30 Day Clothing Challenge~Day 5: Your Favorite Pair of Jeans

Jeans are pretty much a staple in my closet. I would love to wear more skirts and dresses, but I really don't have the money to buy them at the moment. Also, let's be realistic. I wake up at 5 to go to school every day. More often than not I have lazy days. Which require a band shirt and jeans. Of course, that's not to say they have to be boring jeans! True, I normally grab a pair of plain black skinnies, but I have more interesting ones for the days I feel like trying to match things.

Stripes!

These are my I'm-going-to-channel-Beetleguise-pants. They were $10! Far more interesting than my day to day jeans and $20 cheaper! They were down to two pairs on the clearance rack so I was awfully lucky that they had my size. Sometimes it's nice to have extremely long legs ^^

Now I need some advice. I was playing around with my camera and took some pictures. In a few of them my hair ended up looking white.

I've always loved white hair and seeing my hair like this makes me desperately want to dye it that color. The problem with that is, in order to get white hair I'd have to bleach it. It's my understanding that once you bleach hair it blows out the cuticle and makes it much harder for it to retain another color. I know I want to dye my hair black in the near-ish future. But if I went white it would take a really long time to regain my natural color and lots of color correction. (Because if I went black from white it would probably turn gray). What do you guys think? Should I just go for it? Or abandon my desire for white hair and just go straight to my desire for black?

Dressing for School (And a Double Outfit Post)

One of the good things about school is that I finally have a reason to wear something other than t-shirts and shorts! Over summer, I pretty much just sit in my bed and vegetate. My social life goes completely down the drain. So now I've got motivation to dress up again! Of course, you have to be mindful of dress codes while on campus and while they may vary here are some general rule of thumb things to remember.

•  Some things are 'appropriate' for school and some things aren't. There are some items of clothing that people will always perceive as sexual no matter how you wear them. Corsets and fishnets come to mind. If you want to wear those things just be prepared for comments and/or stares. I only wear my fishnets to school on occasion, when I'm feeling really good about myself and won't be uncomfortable if someone makes a rude/obscene comment.

If you're going to wear a corset, do it like this.
Pants replaceable with a skirt or dress of course ^^

•  I wouldn't advise wearing high heels if your school has stairs or a big campus. (Like mine) It may be difficult getting to class on time with those slowing you down. I even have trouble with my low heels sometimes. Once, I cut across the sand in order to get to the Science building and oh boy was that a mistake. I just ended up sinking with every step!
• Try to avoid potentially 'offensive' things. I realize that that Pentagram or even just your Christian Death shirt may mean something to you but people often get the wrong ideas. How many times do you want to exclaim 'They're a band!"and still get glared at? Or take the time to explain why you wear that symbol? (Whether for religious or aesthetic reasons.) I barely ever wear my pentagram to school because I know it'll get comments and my lectures will fly over their heads. 

• Tone it down the first couple of weeks. By all means, express yourself! However, I think its important to make a good first impression on your teachers before you hit them with everything you've got. You don't want to put them on guard until after you've had a few in-depth debates on Gothic literature ;)
• I'm afraid I can't remember which of the lovely bloggers I follow has said this, but I'm going to reiterate. DO NOT GO TO SCHOOL LOOKING LIKE YOU ELECTROCUTED YOURSELF. Big hair is great. Actually, big hair is wonderful and to die for. But when some unfortunate soul has to sit behind you in class? It becomes a major irritation and inconvenience to them. Save that for going out ^^

Adorable yes. Practical no.

I didn't take a picture of what I wore the first day of school. Basically it was my Bauhaus shirt, black jeans, a choker, and my spiked bracelet. (I tend to ease into my wardrobe starting with T-shirts). However I did take pictures of the next two days.

My new skirt ^^

A closeup of the fabric.

This kind of, sort of, breaks my 'offensive' rule.
It was my new The Damned shirt and I took a chance. (And an extra shirt)
No teachers seemed to mind (And only one student comment) so I suppose this one is safe?

I'm channeling all the pictures I've seen on Tumblr lately of Dave in his sunglasses ;)

Dark Matters: Twisted but True

 I was feeling really lazy with the start of school and all so I thought I might hold off of a new post for a few days. Then I came on and saw I had gotten a few more followers and I told myself to get off my lazy butt and write. Thanks for the motivation everyone! Still, I've got an AP essay to start on so I'm afraid this is going to be a quickie.

