The Alternative Fashion Blog

More Metal Couture - Balenciaga "gold leggings"

2012-08-27T02:16:00.000-07:00

Metal Couture is not strictly alternative fashion, and not necessarily subcultural, because really it is more art than subcultural fashion. Particularly in its extreme form, like these Balenciaga gold leggings

These are from their 2007 runway show. Designed for them by Nicolas Ghesquier.
They are gold, they are made as special orders, and they cost $100,000....add I would love to see a close up pic.
I don't think Balenciaga sell a lot of these. But great to see them pushing the edge of the envelope and making some outside the square interesting eye candy.

Givenchy Septum Ring

2012-08-27T01:46:00.001-07:00

Givenchy are of course one of the big labels, and despite the fact they used a tran model recently, I would have thought they were more mainstream than some of the more fringe leaning designers.

Thus I was suprised when I saw the Givency Septum ring. I saw a number of comments about this online about people saying they would get their septum peirced just to wear one!
Very nice - we approve.

The Photography of Marco Ribbe

2012-08-10T05:37:00.001-07:00

Marco Ribbe dabbles in subcultural fashion photography... but I particularly like this steampunk series...some serious emphasis on steampunk, interesting corsetry design, and a particularly stunning model.

www.marcoribbe.de
http://marcoribbe-de.deviantart.com/

Carpe Noctum Fashion Parade - Review

2012-08-05T04:30:00.003-07:00

Carpe Noctum is now the largest and most prominent alternative fashion show in Australia. Following Circa Nocturna going into hiatus, and the Under the Blue Moon festival finishing up in Sydney, Carpe Noctum is now the default major alt fashion event in the Australian Fashion calendar.
Apart from the obvious "there ain't no one else"... the prominence of the show is also indicated by its support from a number of interstate designers.

Carpe Noctum is new for 2012.... not part of a mainstream fashion show (like Worn Wild or Circa Nocturna), it is part of an Alternative Festival called the "Fiend Festival". Interestingly, as part of the larger festival event, on site in the same venue were bands and a large market. Many of the designers also were represented in the market, thus creating a nice synergy between the different aspects of the event. Certainly, many of the gothanistas /fashion alternatistas that had seen the show took the opportunity to talk to their favourite designers at their market stalls.

I participated in the show with my own label, but was really impressed by the designers..the amount of work they put in, and the level of creativity for the outfits was very impressive. Most of the designers had been in previous shows, so there was certainly a body of experience that was applied to this show that made it quite professional. The designers certainly have matured, and the show benefitted from that.

Beserk Clothing (QLD) http://www.beserk.com.au/
Beserk are long standing supporters of the alt fashion events, having been in previous shows in Melbourne for at least 4 years. This is a very professional, successsful label and their work was edgey, sexy and rebellious. Rockabilly influences, with dark edges. At the same time, out of all the work, Beserk has a good grip on what sells and the outfits were more Pret a Porter than others.
https://www.facebook.com/beserkclothing

Harpi (QLD) http://www.harpisattic.com/
Harpi's work is more edgey andsolidly subcultural. Gothic outfits, with may be a touch of military influence and industrial overtones. Lots of great use of pinstripes...and curves! Some Great designs, and in many ways different to previous ranges...was great to see her presence having jaunted down from Brisbane.
https://www.facebook.com/Harpi999

LELASH (NSW) http://lelash.com/

I personally really like LeLash's work. It had elements of goth/subcultural and industrial..much of it was ready to wear, in a subcultural context at least, and the modelling and makeup was very original and impressive. Interesting Sci fi influences (as were quite a few of the designers).
https://www.facebook.com/lelashapparel

Assassinus (VIC) www.assassinus.com
This is my own metal couture and jewellery label, so I won't comment, except to say...I was happy!
https://www.facebook.com/assassinusjewellery

Clockwork Butterfly (VIC) http://www.clockworkbutterfly.net/
Clockwork Butterfly was definitely one of the highlights of the show. The designers works with costume, and has indeed put on her own substantial shows. She has a very good grip on historical costume, though her work itself is steampunk, with a good solid grip on historical authenticity. The workmanship and sophistication of the work shown of the catwalk was pretty impressive.

DuskMoth designs (Vic) www.duskmothdesigns.com.au

DMD are longstanding veterans of the alt fashion scene, and have a well developed label now that is generally pretty known within the alt fashion community. They have an ear to the ground about what people like, and are quite goth in their tastes. They are often leaders in trends. Apart from their outfits, they also have a wide range of accoutrements. They put a big effort into their models and quite a few comments.

Elliven (VIC) http://www.modelmayhem.com/2595391
This label was probably one of three big talked about labels in the show. This was the designer's, Surgical-Steel, first show....and he made a *very* impressive debut, with some very interesting, sophisticated and original designs. Steering away from some of the general trends in alt fashion Elliven pushed geometric designs, with artistic makeup and used models with presence. Very much the talk of the show, and people will be waiting with baited breath to see what they come up with next.

