Hey - here's a public post that is more upbeat. lisettelaroux  sent me the pics we took with her camera of the outfits we wore while out clubbing Halloween night (apologies for the quality of the pictures - it was dark, and we forgot to take pictures earlier):



That's me and my girl - I'm in a vintage (roughly 1900-1920 - somewhere in that timeframe, I think) vest and tails, a spiderweb bodysuit, and thrift store skirt and boots (the boots were a real score), and she's in a vintage early 1950s cocktail dress and a 1980s men's smoking jacket, with a bought wig and stomping boots.  She looked awesome in the wig - the hairstyle really suits her. 

Smoking indeed:


That's lisettelaroux , pinkleader  as Snow White (with apple), and me.

You can't see it but I'm wearing a pair of welding goggles on my head, basically as an inside joke between the three of us that I must be steampunk, because I'm in a tailcoat and I'm wearing goggles.

Welding goggles were big on the goth scene long before steampunk.  I'm just sayin'.

I love wearing my vintage collection (and having other people wear it) - only a couple of my pieces are really museum quality, so it makes more sense to me to continue wearing these beautiful clothes instead of letting them languish in a closet forever - so I basically forced Lisette to wear the cocktail dress, even though the fabric in the skirt is slowly shattering (she was worried she'd hurt it). I can halt the splits for now, but honestly, someday it's going to fall apart all on its own no matter what, so why not wear it now? And what could be more goth than pairing it with an awesome brocade jacket?

As for my coat and tails, there's a great story that goes along with them - for vintage collectors, anyway. There's a really good antique mall just minutes from my apartment, and when it was in its previous location (a few more minutes from my place), they had a "bargain room" where bits and pieces from various dealers went to die. Mostly it was crap (Dawson's Creek plastic lunchbox missing the thermos, sporting what look like teeth marks on the handle, and covered with stickers, anyone?), but I always checked the clothing, just in case. One day I went in, and there was this only slightly motheaten set of tails and vest with a little piece of paper pinned to it that said "free".

"Free?!" I said, and took it up front. "Free?!" I said, and "Free", they confirmed. Aside from needing to darn some of the bigger holes (no problem - I learned darning at my Grandmother's knee) and put new buttons on the vest, it was awesome. and because it was made for a young (about 12-13 year old) boy, it fit me. Perfectly.

I figure I've used up a good three-quarters of my vintage shopping Karma on that one piece (and the rest on a 1930s silk wedding gown in perfect condition that I got for $30), but it's okay - I love that thing.

I don't think the dress Lisette is wearing cost me that much, either - maybe $40.

It's funny, but I'll balk at paying $40 for a modern dress, but I'll happily plunk down that much for a vintage piece.

I've dated that dress to the early 1950s because of the style, the type of zipper, and the fact that it zips on the side - later pieces from that decade are back-zipped more of the time. It's possible it's a teeny bit older (1948-9), since the US didn't have rationing shortages like the UK did, and the "New Look" dresses hit the stores earlier.

All I know is my mother would have killed for a dress like that in the early 1950s when she was working in London. :)

pinkleader , of course, being a complete overachiever, made her outfit. And dyed her hair. And Lisette sent me a great picture of the two of us standing together, so you can see how damn short I really am:



I'm in platform 4" heels, and I'm still shorter than her.

It was an awesome night, including the band - Ego Likeness - that played in the middle.  I bought one of their CDs (The Order of the Reptile), and I've been playing it in my car since.   I think I'll get their other CDs, too.  Good stuff - kind of like Kate Bush, Evanescence, and Tori Amos mixed together, with a dash of Ministry.

It bears repeating:  It was an awesome night.