Gothic hairstyles, does curly hair need to be dark?

A comment by one of my readers, Sexy Sadie, made me think. In response to the post Gothic hairstyles, can curly hair look good with your gothic outfit? She commented: "I think curly hair can be gothic, but it has to be dark hair".

Well, not necessarily. As with any other "look", it is the combination of elements (makeup, hair, accessories, clothing -including colours, textures and shapes-) what defines the overlook of it or the "theme". Someone completely dressed in black doesn't always look "gothic", so curly or wavy hair doesn't always need to have that romantic and sweet flair into it either....

Obviously, black or dark colour hair would make the overall dramatic effect come across easier, especially to someone who has a very sterotypical view about Gothic fashion, however, I still believe and I have already expressed this in my post, black raven hair (straight!) it can be too tiring!!!

As another reader pointed out, the character of Lestat the Vampire (played by Tom Cruise) is blonde and with curly hair. Does that make him look less "gothic" or sinister?

Take as an example the first picture, is from Aquascutum ( a fashion label with no relation or interest whatsover into dark or gothic themes). The model looks very dramatic. Why?
Well defined eyes in a very dark and smokey dark eye-shadow, sharp wine coloured lips, well defined figure thanks to a very beautifully tailored outfit, in this case a coat. The hair is curly! And is not either black raven or vamp red, is a brown golden dark colour and she still looks beautifully dramatic!

Let's take another example: bright blonde hair. The most difficult case, in my opinion.
Here is a picture of Jean Paul Gaultier's Winter collection for 2006. It is very phantasmagoric, I have to say, but I like because they didn't stick into black hair in order to create that romantic dark look. There is no need to say that it works because of the make-up and the clothes!

Retro is back!

After having apeek to the last catwalks, I'm so thrilled for this winter to come! (I've never been a summer person ayway....maybe 'cause I'm spanish and sunlight is not a big deal to me).

Anyway, after last winter's doom and gloom we will still expect more drama but this time with a stronger vintage "allure". As I said in my previous post, the current crisis shares too many similarities with the Great Depression (hence the strong 1930s influences in next winter's collections). If you look carefully at some collections the silouettes, textures and colours are very depression like. Even so more than the characteristic opulent Old Hollywood style of the same era. If you don't know what 1930s fashion is exactly, I will explain it in my next post.

For the moment, enjoy this very 1930s-Film Noir dramatic picture on the left.

(picture of the gorgeous burlesque performance Lydia LoveLace, photographed by Nik Pickard). (Hope they don't mind that I use this stunning picture)

I suddenly became a Goth.....part 5

Remember my "suddenly became a Goth" series"? Well, I didn't know I would find more "chapters" to add to the series :)
I don't really know if this chapter is legitimate but I just can't help thinking that the new look is dark enough to fall into not the proper goth but at least "dark" category.

I-ve always been a fan of Scarlett Johansson-s look. I love retro (1930s-1940s plus victoriana) and her looks are never too much colorful, au contraire, she usually plays with pastels (that-s why I-m not a big fan of the 50s although I can say that I still like it...).
Miss Johansson has paired her stylist (whoever he/she is, is doing a very good job) with D&G and you can see the result: strange, well, quite unusual. It is femenine, it is glamorous, it is rich and voluptous but very very dark indeed.
Why did this happen to....her?
Well, Gothic or dark will still be a big thing for next winter (due to the gloomy economical situation) but also retro, 1930s retro, to be precise due to the similiarities of this recession with the one from 1929. So I think that-s why miss Johansson's stylist has decided to embrace the dark side of retro.

You might still be wondering why Johansson looks "dark"? Well, here are some clues:

Firstly, the hair: that beautiful ginger/auburny colour is very very dramatic enough. It is one of the right shades to emphasize the already pale skin and accentuate her facial features. (Remember my post: Gothic make-up tips: an alternative to raven-black hair?). IF you have pale skin, any dark shade of hair will do the same job so, there is no need to go the raven hair to get that goth look.

Secondly, the makeup: those feline eyes, those bright red lips that look as she just had a glass of blood....It is retro makeup indeed. However, combining retro make-up plus pale skin tend to result to be a certain look:VAMP. And what is a vamp? A mix between a dominatrix and a vampire, a femme fatale! Which is the whole concept behind the female goth look.

Thirdly and last: black lace! There no need to say more. She couldn't have gone any more stereotypical. That stunning hugging figure outfit it only helps her to look even more vamp than what she already looks.
And she looks gorgeous....