There's a show on the Science Channel called Dark Matters: Twisted but True. It's hosted by John Noble, who some of you might know from Lord of the Rings or Fringe. Basically they go and dig around in history and find notes/records of experiments that question human morality.  Then they broadcast them. It's normally about the real "mad scientists" who've existed and caused massive controversy with their actions, about the horrific turn science can take if people let go of their inhibitions. But sometimes, it's just creepy events and occurences that make you rethink a few things in life. Things like...

• The invention of the lobotomy.
• Brain surgery creates a perfect amnesiac who can't remember his own life from day to day
• A man who has a hole blown in his stomach and is kept as a living science experiment.
• Alien hand syndrome.

I like the show because they don't go after the typical doctor horror stories we've all heard. Not to mention, they're all real! They really dug deep to find some of these. It's not always scientists experimenting, as with the Hungarian 'Suicide Song', but they're all interesting and have a medical aspect to them. What I like best about the show is that it makes you question what's right and wrong. Where should science draw the line?

It's my personal opinion that the stories in season two are far more fascinating than season one. So if you stick with the show it gets better. Of course, it doesn't really matter what order you watch them in and there are reruns all the time. A warning though, the show can be pretty gory if the occasion calls for it, so if you're squeamish do not watch the episode with the man with the hole in his stomach. The reenactment isn't very....pleasant.

Amusing Wiki-hows

Have you ever simply gone on Wiki-how and typed in things for the fun of it? If you haven't I suggest you open another tab and go crazy. It's nearly as amusing as urban dictionary. Half of the time, I'm not sure if the articles are serious or just people trolling for the heck of it. It just seems like a lot of effort to write a whole article if you aren't being serious....but then again some people have no lives outside of the internet. (Guilty as charged) Here are my absolute favorites.

For those looking how to completely ignore their own personality and just adopt a new one.

1. It's always a good idea to go after celebrities. Apparently all you have to do to be Robert Smith is read read read, write write write, and listen to The Cure.
2. Learn to act like Jareth The Goblin King. With helpful tips like learn to ballroom dance, sing, and juggle balls. *snort*
3. How to be a "Tough Guy". Oh dear. This had me giggling the whole way through. (Gentlemen out there I assure you there are many women attracted to feminine guys ;))
4.  Want to be a Slytherin? Practice your cold stare, gather a few henchmen, and dress in a "sinister" fashion. (I find this mildly offensive...I'm a Slytherin!) 

 

Then we attempt to change our species.

1.  The article on how to be a werewolf tells you to "move as if hunting". I'm fairly certain people will be put off by that. The video at the bottom is highly....informative.
2. This article on how to look and act like a Twilight vampire cracks me up every time.

Louis and Lestat don't approve.

 

 And finally have a a few ridiculous ones that shouldn't even exist.

1. How to count sheep. It takes eight steps for them to explain to imagine sheep...and then count them.
2. How to take a shower. I'm pretty sure if you're old enough to look up and read this article then you would have figured out long ago how to take a shower.
3. How to deal with having a big butt as a teenager. ....come again?
4. The absolute best one is how to fight like the apes in Planet of the Apes. I especially like the warning further down which says "Do not try ape style against actual apes or gorillas or they will tear your arms off."

 Oh people of the world, sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I see things like this....

School Shopping + New Artwork

Back to school shopping...done! I'm all stocked up and ready to begin anew the learning process...sort of. The best tip I can offer when shopping for school is stock up on the basics. You can buy wonderful, unnecessary things later when you have the money, but if you're going to be putting together a different outfit everyday stick to the basics. Things like band shirts, plain black shirts, black jeans, skirts, dresses, tights and fishnets...etc, etc, etc. Whatever you tend to pick up when you throw on a typical outfit. Of course, if you dress in full uber-goth mode every day more power to you. Or if you refuse to wear jeans just hunt down a lot of versatile skirts. But for school I've always found the basics with a few well placed accessories and a pair of stompy boots can go a long way.

Old fuzzy pic of me. Without the accessories and boots this would be pretty plain.

