(no subject)

[cupcake_goth]

Today in Trying To Reclaim Holiday Cheer, this afternoon is the traditional holiday shopping trip with Dad! I look forward to it every year. Of course, this tradition also involves me carefully selecting an outfit in the hopes of warding off "Oh, are you a caroler?" or "Steampunk, right?" comments from random passersby. (THE VICTORIAN ROMANTIGOTHS WANT THEIR FASHION BACK FROM THE STEAMPUNKS, OKAY?)

So, today's Shallow Fashion Details:

- Black tights, pink glitter boots.
- Long black ruffled skirt, worn over petticoats.
- High-collared blouse in a black/shiny black vertical striped fabric.
- All-black frock coat from Chicstar.
- Freshly-dyed pink & burgundy hair pulled back with black lace floof ties, and a black & white hair ornament that is decorated with replica quail skulls.
- Huge reliquary necklace that displays my wisdom teeth.
- Sterling silver crow claw necklace from Bloodmilk
- Glittery eye shadow, and dark burgundy lipstick.

... and I'll still get those comments, and I'll be very polite about them.

EDITED TO ADD: Dad just postponed our trip, as he's been coughing badly for almost 2 weeks, and IS GOING TO THE DOCTOR TODAY, which is a big deal because he's terrible about that sort of thing. (Guess where I learned my poor self-care skills from!) But that's still the outfit I'll wear when we do go out.

Comments

[chelseagirl]

I can remember being asked if I was a caroller back when I was a steampunk; I suspect the people asking about steampunks are so very proud of themselves that they've heard of it . . . which is odd, because everyone's heard of goths, right?

[cupcake_goth]

Unfortunately, most people think of goths as surly teens, so they're confused by grown-up goths.

[full_metal_ox]

If it's any consolation, at least some of the fans of period genre literature (and its literary deconstruction in the 1980's and 90's) would like steampunk back from the people pasting gears on brown stuff.

[cupcake_goth]

I fondly remember the literary deconstruction! And was somewhat confused when people decided that glued on gears + brown = steampunk. And goggles on top hats. Just ... grrrr.

(I admit that romantigoth vampire fashion is just as silly, but not quite as obviously costume-y.)

[full_metal_ox]

See, I'd long been a fan of the body of penny-dreadful and pulp literature compiled in the Wold-Newton Universe (I'm a swooning fan of pop-lit historian Jess Nevins) and been delighted by what was (then, in the mid-Naughties) the startling sepia-toned weirditude of Abney Park. I'm always in search of a metaphor to inhabit, and I'd had the notion that steampunk was going to be about pursuing the forgotten roots (and mutant branches, and surprising cross-pollinations) of the tropes of yesteryear, as well as a rough-and-ready DIY mentality.

Those attitudes do exist in the subculture, but the stereotype has become pasted-on gears and goggles that don't do anything* (with a troubling subcurrent of hey, weren't colonialism and imperialism awesome?)

*I've tried to find goggles that (A) fit over my prescription glasses,(B) actually provide UV protection (in situations short of welding or eclipse-viewing) without (C) looking too jarringly contemporary (matte black plastic could suggest gutta-percha or bakelite) (D) within my price range. It's been a sartorial snipe hunt.

[jengalicious]

I messaged Dad and he completely at what a butt he sometime is about this sort of stuff. But hey, going in so I don't care.

[solstice_lilac]

YOU WOULD THINK that if wearing nearly all black, with pink glitter, wasn't enough to deter any connection to holiday caroling, that accessorizing with skulls, claws, and your own teeth would do the trick. But NO...

This outfit sounds amazing BTW!

And I'm glad your Dad is doing the right thing and seeing a doctor for that cough. Hopefully it is quickly and easily remedied!

[staxxy]

he has been a lot better about going to the doctor this year. And I know Patty has been helping him with both doing good things and not doing too much. They started going for walks at different parks when it was still warm enough to do so, and i know he sometimes goes for a walk on his own too, when she is not up for it.

At least there is progress of a sort. *sigh*

[sistawendy]

Love the SFDs!