Miss Kittiness (VIC) http://www.misskittiness.com/
Miss Kittiness is a relative newcomber to the Alt fashion event scene, how arrives with gusto! From the looks of what was on the catwalk, her style was influenced by baroque, Victorian and Rococo..and very much in the vein of Loli fash. Will be interesting to see what she comes up wit in the future.

Petticoats & Gallantry (VIC) http://petticoatsandgallantry.com.au/
This label is one of the darlings of the Lolita scene, and with good cause...it produces some great outfits that are clearly loved by that community. She is clearly a talented designer, and her the size of the range of designs and accoutrement was very impressive (she had a presence at the market, and the range of items she has was impressive. Some of my friends who are real fashionistas are quite the fan of her, and her designs and stage show was quite impressive.

Z-ENTiTY (VIC) http://www.zentity.net/

Steph from Z entity (also the force behind one of Melbourne's most prominent alt fashion retail establishments, VNV Boutique) very much has outdone herself, with this year's work. Z Entity has been featuring in alt fash shows for probably 5 years now, and this would be her best show yet. A lot of work was put into the edgey, horror-dark themed designs...similiarly a lot of work was put into the models and the makeup...its was clear the amount of work had been put into the show. Interesting imaginative and somewhat sexy stuff for men and women, all ready to wear.

Zombified Cupcake Boutique (VIC) www.zombifiedcupcakeboutique.com.au/
Very cute somewhat 50's inspired, colourful, this designer was one of the new ones for the alt fashion scene, but certainly came with pinache and presence. A great show, colourful...and each model bearing cupcakes.

Overall....probably the only negative, and something that had been mentioned by designers, was that the show was a tad early in the day, and possibly could have been a bit less prices to get in...that said the shows were certainly well attended, considering. The show ran like clockwork, and it was certainly percieved as such.
I believe there will be another show next year, and would definitely recommend going as it is the primary catwalk event in the alternative fashion calendar.

Fiend Festival Review

2012-06-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Fiend Festival ran yesterday, and it was big! The Festival was a large event, and run by the team behind Fiend Magazine.

This was quite an ambitious event, and fairly large. With the demise of Under The Blue Moon, the concept of the large alt festival, covering various aspects of the alt community and subculture, has not been apparent. Fillin the gap, The Fiend Festival is the largest alt event run in Melbourne.

Attempts at running an alt festival, not just including bands, but art, fashion and culture have been made before (The Circa Nocturna/Carnivale Nocturna two day event in 2008 and the DV8 Bizarre Music Festival featured an event with bands, fashion and markets).
However, The Fiend Festival is probably the first alt festival in Melbourne to cover a number of aspects well, with a significant Fashion parade, a large market of 50 stalls, a big line up of bands including overseas acts, and a reasonable art exhibition (though probably a tad small in the context of the venue).

The Venue was Revolt Art Space at Kensington, an old factory with an amazing feel (I spoke to the artist in residence who does some of the interior deco, - he is a blacksmith who does Movie props and who was trained by the main armourer for Lord of the Rings!). It is a big venue, and has an amazing rustic Victorian feel to it.

The Markets were quite amazing. In the context of alt markets..this is as big as you get. The Black Market has been running for some years on personal property, this is the first time it has gone commercial. 50 stalls is as big as you will get (I think the record was 70 in the past), and there was some very interesting stuff. Lots of clothing, nick nacks, actually not much second hand, a lot of things made by local designers. The designers that were in the fashion show were grouped together, which was good. Kudos to the organiser, Tarley.

Carpe Noctum was pretty amazing, and will be the big alt fashion event for the year. It featured 10 designers, and some big names, including some interstaters and many designers who have been in Circa Nocturna and other shows. It ran for about 2 and a half hours, and was separated into three sections, which was great. Layout was effective, with a long runway and the seating was not deep so everyone got to see. A great opportunity to see some of Australia's best alt fashion designers, and one of the few oppotunities for alt designers to get their work up on the catwalk, unless they are prepared to pay the *enormous* amount of money that the main festivals charge. Brilliant job by the organiser, Susan Illingsworth. (Be on the lookout for my separate review for CN soon).

I'm no art critic....but the Art Exhibition was pretty good. It was effective in that they had a range of artists represented working with different media in different styles, and really just a taste of each. The work was generally pretty sophisticated, and wasn't bogged down in too much subcultural dwelling on the macabre or the predictable. Some great talent, I would have liked for it to be bigger, but given the venue size and the context of the event, it was probably proportional to what else was going on. Was right next to the market and the bar, so you could wander in with a drink and have a look.

Unfortunately, I didn't see the bands (including Hocico (Mex), Hanzel und Gretyl (NYC) andShiv-R (Syd) amongst others), so I can only review the other three aspects.

Overall, Fiend Festival was really a one of a kind event, and a great nexus for many creative people to have their performance seen, and for people to go along and see what a variety of creative output from the alt community, in an amazing venue. Well done to Gerry and his team for taking it on, and we hope to see another one next year.

World Goth Day (Again)

2012-06-02T07:08:00.001-07:00

As well as writing this blog ( I like writing) I also nick on to Wikipedia and write articles about subculture on there. I just did this on World Goth Day, and spoke to Martin OldGoth (my buddy Rachael suggested I speak to him) who was one of the two founders. He was awfully nice, despite still recovering from Wave Gothic Treffen, and answered a few questions for me.