From personal experience, I tend to find good things at Target, Kohls, and Bealls. If you want even cheaper things and don't mind sorting through hideous neon colors try Marshalls. I found my favorite black lace dress there. I also will admit to unashamedly stopping in by Hot Topic to stock up on studded and spiked bracelets. They're cheap. They're real leather. I've never had one break. End of discussion. Of course, online shopping is your best friend. You can search exactly what you're looking for. I found a new bullet belt for roughly $12 on eBay the other day.

Other than a bunch of black basics and that belt, here's what I've gotten for school. As usual, I'll buy more as the year progresses, but what I currently have in my closet will easily last me a long time so there's no rush.

Band shirts are a must for my casual days.
I'm so happy, my David Bowie and Bauhaus shirts have arrived!
Now I'm just waiting for my The Damned one to show up.

It's unfortunate how popular converse are now.
However, I find a good canvas shoe really useful for school so I buy them anyway ^^
Not to mention, stripes!

I've been getting back into drawing lately. My sketchbook tends to gather dust during the summer and then I 'rediscover' it as the school year begins. (Because I do most of my artwork during my classes ^^) The funny thing with my drawings is that they always end up being done in groups. I have some original art, but mostly I enjoy doing fanart. That means when I get inspired I always end up with five to seven drawings all pertaining to the same theme.

Recently I re-watched The Dark Knight, which reminded me just how much I love The Joker. Heath Ledger's version scared the crap out of me and his performance was captivating, however I've always had a soft spot for the dapper and charming comic/animated joker. (Mark Hamil's voice? It's perfect!) 

Which led to two days of reading comics and watching Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures.

Which led to this.

I need to fix the top right Joker's hair and color the bottom ones.

TNBA Joker is my absolute favorite <3

Now to wrap this post up. Just in case no one has seen this wonderful, fantastic, extraordinary, amazing, awesome Joker cosplay by the genius who is Anthony Misiano...brace yourself.

 

I'm in love <3

Cliches V.S. Non-Goth Interests

Some bloggers have done that post where they list all the goth cliches they can relate to. While some have made the list of Non-goth things they appreciate. I think they both sounded like fun, so I smooshed them together into one big post ^^

Cliches:  Cliches are great. Really, they wouldn't be cliches if they weren't true and it is true that us dark alternative types sometimes have the tendency to squeal at bats or a penchant for books about the undead. Don't you deny it! I really don't like it when people take themselves too seriously. Have a little laugh at yourself once in a while! Spooky cliches are what make life a little more fun! And I know quite a few apply to me. For example...

•  The aforementioned bats. I think they are just the most adorable things on the face of this earth.

Look at that and tell me it isn't cute.

•  As for the other cliche I mentioned above? If you haven't noticed by now just how much I appreciate a good vampire novel/film/TV show you need to go look at my vampire tag.
• When I spot the Halloween decorations in a store I trample people on my way to the display.
• Did I write uber spooky, gloomy poetry when I was a little younger? Why yes, yes I did. (I don't know if I still have any of them...but if my family found them I wouldn't know whether to crack up or blush in mortification. Probably both.)
• Boots. Big, awesome stompy ones and pointy ones with buckles and...well, this list could go on forever.
• Swooning over leather.
• Black nail polish is a staple.
• I am rather obsessed with dark/creepy/horror movies.
• My hair belongs in the 80s. I love nothing more when I get the chance to tease it up so  much it looks like I got electrocuted. (Unfortunately this isn't practical for school...*sigh*)
• I think cemeteries are absolutely gorgeous and would love nothing better to sit down and read a book in one.
• My favorite bands are The Cure and Bauhaus. (Honestly...if I didn't like Goth music I wouldn't consider myself part of the subculture. But that's just my opinion.)
• I refuse to wear blue jeans.
• People *cough* Dad *cough* always seem to think I'm dressed up no matter how many times I explain that these are my casual clothes.
• I avoid the sun like the plague.

