Gothique Play Wardrobe
I call them play clothes, simply because they aren't work clothes. They can be divided into two categories, casual and dress-up.
Casual clothes
What's casual? Jeans and a t-shirt, I suppose. Black jeans are pretty easy to find; I like the ones I get from JC Penney's. I love long-sleeved t-shirts, and although I've found plenty of red and purple, black has been surprisingly scarce. I did find one, and snatched it up. I might pair it with a purple scarf and some long necklaces.
It seems to me that most of my Gothique tops would pair just fine with jeans. Maybe it's the jeans that make it "casual".
Being a comfort snob, I insist upon good shoes, and will pay for them. Casual shoes are my black Clark's - no heel, great footbed. They look fine with jeans, and have the added benefit of being instantly removable and replacable in airport security lines.
Dress-up clothes
To me, these are my "formals" - these clothes are what I wear for special occasions, such as Halloween or Gotique nights out. I don't do the bar scene, since I can't tolerate the cigarette smoke, and so these nights seem too few and far between. I'm agitating for an evening at the Melting Pot in Littleton, which is one of the most Gothique environs that I know in the Denver area.
Unlike professional wear,
I have never had trouble building a dress-up wardrobe. My most recent
effort was for Halloween 2005, which in our house amounts to a formal
occasion. I had for a couple of years wanted to do Gothique, and this
year I had the space and time.
The black gown started with a bodice drafted on the lines of a historical garment, the gothic fitted dress. It is made of a cotton jacquard, which I found out belatedly had some spandex included. So much for self-supporting! I added the "bat wing" points to the scooped-out neckline, while keeping the neckline narrow on the back of the bodice to give the sleeves adequate support. The bodice is fully lined, with the same fabric as the fashion layer, and the princess waistline was left open to finish the skirt.
The sleeves and skirt are panne' velvet. To make the skirt, cut a large square, with a circle cut out of the center for the waistline. Then cut out another half of the square. After splitting the square, sew the half-square to what was now the ends. (I hope that makes sense.) Repeat the process with burgundy crepe-backed satin. Layer the two pieces - offsetting as desired - gather and stitch them to the fashion layer of the bodice.
The sleeves are a standard modern sleeve, ending at the elbow. The cuffs are similar to the skirt, except that the cuffs are a single square rather than one and a half. They are three layers, besides the velvet and satin, an inside layer of netting carries the motif from the underskirt into the sleeve of the gown.
The underskirt is a circle skirt - rather 3 or 4 circle skirts layered. The outside layer is netting with little purple spiders and bats embroidered upon it. The inside layers are simply black tulle. Each piece is cut into a half-circle and then hand-stitched to an elastic waistband. To prevent vertical lines, I opted not to stitch together each half circle into a whole, figuring that the overlapping layers would provide necessary coverage.
A black and burgundy wing covers my hair-brown locks. I'm especially fond of the peaked bangs, and the burgundy rose ponytailers. I'm considering cutting my now-red hair into the peaked bangs, but haven't yet taken that drastic step. A black Gothique necklace and earrings complete the focal point facial area, and black lace demi-gloves cover the backs of my hands. I had intended to do my nails, but didn't get to it before the pictures were taken. They can't be seen, but I'm wearing chunky black heels. I'm posing with my pet crow (no, he's not real) in the picture above; below you can see him in the foreground of this picture of me and my other pet, the cat Moonshadow, who characteristically lands on my lap whenever I present one. Yeah, he's black too.
The makeup is the palest Almay. I chose it because my face is naturally red, and it had a cooler tone than most of the lighter makeups, which tend toward pink. You'll notice that my face and cleavage are about the same tone; although I did have to apply foundation to my chest to cover the suntan, the cleavage is my "natural" color. Lipsitick is the deepest red I could find, outlined with black. I used black eyeliner and mascara, with dark grey eyeshadow. I think that the lips could have been fuller and the eyes more dramatic.
NightShade will need more of a wardrobe in the future, and so I plan some new clothes. I'm currently trolling the Denver Fabrics Annex for interesting fabrics in which NightShade would appear.
One more picture; here are the two dark creatures living in our house. The vampyre wears a top hat that in other settings doubles as a home for rabbits. He's wearing a cotton poufy shirt; a green bejewled broach pins his cravat over the black vest. Yes, he really has pointy incisors. The glasses are very sexy, don't you think?