New items for March!

Here is my latest item for March, hope you like it!
It is a 1940s style jersey dress, very retro and feminine, with a wide skirt (not full circle but a third circle) that is over-knee length.
The neckline is beautifully framed with a satin bow and straps, all edged with chiffon that is been hand pleated.
It is for sale from THE BLACK WARDROBE website (look for the picture, on the left side of this blog for a link) and you can also find it at the Rose and Anchor boutique (my stockist) in Liverpool.
It is £69.00

http://www.theblackwardrobe.com/product/1940s-style-dress-with-front-bow-20

New items for February!

I-ve just finished a couple of items that you can find on my website.
They are heavily retro influenced, very 40s vamp look.
They are both fitted pencil skirt dresses, below-knee length -which is a length that flattens everyone, unless you have long legs because it will make them look even longer-.
Anyway, as you can see, the neckline is beautifully framed with pleated chiffon that I have hand pleated myself (yes, one by one, my neck was killing me by the time I finished it...). The red dress is made out of cotton and the black one is made of jersey. Hope you like them.
Here are the links:
http://theblackwardrobe.com/product/cotton-dress-with-ruffled-neckline-17

http://theblackwardrobe.com/product/jersey-dress-with-ruffled-neckline-

Glamourous draped front soft-jacket

Hi everyone! I-ve just finished a beautiful jacket so I was dying to post the pics on the blog.
As you can see, it is a very feminine and flattering jacket with the "somehow retro feel" trademark of TheBlackWardrobe... ;)
It has a beautiful waterfall of drapes at the front than can be cinched with a satin ribbon and the neckline is adorned with a discrete frill of satin (lined with jersey).
It will look perfect on a pencil skirt or any other fitted bottoms. It's on sale on the website for £60. (plus £8 shipping for Europe, for overseas, please ask). It is handmade by me (like everything else).
There are more pics on the website, have a look, give feedback or place an order!
theblackwardrobe.com

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day,
from The Black Wardrobe!

Gothic hairstyles, can curly hair look good with your gothic outfit?

Happy new year to everyone! I hope everyone is still commiting to their new year resolutions...Mine is to update this blog more often! (I think you would be happy of hearing that and probably thinking: "about time!" :p)
Anyway, one of my gothic readers was asking me tips for curly hair and I have been thinking and reached the conclusion that I must write a post about it. Does curly hair go with the Goth look? I straighten mine OR I go for the wavy 40s look. But what about the 100%curly hair?
When you think of Goth and then curly hair....what does it come straight to your mine?....Well, Helena Bonham Carter, wh0 is not a good reference because she is a clear example of how not to dress and on top of that, curly hair (which is already difficult to style, in my opinion) emphasizes even more her "tramp-y" look and it reinforces my theory that curly hair is not a very "gothic" look. It doesn't go with the sophistication and groomness that Goth requires and! very important, is a very warm and "virginal" look (if you think about it, Angels are always associated with blonde little curls) that is completely the opposite of the straight, sharp lines of black raven hair-do.

There are very differents ways to wear curly hair. You can give a romantic/mystic air to it by keeping it long and simple. This way, because of the weight, the curls will be very easy to manage and style and they tend to get bigger. However, prepare yourself to spend long time washing it, drying it and looking after it. It will be so long that the whole experience it might even take you to mystical levels!
This length doesn't tend to get as frizzy as shorter lenghts, however it dries much much easier so you will need to use conditioner in EVERY single washing and I would suggest you to get a very good leave-in serum to apply after every wash. (I like the one by Swartzkopf -a small pink tube, it is very creamy but not greasy). The spray formats don't work, so please, don't even consider buying one. I have tried them all and they are shite, it is like leaving your hair without nothing on it.


For all those corporate Goths or people who can't be arsed to spend an hour in the shower, there are other possibilities to keep the problem to the minimum. Either you can cut it simple (one whole lenght) to your shoulder (just above of it or a bit under BUT never finishing just on the shoulder or it will not fall gracefully because the bone is on the way)
A very good example of this look is the haircut that Michelle Pfeiffer has in Batman Returns, (the look is SO minimal, beginning of 90s, I know!) However, after over a decade, I still like it! Specially, the idea of wearing not soft make up but harsh-feline eyes which kills the cheesyness of the hair-do (I still think that this length could still look a bit early teenage)





Option B is to wear layers. If they are done properly, they will really revive any hair. You see, the problem of wearing one lenght hair (short or long) is that the curls tend to die on the roots (because they can't support the weight) so you look somehow stupid. The secret is to have very big layers (or you will end up looking like a mushroom with hair all over the place) always starting from just under the jar (this way, it's easier to keep under control because you can tie it all in a pony tail or keep it behind your ears with a nice pin).