Non-Goth likes:  Ok, I cannot stress this enough. You are allowed to like whatever you want. Really. Whenever I see someone online saying they don't like something or won't do something because it's 'Not Goffic enough' I want to reach through the computer and knock some sense into them. They're your interests! You don't have to shun something because it doesn't fit into the subculture! Being yourself is what really matters and if that means you want to listen to Brittany Spears or watch Gossip Girl then by all means do it! No one is going to judge you. If anyone does they're an elitist bastard and you can ignore them because they're too stuck up to have fun ;)

• My bed is full of cute, fluffy, colorful stuffed animals. I buy a new one every time we go to a theme park. It's a tradition.
• I love girly, adorable animes with a fondness for pink. Example? Ouran High School Host club. Watch one episode and you'll understand.
• I regularly tune in to Project Runway. Granted, there are some more designers with alternative leanings this year (One of them mentioned Bauhaus!) but for the most part they're designing for the mainstream.
• My guilty pleasures when it comes to music? All Time Low and Adam Lambert. And I mean I am obsessed with Adam Lambert. With good reason! Have you seen the music video for For Your Entertainment? *Swoons* Anyhoo, he might look a little bit alternative on occasion but there is no denying his music is pure pop.
• Marching Band. I freakin' love it. It's my life as soon as school starts and I acquire a suitably non-gothy tan.
• Have I embarrassed myself enough yet? I dance to The Michael Jackson Experience for Wii on a regular basis. I even have a special sparkly hat I wear for the occasion.

So everyone out there that's afraid to like something and be shut down for it?

Just be yourself ^^

Etsy Feature~ Bats

I've been Etsy hunting again! This time the theme is bats because I honestly can't get enough of the adorable things. It's also been brought on because I'm celebrating the return of the bats to our house. They disappeared for a while, but now they're back. I think they're living in the bat houses like they used to and already the mosquito population is back down. And it's so much fun to watch them swoop over the lake and drink the water ^^

I love the intricate designs within the wings.

For a change of pace from just black or stripey tights and fishnets.

I'm secretly hoping my junior prom will be a masquerade so I can buy this.

I like the contrast between the black and white.

If you're really enthusiastic...there's always bat specimens.
Though I'm not sure I would want to sleep with this in my room ^^

On a side note, I just bought my tickets for Halloween Horror Nights 2012! So far, the only themes that have been released are ABC's The Walking Dead and Silent Hill, but I'm definitely excited.

Current Fashion Pet Peeves

Now I'm far from the expert on Fashion. Far from it. Some of my clothes look two centuries out of date and the rest are a throwback to the 80s (And I'm damn proud of it!) However there are a few trends I've noticed lately that have begun to take over in a very bad way. I'm all for dressing in what makes you happy. If you're honestly really comfortable in that pink Aeropostle shirt then wear it with a smile. If you want to *shudder* 'sag' your pants and let everyone know what color underwear you have on that day I won't stop you. If you want to jump on the the Punk, Goth, Lolita, or whatever other subculture wagon then more power to you! (And a virtual hug of support from me). However there are a few things that I simply cannot stand at the moment.


 Peasant tops/Peasant blouses

Keep in mind this doesn't apply to all Peasant tops. It's this kind I'm talking about. I'm all for embroidered things, but I'd rather not look as lumpy as a sack of potatoes. Considering I prefer form-fitting clothing you can see why this baggy thing might irk me a bit. If something's going to be puffy please make it the sleeves and not the stomach!

Rompers

I suppose this is just more of a practicality issue for me. I don't understand the point of sewing together the top and bottom half of your outfit.  I would just throw on a tank top and shorts if I wanted that look! Not to mention, doesn't it throw away a bit of the versatility you could have in an outfit? Also, they tend to have a bit of fabric that bunched up in the middle and I do not want to walk around with a pouch.

Shorts and Uggs

Now I don't actually know how many of you see this trend. I know people down in Florida love it because we all have this special syndrome. We barely get any cold weather so as soon as it even hints at being a little cooler we whip out out jacket, scarves, and boots. Unfortunately some people can't seem to let go of these items when it warms up again and wear their Uggs with short shorts all summer. It's a little bit ridiculous. I mean, it's 90 degrees out and you're wearing furry boots...

Tights and Leggings as Pants

Now I love tights. But I was under the impression that they're supposed to go underneath something. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong. Please. Ladies, have a little self-respect please. There is no need to advertise your butt like that. Leave a little to the imagination and get a well fitted pair of pants. It's much more attractive.

Neon Lace

How could they? Lace is so beautiful and I firmly believe it should be done in elegant colors. Not only are designers sticking lace on everything lately, but it's horrendous quality too! Not to mention, they're puking the rainbow all over it. Traffic cone orange and toxic waste green lace surrounds me every time I go to school and sometimes it really make me want to gag. Especially when it's paired with leopard print. What is this world coming to?

