, I’m STILL unhappily fighting infection).

 My hair actually has curled extensions in it. It’s not actually completed in this photos and looks a tad messy. Curled extensions are so useful when you don’t want to use heat on your hair or any product and generally it’s very fast – all I do is clip them in and clip some layers back so the curls peak out.

I had to take this rainy chance to get my favourite parasol/umbrella out, besides I was looking for elegance today!

Outfit:

Coat: Fanplusfriend originally, but remodelled and tailored by myself.
Socks: Cotton On. It’s so cold I have to wear crochet socks over my stockings!
Stockings: Anonymous.
Blouse: Secondhand.
Skirt: EBay. It’s my tulle cake skirt, layered underneath so you can’t really see it but it puffs the coat out nicely.
Boots: Dr. Marten.
Necklace: EBay. It’s an octopus.
Earrings: You can’t really see them but they’re my bird skulls from EBay.
Parasol: Alice and The Pirates (bought at Supanova)
Gloves: Anonymous.
Hair extensions: EBay and yes, they actually are human hair. I made sure to test them before curling them myself..

Best wishes,
– SaryWalrus

Bodyline Review: Music JSK/Skirt

This is the fifth and final, finally, in my series of reviews of a bunch of new items I bought from Bodyline recently for my birthday. I plan to do rather in depth accounts of each so I thought it best not to lump the ridiculous amount of detail pictures into one post.

 This skirt I found in the JSK section of Bodyline, which is strange because I consider it a skirt entirely. Not to mention it’s full JSK counterpart was right next to it.

Details:

Title: L025

Colour-way: Black.
Size: M
Fabric: Cotton. A bit stiff.

Un-ironed.

•  I was considering getting rid of the ruffles. It’s a little too maid style for me. But I love the suspenders.

Love the print!

•  I really love the music print. I studied music for two years and have sung for my entire life, choir and a few competitions, so I thought this would suit me. I’m still not sure if I’ll suit the print though because prints just don’t like me.

Frillllls!

•  The suspenders are changeable and it wouldn’t be hard to change if you’re a lot taller or a lot smaller.

•  The waist is so incredibly stretchy. I honestly didn’t think it was going to be this stretchy.

•  The annoying zip. This zip sticks out uncomfortably when trying to poof up a skirt, giving it an odd shape which really annoys me.

Overall, I really love this skirt. I don’t think I’ll get much use out of it though. I’ll have to think about ways to make it work. I really hope it’ll work though.

Best wishes,
-Sary

EBay and Supanova Haul: Featuring my First Piece of Lolita Brand

As of a week or so ago I’ve halted most spending on things that aren’t school related or important. I’m seriously budgeting for moving into my own place and I’m so excited! I don’t mention this much but I do online surveys for money and yes, if you search for reputable surveyors and are smart (and a little tricky) about it you can make a small amount from it. Of course the most I’ve made in a month maximum was twenty dollars but I generally just spend it on cheap jewellery and small pieces on eBay.

Also, there wont be any pictures of Supanova as my friends really wanted me to bring my camcorder instead of my regular camera and I forgot to switch the SD cards. So I brought a camera with no memory. I really wanted to make a little video of it but oh well.

First the EBay items:

Bird Skull Earrings.

 I’ve seen the bird-skull thing all over the online lately. It’s probably one of those “put a cog on it”-like things. It’s kind of funny to see trends in alternative culture, like those skeleton hand clips and the Retrostyle Store that I’ve heard so many bad things about.

These earrings are actually kind of huge and stretch my ears a bit. They came slightly broken but I make jewellery anyway so it was easily fixed.

Coffin Necklace.

The door is kind of flimsy, though it was like a dollar, but the magnet holds it on firmly. My boy friend and I have a little joke that this is the perfect necklace for carrying around drug’s in. I want to test to see if it’s sturdy enough to hold something in the near future.

Bat earrings.

The above coffin necklace and these bat earrings were bought for my Gothic Lolita outfit at the last minute, but arrived just in time. That’s why they’re both bronze and actually match perfectly. They’re really small and cute! A lot cuter than I expected.