Anyways, I thought I would replicate it here. You can read it on Wikipedia as well:

May 22 is World Goth Day ^[1] The Official World Goth Day site defines it as "a day where the goth scene gets to celebrate its own being, and an opportunity to make its presence known to the rest of the world" ^[2]
World Goth Day originated in the UK in 2009. BBC Radio 6 was looking at a number of music subcultures. Goth DJs Cruel Britannia and Martin OldGoth got an event up and running. It was decided that May 22 would be the day when this event would be held regularly. ^[3]
The tradition continued and spread outside the UK, with a website being initiated to coordinate and advertise events worldwide.^[4]
World Goth Day celebrates the sub cultural aspects of the Goth subculture. Aspects of the culture like fashion, music and art are celebrated by fashion shows, art exhibitions and music performance. Many of the events feature local Goth bands, and some have taken on a charity aspect with events in the UK and Australia supporting favoured charities like the UK Sophie Lancaster Foundation, a charity that tries to curb prejudice and hatred against subcultures. ^[5]
The event has evolved to be now celebrated by goths all around the world, including the UK, the US, Australia, Singapore abd South Africa.

Alt Labels in the "Launch Your Label" Competition

2012-06-02T06:36:00.001-07:00

I noticed this new competition for fashion designers being discussed on Facebook, and thought I would have a look at the designers running in it. Quite a few are alt designers.
Launch Your Label Australia

One Wear Designs are currently running this competition..it has the noble aim of giving a leg up to new designers. Winners get $12k and some promotional opportunities. Thought it interesting, in that although its a general competition, there are quite a few alternative designers in the running. Also, interestingly, it is aimed at Fashion design labels, but they include Jewellery designers in the mix as well (some people, when they speak of Fashion labels, will be referring strictly to garments, but jewellery peeps are welcome). There is one bag designer as well.

Anyway, having a quick glance at the current people in the running, I noticed some very talented alt fashion designers.

Licorice and Cream (new alt Victorian designer)
Dolly Q (Exquisite Victorian alternative, corseteer and wedding couture, and alt fashion catwalk veteran).
LeLash (interesting alt fash Sydney designer, will be in Carpe Noctum next week)
Matt Bylett (Latex designer from Sydney, has been on the catwalk at Circa Nocturna and in Sydney shows and does some amazing and fantastic work - probably Australia's foremost Latex designer)
Lonely 8 Bit heroes (who may be alt fashion designers, depends on your definition).
Jack and Lou (Historical influenced, so possibly a bit of subcultural cross over once again, not sure if the designers themselves would describe their work as alt fashion).
Tentacle Threads (some great alt designs, and also a veteran of Circa Nocturna. Currently they are doing the best with the votes at 212).
Rebecca Cobbing (From Sydney, did CN last year)

So not sure what this says about alt fashion designers popping up in mainstreamey competitions - but I think it is good! Quite possibly it is an indicator that the alt design world is maturing, getting professional, and taking the fight to where it needs to go. Definitely a way to raise a profile. It's a good thing, and I wish them the best of luck.

So....if you like alt fashion designers, go onto the site and vote for your favourite!

Subcultural Fashion in This Is England '86

2012-04-09T16:09:00.002-07:00

Subcultural Fashion in This Is England '86

The original film This Is England has, as of 2012, been made into two TV mini series, and this is the first of those. Unusually, for a film translating to TV, it makes the migration quite successfully. The move to a mini series gives the director Shane Meadows, more screen time to explore the other characters, some of whom have interesting stories to tell, and certainly gives the other actors more chance to show their skills. The stories partly relate to Shane Meadow's own experiences of growing up during these times.

The group of close knit friends have moved on 6 years from when the original was set, in 1980. This is of course reflected in terms of subculture....the pork pie hats have disapeared from this series. In the original movie, most of the group are either skinheads or Rude Boys. The exception is the character Smell(Michelle), who seems to be somewhat of an enigmatic individual throughout the series, both in terms of fashion and character, and the older character Meggy, who appears to be a misplaced adult hanging out with younger people and who is too old for youth subcultures.

By 1986, the characters have been portrayed as mostly dropping their Skinhead/rudie fashion items and moved on to other subcultures, or dropped subcultural fashion and are wearing mainstream clothes. This is presumably partly because of the times, but also possibly relating to the negative aspects of racism and violence associated with Skinheads portrayed in the first film.

The most obvious change is Woody, who's character was a support in the first movie, but is now one of the main characters. He is a very obvious mod, with a Paul Weller style fringe, suit, parker and of course a (not heavily accessorised) Lambretta scooter. One character, Trev, is still an obvious Skin, still keeping her feathered crop hair and Fred Perry and boots. Lol also one of the dramatic leads and Woody's partner, still retains her Skinhead fashion, but has grown her hair out. Milky, while a rude boy in the first movie, now rides a scooter, but still ears a lot of the rude/skinhead clothes. Smell appears in some scenes to be a sort of proto goth, with lacey black clothes and shaved sides of her head - however in other scenes there is plenty of colour (something goths generally disdain) and some 40's influence, so it is a bit unclear how she is being portrayed.

