Polka dot gothic Matryoshka for sale

I love Matryoshkas and this one is gorgous. It is for sale at the Through the Looking glass blog. Contact the designer, if you are interested.
This is the link: http://mothmouth-throughthelookingglass.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/polka-bow.html

Happy 100th anniversary, Charles Addams!

The american cartoonist known for his particularly dark humour and macabre characters would have been 100 years old today, being born the 7th of January, 1912.
Google commemorates his bday with a funny logo of his iconic "family".

I love the original newspaper cartoons and I loved the films (the ones with Angelica Houston and Christina Ricci, note!). Who was your favourite character? I loved Morticia (as a fashion icon) but my favourite was Wednesday. 

Victorian Gothic literature - "The Grave - A Poem"

I came across this beautiful blog (Graphicsfairy) through another very inspiring blog called jasminstudiocrafts. If you are an artist/designer who works with mixed media, it is always very grateful to find people who collect amazing stuff and don't mind to share it for free. I have seen people on places like for example etsy, charging for images that
a. have not been manipulated or "worked" by themselves
...and B. they are clearly free and copyright-free because I had already seen them somewhere else before.
Anyway, among beautiful "halloween" and lots of other victorian pictures, engravings and illustrations. The following two got my attention.
They belong to a book published in London in 1808. Titled "The Grave, a poem", it features pictures depicting dead bodies with their respective souls. The one below, it says:
"The soul hovering over the body reluctantly parting with life...how wishfully she looks on all she's leaving, now no longer her's"
I have to point out that the cover of the book has been slightly "photoshop-ed" by the the blogger (She covered the genitals of the man with a leaf, as he was completely naked in the original cover) I don't mind her doing that but I have to say, I find that strange, very un-typical of victorian times actually, as they used to cover anything they could....
I wonder how many celtic carvings have been sabotaged in the name of "modesty"!.

Have a look at these two blogs, they deserve a visit.
http://jasminstudiocrafts.blogspot.com/
http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

Insect jewellery by Robin Charlotte

RobinCharlotte jewellery is about decay and preservation of natural creatures including birds' skeletons, insects and sea creatures. All set in resin, beautifully decorated with vintage findings, stones and metals.

The artist is an L.A. based designer called Robin Humphrey, whose beautifully dark work is been featured in several magazine including Vogue.

Following my previous post about insects, I thought it would appropiate to post a couple of pics of her work. I really liked it as soon as I saw it.

I love the idea of insects trapped in a beautiful golden bubble of amber or captured in the depths of a romantic faceted clear stone. And, as I said in the previous post, some insects are beautiful enough to be preserved in a unique piece of jewellery and be admired for a while...

Here is the link to her website, she also has an etsy shop.
http://www.robincharlotte.com

Gothic+Vintage millinery

Happy new year and happy new decade! Sorry I haven't been posted, quite busy during christmas and still in the process of working out what I will be making for the next season. But before I spill anything I thought it would be nice to keep you posted with anything dark/vintage related that catches my attention.
I came through this artist via the AnotherMag newsletter. As soon as I read the fist lines of the article, I fell in love with her. She's a milliner (and artist/designer in other disciplines too) who is obssessed with Vintage and the Dark and! she is friends with an icon of this blog, Dita VT.
Here is the article:

At 5ft 6in in dainty heels, vintage furs, a vivid smudge of red lipstick across her alabaster complexion and hair upswept into a silk scarf; Stephen Jones’ head of atelier, Adele Mildred is a vision that harks back to a more glamorous era. “I’m obsessed with vintage films and glamour so I try to live it,” agrees Mildred over tea in the appropriately genteel surroundings of the Covent Garden Hotel, “I like the silent films from the 1920s and 1940s. I think everything started going downhill in the '60s — those damn miniskirts and go-go boots! I feel people don’t dress as carefully as they should be and I make sure I set time aside.”

She started as a fashion designer and then branched out to do paintings, costumes and then millinery by incorporotaing herself into Stephen Jones' team. Needless to say, her work is darkly beautiful. Very similar to the very dark stuff that McQueen did in his very early collections.

www.adelemildred.com

Loving the Dark doesn't mean loving to be dead.

While everyone in the fashion world are still coming to terms with McQueen's death, tributes to his persona are being held in most of the key fashion places such as the fashion weeks (London and NY so far...) and London department stores such as Libertys.
Mcqueen was one of my favourite designers because he was a master of theatrical and phantasmagorical outfit and stage creations. A master of the Haute Macabre. He combined a complex and amazing mix of haute couture out-of-reality pieces with wearable elements. Obviously, his creations (at one time very very gothic and alternative) became stated, commercial -yet still creative- pieces that some people confided me that were mostly made by students and apprentices....