Bone Hair Clip

If my memory serves me right these were quite popular a few years ago. I’ve always wanted a big bone to put on my head! This was on the more expensive side of eBay and was bigger than I expected. I want a GIANT bone for my hair though.

Now, the Supanova items:

 I bought this little headbow pretty darn cheap. It’s good enough quality and it has the perfect shape I was looking for that sits across your head rather than sticks up and looks awkward. It’s a lot better for people like me that have very flat hair.

The Cure shirt.

I was so happy when I noticed a t-shirt store selling a bunch of Cure skirts. This version of the Boys Don’t Cry album cover is my favourite. Unfortunately they only had one-size girl-cuts and Boys-cuts were all out of this shirt. I would have preferred the boy’s because the girl-cuts always very tight. I prefer my band shirts to be a little baggy.

On the note of band-shirts.  I noticed a Bauhaus shirt, just one, at the very roof of a store and had to ask about it. The sellers didn’t even know what the band was called, though it was a really big metal store. I didn’t end up buying it. Apparently a men’s plain black shirt with ONE tiny logo on it costs sixty dollars. I could get the same shirt (probably better quality) on eBay for ten dollars right here. I don’t like Bauhaus that much.
/END RANT.

I fell in love with this skirt. I thought it was a little crazy that the entire store was labelled as size eight (Australian) though. I’m a size nine so it wasn’t hard to fit. It’s very tiny, definitely a mini-skirt that I’ve save for wearing with opaque stockings/boy-shorts or as a club skirt. The lace is a bit iffy though but the pockets are real!

Right Click and Open in a new page for a bigger picture.

I haunted the main Lolita store there. I couldn’t understand why their dresses were so expensive though which I feel silly about. I went back to this store possibly four times because  I noticed the gorgeous shape of one of the parasols hanging from the store roof. To my shock it was only forty-three dollars and my boy friend wanted to buy me a present so we shared the cost.

Later, when I opened it and saw the logo I freaked out because I had had no idea that I had just bought my first piece of brand. It’s needless to say that I coveted it for the rest of the day and train-ride home.

Best wishes,
-SaryWalrus

Lolita Hair Style #1

This hairstyle is a mixture of curled extensions, lots of pins and a bow. It’s rather messy and I’m not looking my most tactful but  I was wearing a hoodie due to the cold, while playing with my hair and had to take it off so the contrast would let you see the outline of my hair.

Some of these pictures are terrible because of the lighting in my bathroom and I look as if I’m melding into the background. No, I don’t photoshop my photos unless otherwise stated apart from the border and tag.

Haha! I’m melding into the background.

I don’t actually have any of my own hair curled in this photo, it’s just the hair extensions. On the day of Supanova I will hopefully have all of my own hair curled and be a bit neater.

What do you think? I may resort to just playing it in a high ponytail with lots of curls and also have to play with the arrangement of the hair extensions.

Best wishes,
-SaryWalrus

Red and Black Week Outfit: First Actual Lolita Coordinate

I’ve been waiting so long to post this outfit! I’ve already been posting it around on my other networks but I’ve been planning for Red and Black Week for quite some time. Last time I was only able to participate once as I wasn’t prepared but this time is different. If all things work out I’ll be posting everyday and I can’t wait to read everyone else’s.

Anyway, on to the outfit!

My first actual Lolita outfit! What a great event to celebrate it with!

 Outfit:

Dress: Bodyline.

Cardigan: Jocks and Socks.
Stockings: Unknown.
Shoes: Payless Shoes.
Blouse: Bodyline.
Hairbow: Bodyline.

Some red flowers.

A hint of red strawberry buttons! :3

I hope you enjoyed my outfit! See you tomorrow.

Best wishes,

-SaryWalrus

My Hair (styling) Experiments – Curls & Extensions

As you might have noticed I’ve been seriously dabbling in Lolita. Along with dabbling in the fashion I’ve been looking into the history and information about it. One thing I found was that hair really is important. Which makes sense. Of course it’s not important if you don’t want it to be but to a fully coordinated outfit it can add a great amount of elegance and theme or break it completely.