Subculture (while prevalent with the drama associated with Skinheads with the original) as a plot line has largely disappeared from the series, and the drama focuses on the lives of the characters. Apart from a brief mention of Skinhead attitude, we don't really get an insight into the workings of subculture here. Interestingly, while in the first movie, the characters are mostly Rude Boys, in the first series they refer to themselves as having been Skinheads..so the movie blurs the line between the two, which the subcultures themselves do not necessarily do.

The series continues with This is England 88, which shows the characters further adventures in life, and This Is England 90 is currently planned to explore the character's adventures in the Rave culture.

Longest Running Sitcoms

2011-11-02T02:05:00.000-07:00

A list of the longest running Sitcoms (sorry nothing to do with Alt Fashion.... just had to put this somewhere!)

#1. “The Last of the Summer Wine” - 31 Seasons (1973 – 2010) 37 Years

#2 “The Simpsons” - 23 Seasons – (1989 – present) 23 years

#3 “Only Fools and Horses” 22 Seasons – (1981 – 2003) 22 Years

#4 "The Jack Benny Show 15 Seasons" (1950 - 1965) 15 Years

#5 “(The Adventures Of) Ozzie And Harriet” - 14 Seasons (1952 – 1966) 14 years

#6 “South Park” - 15 Seasons (1997 – Present) 14 years

#7 “Are you being Served” - 13 Seasons (1972 – 1985) 13 years

#8 “King of the Hill” - 13 seasons – (1997 – 2010) 13 years

#9 “My Three Sons” - 12 seasons (1960 – 1972) 12 years

#10 “Rab C Nesbit” - 11 Seasons (1988 – 1999, 2008, 2010 – present) 12 years

World Goth Day

2011-06-28T03:09:00.000-07:00

World Goth Day originally started in the UK. BBC 6 was looking at a number of music subcultures on May 22nd 2009, two goth DJs got together DJ Cruel Britannia and Martin OldGoth and organised an event. It was decided that May 22nd would be the day when this event would be held regularly.

The tradition continued and spread outside the UK.

World Goth Day celebrates the sub cultural aspects of the Goth subculture, including fashion, music and art. Many of the events feature local Goth bands, and some have taken on a charity aspect, supporting the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, a charity that combat and prejudice and hatred against members of subcultures.

The event has seen celebrations all around the world, including in Australia, the UK, the US, Singapore, South Africa.
Great article on World Goth Day here:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2011/05/world_goth_day.php

Military influence on Subculture - When is it bad?

2011-05-11T06:01:00.000-07:00

Marilyn Manson screengrab from the fight song Filmclip. This is a Waffen SS Officer cap, with the TottenKopf(skulls) and German Eagle Insignia removed.

Metamaphose, and EGL (Elegant Goth Lolita) designer from Japan caused an uproar in the Lolita Fashion community, when they released this outfit, and some others. The uproar was based around the fact that they were supposed to resemble Nazi uniforms from WW2. In fact, they don't really resemble German uniforms at all, except for the German eagle insignia.

18th century military officers uniform influence in this gothic outfit. "Military Style Jacket" from Horrorshop.

Not so subtle SS Officer uniform with trenchcoat on a Japanese girl, including the SS cap.

I was at a alt fashion show, Circa Nocturna, and one of the designers had some military influence in her work. Most of it was German Wehrmacht, German Waffen SS and some Russian Military uniforms from the same era. Interestingly the designer herself was Russian.

An odd thing happenned. My older friends, in their early 40's and late 30's, were apparently quite unimpressed with the military references, mostly the Waffen SS (which I thought was prevalent in mainly one design) ones. I think some of them were going to walk out.

Howwever the majority of the crowd, who were generally younger, didn't seemed bothered by it...in fact, they couldn't work out what the issue was. Obviously to us older types, who grew up in WW2's after affects, are more affected by it. But I wasn't actually sure if the younger people there (1) were unfamiliar with the war and the symbolism of the uniforms or (2) were familiar with it, but didn't think it was an issue.

I myself was going to buy one of the jackets, but my Girlfriend (older) threatened to disown me if I did.

In any event, Subcultural fashion, and subcultural fashion worn on stage by musicians, loves to shock, and if you can get some shock out of referencing some thing that annoys people, then you may get your mediabytes from it. And in some cases, the only bad publicity is no publicity. Sex Pistols used swastikas on T shirts to annoy the public - they (or Malcolm Mclaren at least) were masters of shock publicity, and it made them what they were. Certainly Marilyn Manson also benefits from the shock value of military fashion.... and it fits with his general modus operandi of wearing whatever he has to the looks cool, but stil shocks. Ahhhh Mazza....bless your fishnet socks!

Are military uniforms sinister, or just historical influence on fashion though? How far back do we have to go before something is benign. Are WW1 uniforms ok, but not WW2 uniforms? Are 19th Century British redcoat uniforms Ok?. Are the German Uniforms from WW2 not ok, but the Russians ones fine? Are the Wehrmacht uniforms ok, but Waffen SS no good?