After all these tips you must be thinking "okay, nice haircuts but I want to look more groomed and sophisticated, what else do I-ve got?"
Well, option A -the obvious one- is to re-shape your curls professionally, with rollers. That means curlying your hair again. (or you think all those fantastic curls you see on telly are natural? NOOOO! Even Andy Mcdowell has hers done professionally for those adverts. Those curls are too perfect, they don't exist). Obviously, what lots of people do, taking advantage that they can choose a new hairdo, they go for softer and bigger curls, resulting in a retro 1940s look or just very big waves. However, if you still want to keep your small curls, I would suggest a very nice up-do which, in my opinion, are much more impressive with curly hair. I Like the one that Eva Green has. She looks elegant, groomed and gorgeous!

crystal spider brooches

One of the very first things I started to play with was creating fimo spiders. I still love the idea and you wouldn't believe how far I-ve arrived! I-m very proud to show the last ones I-ve made. The crystal one has over 140 tiny crystal rhinestones I-ve incrustated one by one and then was finished with a layer of acrylic. It is for sale on my website (theblackwardrobe.com) for £15
here is the link: http://theblackwardrobe.com/product/big-spider-brooch-12

My flyers

Here are two pics of my flyers. I've forgotten to mention the artists names who made posible these beautiful pictures! (Here's the link, if you want to have a look)
http://the-black-wardrobe.blogspot.com/2008/10/black-widow-collection.html

Photography: Ian Mountain

Make-up: Laura Corcoran

Hair stylism: Rachel Flaherty

Please, have a look at my website and let me know what you think! My items are also availabe at the Rose and Anchor boutique, in Liverpool.

Steampunk, ever heard of it?

If you are into victorianesque, you might have already heard of Steampunk.

If you are into Jules Verne or any other "visionaire" work you might be a fanatic of it.

I had never heard of it until I reached, by curiosity, a myspace site, owned by "The Girls of Steampunk".

Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set inVictorian era, England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of "the path not taken" of such technology as dirigibles or analog computers; these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or a presumption of functionality.
Steampunk is often associated with cyberpunk and shares a similar fanbase and theme of rebellion, but developed as a separate movement (though both have considerable influence on each other). Apart from time period and level of technological development, the main difference between cyberpunk and steampunk is that steampunk settings usually tend to be less obviously dystopian (?? no idea what the context means) than cyberpunk, or lack dystopian elements entirely.
Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual craftpersons into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical "steampunk" style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk.

(text taken from Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk

"The Girls of Steampunk" (myspace) profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=379792284

Basically, in my opinion, Steampunk seems to be about giving a retro feel to objects, mainly digital/electronic. But not the usual 20th retro feel but victorian look. The best resume about Steampunk I've found so far is on thesteampunkhome.blogspot.com

"I believe that Steampunk is more than just brass and watchparts. It's finding a way to combine the past and the future in an aesthetic pleasing yet still punkish way. It's living a life that looks old-fashioned, yet speaks to the future. It's taking the detritus of our modern technological society and remaking it into useful things. Join me as I search for items for my house that combine the scientific romanticism of the Victorians with our real present and imagined future."

Siren evening gown

If you are looking for a "look-at-me" dress for this christmas or just for a very glamouours night. I think you might LOVE! this dress. It's been for sale on the boutique since last week and I think the retail price is around £95.

It's completely elastic. Made with jersey (medium thick, not see-through, 100%acrylic) and gorgeous european lace (from Nottingham), I don't where exactly from, as the mill has closed down so now this fabric has become a little treasure. The neck is finished with satin at the back, and the middle panel on the bust and waist is gathered. It is high-waisted with long puff sleeves.

Size? The same size as all my dresses, medium/large.

(87cms bust, 70cms waist, 95cms hips). But it stretches very widely so if you are slightly wider, don't worry because it would still fit you like a glove (that's the brilliant thing about elastic fabrics).

Here's the boutique address and phone number:
66 Wood st.

L1 4AQ-Liverpool

(0151 7073590)