The shirt was easy; it's all cotton and a basic square construction with too-wide sleeves pleated into the armseye.The sleeves are edged in cotton lace, and are secured to the wrist with elastic wristbands.
The neckline is a simple standing collar cut in two peices. The collar is extended on either side to create the cravat. Lace is sandwiched between the pieces, and then the collar is attached to the body of the shirt over a keyhole neckline. Layers of lace are attached to each end of the cravat. I'm not satisfied with the neckline; I thought that the collar would stand up better, but it wants to flop over. I'll be making him a proper cravat - one that can be wrapped around his neck.
The black gown started with a bodice drafted on the lines of a historical garment, the gothic fitted dress. It is made of a cotton jacquard, which I found out belatedly had some spandex included. So much for self-supporting! I added the "bat wing" points to the scooped-out neckline, while keeping the neckline narrow on the back of the bodice to give the sleeves adequate support. The bodice is fully lined, with the same fabric as the fashion layer, and the princess waistline was left open to finish the skirt.
The sleeves and skirt are panne' velvet. To make the skirt, cut a large square, with a circle cut out of the center for the waistline. Then cut out another half of the square. After splitting the square, sew the half-square to what was now the ends. (I hope that makes sense.) Repeat the process with burgundy crepe-backed satin. Layer the two pieces - offsetting as desired - gather and stitch them to the fashion layer of the bodice.
The sleeves are a standard modern sleeve, ending at the elbow. The cuffs are similar to the skirt, except that the cuffs are a single square rather than one and a half. They are three layers, besides the velvet and satin, an inside layer of netting carries the motif from the underskirt into the sleeve of the gown.
The underskirt is a circle skirt - rather 3 or 4 circle skirts layered. The outside layer is netting with little purple spiders and bats embroidered upon it. The inside layers are simply black tulle. Each piece is cut into a half-circle and then hand-stitched to an elastic waistband. To prevent vertical lines, I opted not to stitch together each half circle into a whole, figuring that the overlapping layers would provide necessary coverage.
A black and burgundy wing covers my hair-brown locks. I'm especially fond of the peaked bangs, and the burgundy rose ponytailers. I'm considering cutting my now-red hair into the peaked bangs, but haven't yet taken that drastic step. A black Gothique necklace and earrings complete the focal point facial area, and black lace demi-gloves cover the backs of my hands. I had intended to do my nails, but didn't get to it before the pictures were taken. They can't be seen, but I'm wearing chunky black heels. I'm posing with my pet crow (no, he's not real) in the picture above; below you can see him in the foreground of this picture of me and my other pet, the cat Moonshadow, who characteristically lands on my lap whenever I present one. Yeah, he's black too.
The makeup is the palest Almay. I chose it because my face is naturally red, and it had a cooler tone than most of the lighter makeups, which tend toward pink. You'll notice that my face and cleavage are about the same tone; although I did have to apply foundation to my chest to cover the suntan, the cleavage is my "natural" color. Lipsitick is the deepest red I could find, outlined with black. I used black eyeliner and mascara, with dark grey eyeshadow. I think that the lips could have been fuller and the eyes more dramatic.
NightShade will need more of a wardrobe in the future, and so I plan some new clothes. I'm currently trolling the Denver Fabrics Annex for interesting fabrics in which NightShade would appear.
One more picture; here are the two dark creatures living in our house. The vampyre wears a top hat that in other settings doubles as a home for rabbits. He's wearing a cotton poufy shirt; a green bejewled broach pins his cravat over the black vest. Yes, he really has pointy incisors. The glasses are very sexy, don't you think?
The shirt was easy; it's all cotton and a basic square construction with too-wide sleeves pleated into the armseye.The sleeves are edged in cotton lace, and are secured to the wrist with elastic wristbands.
The neckline is a simple standing collar cut in two peices. The collar is extended on either side to create the cravat. Lace is sandwiched between the pieces, and then the collar is attached to the body of the shirt over a keyhole neckline. Layers of lace are attached to each end of the cravat. I'm not satisfied with the neckline; I thought that the collar would stand up better, but it wants to flop over. I'll be making him a proper cravat - one that can be wrapped around his neck.