Because of his death, there are some testimonials that have brought out, yet again, some false stereotypes about Goths and other Dark enthusiasts, like me, like McQueen! and I want to clarify them. I am sure most of you who read this blog will agree, but as usual, I welcome and encourage! any comments or opinions. For instance, I have read that Karl Lagerfeld said:
"There was always some attraction to death, his designs were sometimes dehumanised..."
"Who knows, perhaps after flirting with death too often, death attracts you," he apparently added.

No Goth, I think, or at least the few I have met in my life are dreaming of killing themselves. An enthusiasm for the Dark, means just that. There are cases and there always will be of people who are attracted to the Dark because they are depressed (or freaks!), so they find it easier to connect with Gothic because they already are "living in the gloom" but that is not usually the case! I have always loved Gothic and I didn't know such a thing existed as concept until I met two girls in high school and told me..."actually, this thing you like and admired so much is called Gothic".. Back then and still now, I have no intention of killing myself, despite still enjoying having quiet walks down the cemeteries, admiring the gorgeous stonegraves.
McQueen was in a state of depression, he even left a note, and his mum (the closest person to him in life, it has been stated) was just gone. I bet you that when he did kill himself, the last thing he would be doing was choosing what fabric would go in his coffin. There is nothing romantic about Death, Robert Smith once said. How true....


Here is the blog where I got this wonderful picture:
http://thegothicclothing.com/archives/alexander-mcqueen-style

Here is the article if you want to read more:
http://uk.fashionmag.com/news-88216-British-fashion-designer-McQueen-hanged-himself

Gothic dark pin-ups

Happy new year to everyone! Specially to all of us who are here in the UK (and probably Ireland too) where the weather is being......crap. Beautiful wonderland themed landscapes but a nightmare to walk, drive or cycle on. Anyway, now is the best moment to do some online shopping and discover new artists and places! without risking of falling victim of a very slow and painful death, due to hypothermia.
As usual, one of my favourite places is the online community ETSY (www.etsy.com).

Here is my last descovery: gothic dark pin-ups. Yes! You heard well, anything that is vintage, dark or even better (and it applies to this case) vintage+dark related, if it is noticed, will have its mention on The Black Wardrobe's blog.
The artist in question is called Andrea, she is irish but living in Manchester, UK (basically next door from me!)
Although I found out about her on Etsy, she has her own website: www.andreakett.co.uk
She is an illustrator that specializes in pin-up themed illustrations, but all of them have a slightly dark twist to them. They are very colorful, elegant, sexy and gothic themed. Very burtonian style.

She states on her website that..."Her inspiration comes from many different sources:1920s-1950s.the music of The Cramps,the Tigerlillies ,eighties glam rock, vintage pin-up girls,burlesque,cake decorating books,horror films,fairy tales,afternoon tea,Fellini films,Jan Svankmajer,Beatrix Potter, Naughty Victoriana,Agatha Christie and lashings of Enid Blyon".
You can buy her art from her etsy site. Happy shopping! but don't forget to check out my site...:)

Enchanting earrings

Etsy.com is always a very inspiring place to be and browse (I used to place my items in there before having my own website) but shame that everything can only be posted in US dollars only. Anyway, everynow and again you find an artist that really really inspires you. This case is been a little shop called Peresephoneplus. This company makes gorgeous earrings, all enamelled images framed within filigree frames, finished with little hanging drops such as crystals or gothic charms such little bats. Here are some pics of my my favourite ones.

http://www.persephoneplus.com/
http://www.persephoneplus.etsy.com/

Gothic art

I came across this artist that I think she really needs to be mentioned, specially, if you are a Mark Ryden or Tim Burton fan!

Natalie Shau is a talented young digital artist from Lithuania. She specialises in blending photo manipulation, 3D design and digital painting to create her often creepy, gothic doll, fairytale figures. Natalie’s inspiration for these renditions comes from lowbrow artists such as Ray Caesar, Trevor Brown and Mark Ryden. Her style is a macabre to grotesque “baby art,” heavily influenced by religious imagery and fantasy art.

The image on the left is called Carousel for Birthday.
www.natalieshau.carbonmade.com

You can find more info and read about other artists on this link: http://www.dexigner.com/jump/news/18318