Hair isn’t exactly something I excel with; I can take care of it, colour it and grow it but style it is not something I’ve had to do my whole life. As someone with dead straight hair that wears two basic hair styles everyday, a ponytail or just out, I was honestly frightened looking at all of those perfect curls.

Heat is something that I’ve stopped placing on my hair for quite some time, to the bare minimum, generally I’ve accepted it to be the hairs worst enemy but over time I’ve tried to work around this. Heat isn’t my enemy anything. I’ve learnt to:

• Use heat styling in moderation or generally carefully.
• Use a heat protect.
• Try non-heat or low-heat alternatives.
• Deep conditioning is your best friend.

Anyway, onto the good stuff. By good stuff I mean mediocre pictures by myself. All, apparently while I’m in my pyjamas.

 Hair Extensions

Bad photo is bad. If you hadn’t noticed.

The hair extensions use clips.

This is three hair extensions layered on top of each other.

Straightener/Curler

 I really love this and I’m so glad I invested in it. I decided to choose a straighter as to be able to both straighten and curl my hair. This one has cooling plates on one side as it’s specially designed as for both curling and straightening but as far as I can tell it works just as a straightener would and doesn’t add anything special.

It’s actually a very lovely purple that my camera doesn’t pick up and also miniature! Great for small curls.

The pictures are quite a bit after doing my whole head, the curls were a lot more fluffier before they dropped through time.

Here the curls are held up with a clip.

Curling wand/hair blower

 My curling wand/hair blower this takes a lot longer than a straightener, with less curls but it definitely damages my hair a lot less. It works by curling the hair around the nozzle and it blows hot hair into the hair to set it. When you’re finished there’s a button to press so you can just pull the hair and it pulls out into a curl.

 Personally, I couldn’t find much online about lolita hair styles for those with undercuts or hawks. Other than a few images here and there or some questioning what the hell they’re suppose to do with their hair other than curls. I hope this is at least interesting to see, rather than be too informative.

I think I might do another post with good pictures of all the hair styles I’m considering, mostly for my outfit to Supanova in Sydney later this month, along with a poll to get some opinions!

Best wishes,
-SaryWalrus

Bodyline Review: Blouses (short and long sleeve)

This is the fourth in my series of reviews of a bunch of new items I bought from Bodyline recently for my birthday. I plan to do rather in depth accounts of each so I thought it best not to lump the ridiculous amount of detail pictures into one post.

Short sleeved blouse:

Details:

Title: L375
Colour-way: Black.
Size: M
Fabric: Thick cotton. A bit stiff.

Un-ironed.

• The lace is just as soft and nice as usual. It isn’t the best in the world but it’s still good.

Strawberry buttons! That are actually the colour in the link rather than this colour.

• The lace on the sleeves is the only lace in this whole bundle of clothes that is scratchy and annoying. It’s bearable but very annoying when I’m paying attention to it.
• I adore the little strawberry on the sleeve with the bow though!

• The annoying thing that confirms my want to get rid of the fake corset lacing is the fact that they use lace instead of grommets or even hoops or something. You wouldn’t want to pull it too tightly or I just know it’ll rip right into the blouse.

Long sleeved blouse:

Details:

Title: L114

Colour-way: Black.
Size: M
Fabric: Thick and VERY stretchy! So soft!

Un-ironed.

• The fabric of this blouse makes me so happy! Considering it’s one of Bodyline’s cheaper blouses it’s so good!
• This blouse successfully stood up to the washing machine, as most Bodyline items do, and is just as soft as ever.

I think the collar is adorable.

Lace overload.

• The cuffs of the sleeves don’t actually undo. The buttons are fake but it doesn’t really matter to me.

• All the lace is pretty darn soft!

• I love the heart shaped buttons!

• The back has two corset laced parts which are kind of useless as the fabric is so stretchy.

• Yet again with the corset lacing.

Overall, I love these blouses and can see myself using them in a lot more than just lolita co-ordinates. Actually they’d both be great for kinderwhore!

Best wishes,
-SaryWalrus