One for the (retro) boys

I came across this post through a google search. "The Husband: the american gentry", is a book for all gents out there who want to know about old fashion etiquette.
Its full title is The American Gentry, The Handbook of Class and Distinction of the Modern Day Gentleman.
It will be on my St Valentine's hot-list. He loves Mad Men....

Black glossy wellies for your dark outfit in the snow

The weather in the UK is getting snowy, it started in the North and East and now it has spread across the rest of Britain. Weather forecasters say it will get worst. SO now it is time to get some wellies (if you don't have mountain boots) before you fall and break your nose.
I don't need glossy black wellies but I want these!! I already have a pair of matt black wellies, it took me ages! to find them as all wellies are colorful happy-go-blindy, with the brightest rainbow inspired colour-scheme I have ever seen outside of a kidswear department. Somehow, someone assumed that wellies are just for kids. This is the same issue I see happening to alternative fashion too. Why everything out-of-the-norm is meant to be just for anyone below the age of 20?!
I, as a walking being, do need wellies as well that will complement my black outfit. I am short (around 155cms/5'1"), I don't want to wear something that'll make my legs look shapeless and much shorter than what they already are!
Therefore, I didn't discourage and didn't stop searching till I found my lovely plain go-with-everything black wellies....in a menswear department.
I was lucky, apparently some men are a shoe size 39(EU) / 6(UK) .
I love these wellies. Needless to say that they are menswear...(f###ing hell!), Only sizes 7 and 8 (UK) are available, so if you are fortunate/unfortunate to have big feet, grab them while you can. So far, walking on the snow hasn't been as traumatic as last year. But one more thing...Do not make the same mistake, as I've done, of wearing them with soft light socks. Wear them with very chunky fluffy socks. Otherwise, it will be agony to walk with them, they digg into your ankles when you try to twist your feet to go up/down the stairs or to just walk!
This is the link: http://www.go-british.co.uk/men_en/hunter-original-gloss-black.html

Gothic make-up tips: smokey eyes

As I promise in my last post (Gothic make-up tips for the summer), I have arranged a post about how to do smokey eyes.
It can be done with all the colours you can think of, but still, the most popular option is black and its closest shade, charcoal. You can go for the dry look or the wet one. I tend to go for the wet look in summer.
I have found two very interesting tutorials which are very similar in technique but with slight changes.

(Pictures with explanations)
http://neeshu.com/Women/Girls-Zone/how-to-make-smoky-eyes-dark-eye-shadow.html

(YouTube video of fellow blogger "TheMakeUpGirl")
http://themakeupgirl.net/2009/01/how-to-all-you-need-for-smokey-eyes/


The main focus is: you apply black paste or paste for eyeliner (picture2, MAC has a wonderful one that I use on its own and as an eyeliner) and powder eyeshadow (to keep it on place and avoid the hideous lines of excess pigment sitting on the wrinkles of your eyelid).
The trick with black eyeshadow is to smudge it softly at the end of the eyelid and on the corners. Otherwise, it would look messy and unfinished. You can achieve this by doing it softly with either a brush or your fingers... or in this tutorials, using a second shade wich is closer to your skintone. It could be brown or a lighter shade such as cream or white and it is applied before the black colour.

As I had already said, I tend to go for the wet smokey look in the summer. Either I use this black paste on its own (which is quite tricky because is not oily, is dry) or I use the "multi-effect" eyeshadow from Manhattan cosmetics. This eyeshadow gets a bit more intense and shinier when you wet it with a bit of water.







What these tutorials don't tell you and I will, because you MUST know this. Keep a tissue (with make-up cleanser) close to you because when you apply the black eyeshadow some bit of the powder will fall on your cheek and once you rub it, you get your skin all smudged in black. What I use to prevent this, is an special brush that you can find everywhere. It is used to apply powder as well, but the good thing is that will sweep the eyeshadow away without staining the skin. It is usually very wide and has the shape of a flat fan.