I don't have the answers to these things, my answer is that what is good to wear or not to wear may often be contextual. I like military influence on fashion, but at the same time, care should be taken to not deliberately offend. Certain countries take more offense than others... certainly Nazi Fashion seems not to offend some in South East Asia.

Military influence, or in this case, Nazi influence in subcultural fashion can

The Gothic Ruth - The Ruff in Goth Subcultural Fashion

2011-05-04T06:14:00.000-07:00

Goth Ruff as part of a Goth Elizabethan inspired outfit, from Gala Nocturna 2010.

2 Ruffs on Victorian Goth Outfits. Wave Gothic Treffen 2009. (c) Rachael Black
Goth Victorian Inspired outfit, with Ruff. WGT 2010 (c) Rachael Black
Ruffs at Wave Gothic Treffen. WGT 2010 (c) Rachael Black

Continental European goths have taken to the ruff to some degree, as part of their overall interest in historical fashion and acoutrement. The ruff can be seen in the goth subcultural context in two places, at Gala Nocturna a ball held yearly in Belgium, and also at the large Gothic Wave Treffen Goth festival. In particular, at WGT, the Victorian Picnic is the main event where historical fashion is flaunted.

Worldwide, these are probably the two main focal points for elaborate and the most exquisite fashion in the goth subculture. Certain German, Belgian and Bulgarian goths focus on the historical fashion and strive to make their outfits and makeup as elaborate as possible. Its within these groups you will see such a strong focus on historical style, within the general milieux of goth subcultural fashion.

Goth subcultural fashion in this form is rareley seen in Australia, the US or the UK, though it is not unlike some of the focus on elaborate historical clothing, in particular the Victorian era, amongst some Japanese subcultures.

Viona Ielegems has a strong focus on historical goth fashion, and ruffs are sometimes seen as part of her work. She makes her own outfits and photographs as well.

Gala Nocturna - held yearly in Antwerp, Belgium
http://www.gala-nocturna.com/

Wave Gothik Treffen held yearly in Leipzeig, Germany
http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/english/

WGT pics courtesy of Rachael Black (her blog is Fade to Black - the Art of Makeup )

The Ruff in Modern Couture.

2011-04-27T05:24:00.000-07:00

The amazing Viona Ielelegems - photographer and costumier. Features a range of historical influence in her work, including ruffs.

Modern Haute Couture Ruff. Gaultier, Westwood and pearls by Mikimoto. From Russian Vogue, 2010. Photographer: Sharif Hamza.

Ruff from Russian Vogue shoot. Pearls by Mikimoto, couture by Maidon Martin and Margiola Artisani. Photographer: Sharif Hamza.

Gareth Pugh's Ruff, for his Spring 2009 show.

Lady Ga Ga wearing a ruff on a flying Piano (...of course). Ruff and latex outfit by Atsuko Kudo.

Close up of ruff by Atsuko Kudo

What is a ruff? You may have seen portraits or portrayals of Queen Elizabeth wearing large cloth collars, generally white. Ahhh..those things! That's what a ruff is.

Ruffs were originally a decorative piece of material at the edge of a shirt, a small collar. Like a lot of fashion, they took on a life of their own, evolving to a larger size, and becoming a separate garment to be worn around the neck.

At their extreme they grew to be about a foot wide. They lasted about 100 years, roughly from 1550 to 1650....and lingered as clerical clothing and some cermonial dress.

More recently, Ruffs have made a reappearance with Lady Ga Ga, in some haute couture fashion, and the odd photoshoot. Design house Atsuko Kudo, who specialise in Latex wear, make Lady GaGa's ruffs. Each one uses a couple of metres of latex, because of the concertina nature of the ruff.

Gareth Pugh, like his fellow Brits Galliano and the late Alexander McQueen, takes influence from historical fashion. His spring 2009 show featured some black and white ruffs, as part of a number of ensembles.

Russian Vogue featured some Ruffs in a photoshoot of theirs - I have been trying to work out who the creator was, but my Russian isn't too good! :-). If someone can work it out, please tell me.
Ruffs are highly unlikely to be seen in the officeplace, or down the local nightclub, but can still make a fashionable presence on the catwalk and in high fashion photography...so the ruff would still be alive and kicking to some degree 500 years later.

Raver Fashion

2011-04-20T03:54:00.000-07:00

"What goes up, must come down" - Human Traffic

Old skool ravers in boiler suits

Cyber goth/ cyber ravers

Cyber ravers

I was talking to a rave wear designer friend of mine - the interesting conundrum, with ravers in Melbourne at least, is that there are thousands of people that attend raves, but not that many of them wear raver fashion - a lot of them wear normal clothes. In contrast, you may get 200 people at a goth club, or 300 people at a heavy metal gig....but everyone (bar the odd girlfriend who hasn't been converted yet) will be wearing the subcultural attire.

In Melbourne, this has led to the situation where there are far more goth shops for clothing, and a lot more goth designers, than there are for ravers...even though rave attendees outnumber goths 50 to 1. Largely, people going to raves don't get dressed up - they wear their mainstream clothing.