Gothic make-up tips for the summer (olive skin)

Here is the kind of post that my followers love to bits: fashion tips! Everytime I do one, it seems like half of the internet stops by to check it out. The visits go through the roof!

One of the main problems of Gothic fashion is that is a winter fashion. For british goths/goth enthusiasts or people who live in Britain, this is not a big problem; as summer doesn't exist here. However, for the rest of the world, specially in the Mediterranean, this becomes a huge huge problem. So, after so many requests, I am starting my new fashion tips series: Gothic fashion for the summer. This post will cover some make-up tips for olive skin, as this is the tricky one, and no-one seems to have bothered with the subject.

During summer, I don't know if this is your case, I cannot wear full make-up because the sweat will sweep it away. Therefore, the old school trick of applying talc or white powder to make you look paler doesn't work anymore. It is time to confront the golden sun-tan your skin is achieving and embrace it. This means, either leave it plain, naked; or use a blush to accentuate it (pastel or deep 80s style strawberry shades)

I am pretty sure, you must be wondering how you can still achieve that "dark" look, then? You can still dramatise your eyes with deep eyeshadows and/or deep make-up. It is not going to look as edgy as it would on a fair skin person. It would look slightly more harmonious as your skin is already dark and any light shades you apply to it, it would absorbe them.


These are the options I can think of:

SMOKEY EYES
(deep make-up on the eyes, and that's it - no dark lips, no shade on cheeks). It doesn't have to be always black or grey. You can still achieve amazing dark results with other deep colours such as gold, turquoise or deep blues (I'll do a post about).

However, with the black or grey colours, you can achieve the exact density of pigment you want on your eyes.
You can make it soft so the eyeliner stands more or for a daily look (see picture1) or you can make it properly pitch black (see picture3), however this one is extremely difficult to apply because is incredibly messy. So while I am writing this post I am arranging the next one, which will be about its -several- methods of applying.


DARK FULL MAKE-UP
Because your skin is of an olive shade (due to sun tan or genetically), you can get away with a full make-up look, during the sunny day.
I have broken down this idea in two further options you could go for:
red lips - for a classier look but still looking very vamp (picture2),
dark lips - for an edgier and alternative look. These can be black or any other extremely deep shade of red and purple such as aubergine (picture3).

As you can see, both full make-up looks work well with either soft blush or deeper strawberry shade.

Fabric care, acrylic jersey.

People keep asking me how to look after the fabrics with care, specially if they are black, as dye is very easy to wear off with time or washes. This is why I am going to start to recopilate posts with fabric care instructions and I will link them to my pieces' descriptions pages on my website. I think that would be very useful for shoppers as it will give them an idea of what kind of texture to expect. As usual, if anyone is still unsure, I will welcome enquiries, via email or phone.

The first fabric I will speak about is jersey, acrylic jersey, to be more specific, as most of my pieces are made of this comfortable and extremely versatile fabric.

Acrylic is a fine, soft and luxurious fabric with a good drape-able quality. It gives warmth without weight. It is basically a fantastic substitute of wool but without being too hot so you can actually wear it throught Spring and even in the early days of Summer.

Acrylic fabric was first developed by DuPont in 1944 and in 1950 it was commercially produced for the first time. Initially it was used for outdoor purposes but now is commonly used in apparel too.

Characteristics of Acrylic Fabric, very similar to wool:

It is lightweight, soft and warm.
It dyes well. It absorbs and releases moisture quickly thus allowing the fabric to "breathe".
It is resilient, strong, flexible. It retains its shape (which makes it excellent to ironing, it is very sensitive to heat so whatever shape you want to apply with the iron, it will adopt it and keep it).
It resists shrinkage and wrinkles. (It still does wrinkle, though, but it is extremely easy to iron, I prefer to steam it. That way is easier and quicker).
It is resistant to moths, oil, chemicals, and sunlight degradation. (Good news for all of those who like to wear plenty of black under the sunlight).
Like most of synthetic fabrics, it is static. And, like wool, it can suffer from piling and abrasion problems. So if you want to keep your item looking like brand new for longer, you can opt for dry-cleaning instead of cool washing.