My immediate answer to this is, that raves and dance music are too successful - the club environment and music has left the distinct confines of its subculture and attracted attention from a lot of mainstream people. You see a similiar phenomenon with gay clubs...they get successful, straights start turning up, and then the gays have to move on. Raves get huge and successful, then the mainstream people move in. Goth clubs generally have pretty strict dress codes...and never seem to draw the mainstream crowd in large numbers anyway.

I did the rave thing, when I was young enough too......, mixing it with goth a bit. Rave clothing is pretty cool...and it always struck me that out of all the subcultures, rave clothing (and may be hip hop threads) connect to the music. Other subcultural clothing could often exist on it own, without music. Rave clothing only sort of makes sense in the context of dance music, that ravers listen to. Rave clothing, is also, really fun, and to a degree, pretty practical for dancing. Considering that some people will dance for hours at a time, and then off to another club for more dancing, it has to be.

Anyways, on to Rave Fashion. Like a lot of subcultural fashion, rave fashion has gone through changes, and has its subtypes.

The orginal ravers, from the Summer of Love 1992, bright colours, dummies, and whistles, boiler suits and chemical/dust masks.

Feral ravers, basically ferals that are at bush doofs, with a bit of augmented rave clothing. Modern day hippies.

Cyber ravers - a lot like cyber goths, with the falls, and may be big boots, but with lots of neon. And possibly bright makeup.

Individual items include phat pants, big glasses, fluffy furry leggings, runners good for dancing...and of course, glo sticks!

If you want to have a look at some interesting raver fashion, have a look at my buddy Fi's label, Vicious Klothing...I love her dino hoodies with the spikes. www.myspace.com/vicious_klothing

Contact! Contact Lenses in Rock Music and Subcultures

2011-04-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

Amazingly, contact lenses go back to 1888, when they were made of glass. Plastic ones were invented in the 1930's.

Contact lenses have actually been employed in movies since the 50's and 60's, generally for use in science fiction or horror themed movies or programs. Children of the Dammned, made in 1963 featured an array of unearthly creepy kids with identical contact lenses - "beware the eyes that paralyse".

Pete Burns from Dead or Alive, ever willing to experiment with fashion and to take a chance, was quite possibly the first musician to wear contact lenses as part of his rock persona...this shot of him wearing them is from 1981.

Of course.... the man who made the contact lens one of his signature effects is Mr Manson. Manson started wearing contacts regularly as part of his rock persona, from the "Smells like Children" era, 1994 onwards. In particular, he was known for wearing a light coloured lens in one eye, and his other eye normal. For many years after 1994, publicly it was pretty rare he was seen without Contacts.

Wes Borland from Limp Biscuit was always seen wearing contact lenses, from his early days in the band. He adopted a fantastic element to his on stage persona, wearing not only contacts, but often elborate costume and makeup. It was quite at odds with the rest of the band who wore relatively everyday hip hop/metal clothes.

Recently Lady Gaga, in her continued search for something to give her an edgier element, has started wearing contacts. Generally, she wears larger black ones.

Contact lenses are worn by many elements of subculture. Contact lenses are common amongst goths, though possibly more so industrial than traditional goths, and certainly Mansonites.

MANSON

2011-03-16T18:28:00.001-07:00

What do you say about Marilyn Manson?.

I was at one of his concerts, about 10 years ago, and a slightly older rock chic was there with her son, and said "its all been done before.... he's just a new version of Alice Cooper". In terms of alt fashion, makeup, stage presences, and music style, indeed there is a bit of truth in that....the shock element goes around and comes around. But I think to right him off as just another version of Alice is probably a bit of an understatement.

Manson does have a bit of a twist. He's a talented musician, but very much into the image of his band. His use of visual imagery on stage, on his album covers and in particular his direction of his video clips is almost a separate art form to his music.

He has given his own brand of art a name Celebritarian Corporation.Apart from his art, filmclips, and stage performance, he has spent some time producing a movie based on Lewis Carols "Alice in Wonderland". The clips released from this movie were disturbing enough to some of the public that it may have related to the project being put on hold indefinitely.

....the teaser trailer...and yeah, a tad controversial!!!!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xd21ii_phantasmagoria-the-visions-of-lewis_shortfilms

In terms of fashion, Manson has always gone for an industrial Goth look, and inspired a lot of goth fashion. His constant use of contact lenses (he is rarely seen without them) and his "red stripe over the eyes" is a well known look. HIs use of Nazi/fascist inspired black uniforms too is a Manson staple. Lots of pinstripes in suits. Waistcoats....top hats. A lot of his notable fashion hallmarks have made their way into goth wear during the 2000's.

I love his work, while he has not got the profle he once had, his combination of interest in fashion and art has always given me a lot of respect for him.
Go Mazza!

Myspace and alt fashion

2011-03-15T04:02:00.000-07:00

Man.... I need to spruce this blog up.... I still have Myspace pages on here.
I remember when Myspace for alt fashion, designers, modesl and photography was massive. Now its mostly bands and the owners (the packers I think?) are trying to sell it off at a bargain price.

Circa Nocturna 2011

2011-03-15T03:45:00.000-07:00

Once again, Circa Noturna http://circanocturna.com/ has been deployed to the alt fashion world. I helped with the 5 person org team to get this one up.... it wasn't easy, first time I have done it with a baby.

After 7 years, this is our last Circa at this size, we plan to make more regular CN events, at a smaller, boutique level.

Here are some pics from our Official Photographer, Mark Boyle, who does some great work. Lots of Circa Nocturna pics on the web, just do a Google search. We were very happy with the size, two shows of about 300 people each, so quite chuffed. Still didn't make that much money though.... too many cost blowouts.

If you are an alt fashion designer anywhere in the world, and would like to consider being in the show, give us a hoy!

Now, on to the pics.....

Ruffs!

2010-12-03T00:54:00.000-08:00

The amazing Viona Ielelegems - photographer and costumier. Features a range of historical influence in her work, including ruffs.

Gareth Pugh's Ruff, for his Spring 2009 show.

Lady Ga Ga wearing a ruff on a flying Piano (...of course). Ruff and latex outfit by Atsuko Kudo.

Close up of ruff by Atsuko Kudo

What is a ruff? You may have seen portraits or portrayals of Queen Elizabeth wearing large cloth collars, generally white. Ahhh..those things! That's what a ruff is.

At their extreme they grew to be about a foot wide. They lasted about 100 years, roughly from 1550 to 1650....and lingered as clerical clothing and some cermonial dress.

Patricia Morrison

2010-11-06T03:09:00.000-07:00

While Siouxsie Sioux was at the forefront of establishing a goth subcultural look for would be goths in the late 1970's, early 1980's.... Patricia Morrison was important for being a high profile goth female carrying on the goth look in Rock, when not many female goth musicians were active.

Patricia was the prominent lead singer in the Sisters of Mercy, starting from 1987. Along with Andrew Eldritch, she was a prominent Goth Muso in a band that had good success with songs like dominion, This Corrosion and temple of love.

The teased hair and goth eye makeup was no doubt a prominent influence on many goths.

She ended up marrying Dave Vanian from the Damned, joined his band, and still maintains a stylish goth look when she plays with them.

Patricia....*le sigh*

LunarMorph

2010-11-06T02:48:00.000-07:00

The two main alt fashion events in Australia are LunarMorph in Sydney and Circa Nocturna in Melbourne (which I have a bit to do with).

I havent got to Lunarmorph yet, and having a baby, may find it even trickier to get there these days, but have been following it, and it does seem to have evolved over the years into quite the event. Sydney has some great alt fashion designers, and they can put on a show. The first big alt fashion show in Australia, Edge City came from Sydney after all, so its fitting that a regular event is held there.

This years event was accompanied by an orchestra pit full of vintage syntesizers.
As is the current trend at the moment, the Lunarmorph parade was presaged by an associated steampunk event - Steampunk Symposium.

All this is part of the Under the Blue Moon Festival, a goth festival held in Australia, as well as part of Sydney Fringe Festival.

This years Lunarmorph featured a Melbourne buddy of mine, the delightful Dolly Q, plus a host of Sydney based designers. The full list was:

DESIGNERS
The Wild One
Gallery Serpentine
Matt Bylett
Dolly Q
Clockwork Butterfly
Of Air & Rubber
50ft Queenie
Tentacle Threads
Reactor Rubber & Furr Hair

Bit late for this year, but if you are anywhere near Sydney, keep Lunarmorph in mind for next year. Much more exciting that your average fashion show!

http://www.underthebluemoon.org.au/news/lunarmorph-2010-enmore-theatre

A brief history of Circa Nocturna

2010-09-07T02:57:00.000-07:00

Circa Nocturna. Circa is an alternative fashion show run in Melbourne, Australia. It has the honour of being Australia's longest running alt fashion event, and possibly the largest as well (though a little hard to tell - it all depends on how you measure it!).

Circa spawned after the realisation that there was a big alt fashion show in Sydney, but not one in Melbourne.

After briefly being dubbed Nightware, The show was called "Nocturnal Instincts". The Sydney inspiration had been Edge City which was then one of Australia's premier fashion shows, the Mercedes Fashion Week in Sydney. So we decided to hook the show up with a big show in Melbourne. L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival was very happy to have us on board as part of their arts programme.

The show's main point of difference from other catwalk was that it used alternative people and freaks as catwalk models, the people on the catwalk modelling the outfits were the sort of people that would wear the alt fashion, some of them were designers as well.

First show was at a club called Tatou in Melbourne, near Southern Cross Station. It only had space for a little stage, we had about 8 designers. The show did pretty well, thought it really suffered from having a smallish space and a short catwalk. As it was run at a club, the After Party (which was called Gothanistas) started as soon as we cleared the cat walk off the dance floor.

The second show in 2006 expanded out to a larger space. We opted for using a comedy Venue. This was a massive venue, capable of holding about 700 people, however, being a comedy venue, there was only backstage space for a couple of comedians to hang out in a little room and have a few pre show cigarettes. We had to build another area by hiring in temporary walls for all the models to get changed. This was expensive, but the night was still successful. The after party was held at the club.

By this stage we were looking to move away from a Goth specific theme, and were looking at showing off all types of alternative fashion. The name was changed to Circa Nocturna to reflect this. By 2007 we had outgrown Clubs and after much hunting around, decided to move it up a notch and get a larger venue, more suited for shows. We ended up at Northcote Town Hall. This was a great venue, had a small hall next to it which we used for practice, and had quite a nice bar. It was also quite close to where a lot of us lived. The only thing was, we were worried that moving the show out of the city into the North may damage it. We shouldn't have worried...the people followed. The show had grown to about 12 designers at this stage. This was the first year we experimented with a market, three of the designers set up tables in a room outside the show. Once again, the show was quite successful.

For the 2008 show we decided to move to another venue, the Fitzroy Town Hall. This also was a great venue, and we liked it so much we have been there ever since. I had been trying to get it for years, and it was always being renovated - so as soon as it was available we booked it. The 2008 show saw us split the designers into two groups, the established and the new designers. We also offered a prize to the best new designer.

2009 once again saw us use the same venue. By this stage we were getting some top nothc designers, including our first Foreign designer from Russia. We were also starting to get designers from all over Australia, with designers fly in from Perth and Brisbane and Canberra to be in the show. The 2009 show was once again a success and very popular, the after party being held at a nearby club. The day after the show a market was held, entitled Carnivale Nocturna - this was the first time we had done a second event. It was held the Sunday after the show, and while was moderately well attended, not as well attended as we hoped.

By this stage, the organising committee formed into Non Profit Incorporated Association. This mean the show became non profit, but we weren't doing it for the money anyway, and the Incorporate Assoc status protected the Managing Committee in terms of liability.

2010 was a brilliant show, and the first time a Catwalk wasn't used. Instead, the models walked on the floor. Raised seating was brought in so the audience could still see the models. The stage was set up with antiques fitting the era of the actual Fitzroy Town Hall itself (which dates to the mid 1800's).

And so, on to 2011!

Nasir Mazhar

2010-06-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

To call him a Milliner is probably a bit of an understatement. I have seen him described as a "Headwear designer"..which while vagueish, I think encompasses more of what he does. Nasir Mazhar designs go beyond the norm when it comes to hats....quite far beyond the norm.

And that is why he is he on the alt fashion blog.

Nasir Mzhar started doing hair at Vidal Sasson.He sought to extent what he was doing with the hair, by adding forms and peices to the hair to create structures that started to develop a life of their own. Teh structures very soon became headwear, irrespective of the hair itself, and he made the transition from cutting to sculpting wondrous pieces for the head.

Like a lot of designers (eg Galliano) he sees the importance of historical fashion, in this case the historical development of modern hats.

At only 26 years old, Mazhar has worked with the who’s-who of London’s fashion and Entertainment talents, including Mark Wheeler, Kylie Minougue, Gareth Pugh, Richard Nicoll and the Royal Opera House. He has even worked with historical headwear at the Globe Theater.

Most recently he did the headwear, a Borg-ish/steampunkish headpeice, with working retracting eyepieces, worn by Lady Ga Ga's in the filmclip for her latest tune Alejandro (or is it her song for her filmclip?)

Vale Alexander McQueen

2010-05-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

Alexander McQueen was not an alt fashion designer. Being the head designer at Givenchy, working at Gucci, and then starting his own label..he was in the mainstream side of fashion and very successful at it. However, his work, in my opinion had a cheekiness to it, an edge that was very similiar to the kind of spirit that alternative fashion has. And this most prominently in his catwalk stuff.
Reading about subcultural influence on fashion, McQueen's name is often mentioned as taking influence from goth fashion in particular (as is Gaultier's) for his catwalk range.
McQueen's catwalk shows were famous for their blitzkrieg effect, innovation and outrageousness. In particular the talk about his shows will no doubt recall the hats he used for his 2009 Paris show, his models wearing a Borat inspired Mankini in 2006, the use of huge 12 inch stilettos on the catwalk, Aimee Mullins the amputee model or his famous low slung Bumster jeans.
He also employed cute technology, inlcuding a hologram of Kate Moss taking to the runway for his "Widows of Culloden" show in 2006. And, possibly borrowing from Goth subculture, his use of skulls in fashion became famous and was copied widely. As Karl Lagerfeld said of him: “There was always some attraction to death, his designs were sometimes dehumanized.”
In particular, some of his use of metal couture was very inspiring. McQueen went out of his way to find interesting British artisans/designers to help accessorise his catwalk designs.
Vale Lee Alexander McQueen. The only consolation to your loss to this world is that you leave behind many people who you have inspired over the years with your fantastic, irreverent and ingenious work.

Apologies for no recent posts...

2010-05-12T06:47:00.001-07:00

Sorry - had some time off having a baby - will be getting back to writing about alt fashion shortly.
And my god, I will have to start filtering the comments, to get rid of the dodgy spam posters. Curse them!