My eyes!

Well I might not like seeing my fellow classmates clad like this, but I have to admit it's amusing in a tragic kind of way. I'll stick to my black, lace, and spikes personally. How about you guys? Are there any strange trends going on in your area? I challenge all of you fellow bloggers to come up with your own small list of fashion pet peeves! Make a fun little post out of it and together we can all help people avoid deadly mistakes! Mine was really general, but why not make one for alternative fashion?

Tale of the Body Thief Movie

Yes, that's right. Lestat is coming back to the big screen. I'm not sure whether to jump around and squeal in excitement or sink to the floor in dread, clutch my hair and moan 'Why cruel world....why?' until someone asks what's wrong. I fell in love with the Interview With the Vampire movie despite refusing to see it for years because it had Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in it. It exceeded my expectations and Tom was just...perfect. Then there was Queen of the Damned which I hate to even mention. We all know what a disaster that was. I don't even know what happened... Personally, I'm hoping one day they'll revisit The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned and give them proper films.

I would be all for this movie save for one fact. They have to find two actors that can capture the essence of Lestat. Two. It's hard enough to find one. But the whole plot of the movie is centered around Lestat being in a human body for some time so they'll have to find an actor who can play the maniacal vampire and one to play the maniacal vampire trying to cope with human senses while looking completely different. Yeah, this will be fun.

Good luck measuring up to this.

But hey, I'm not going to denounce it till I see it and I won't be missing it for the world. So far, I've only heard that they're working on the script. But if anyone knows anything else feel free to leave some info down below :)

Music Map

I'm so busy right now it's ridiculous. Two words: Band Camp. This is the point in the year where marching band begins to take over the majority of my life. On the bright side, it's one of the most fun things I've ever done and I get lots of exercise. On the flip side, it means I acquire a very unwelcome tan and it'll be much harder to have time to post things. For the next week or so it'll be especially bad and if I post anything it'll be pretty short. After that, when we get to my normal schedule with school and all that I'll figure out how to plan posts around the frequent rehearsals.

Today I thought I'd bring you this neat little invention. It's a website called music-map . Basically, you type the name of an artist into the search bar and it gives you a bunch of artists similar to that one. The closer the name is to the one in the center, the closer they are in sound or style. It's great for discovering some new bands. For example when I was first starting out in the music scene and had fallen in love with Bauhaus I just typed it in and *BAM* lots of essential Goth bands at my disposal.

 Now, I'm sure some of you out there are musical experts who have exhausted all the artists on here already and are restricted to looking for obscure bands who's names you can hardly pronounce. ^^ Well...this probably won't help you. It's only as good as the information put into the site after all. But I've found several artists on here that I've grown to enjoy so give it a chance! Also, don't be too hard on the poor thing. Sometimes it's so far off the mark I can't do anything but sit there and laugh. And for the most part it's pretty accurate. There's no use arguing with a website ^^

30 Day Clothing Challenge~Day 4: A Shirt you Haven't Worn Yet

I'm going to cheat with this one. I don't actually have a shirt I haven't worn yet but I do have another dress that hasn't been put to good use. I bought it in Sweden (Go figure. And I wonder where all my money went...) and I'm still not sure when I'll use it. It was just too lovely to leave though and I'll get to wear it eventually.

This might be the only time you guys see me makeup-less.
After this its back to comfy, lumpy relaxation clothes and slippers.
Hence the lack of eyeliner.

It's Necessary Evil and I wouldn't have found it if it hadn't been for this one woman I met in a coffee shop. We had sat down for some traditional fika (Roughly translates to coffee break. Swedish people are very fond of them.) in Goteborg. I spotted this woman with bright red hair, a bunch of piercings and a customized/painted leather jacket which I drooled over for about ten minutes. (I really want to start my own but I need to find an old one at Goodwill or something because my parents won't let me touch my nice one.)

Anyway, I ended up standing and waiting for the bathroom with her and she started a small conversation. I had wanted to compliment her jacket, but I'm rather self-conscious about my Swedish (Even though everyone tells me it's rather good. I'm always afraid I'll sound 'American' or something stupid like that because we barely speak it home.) Of course, now I had no choice but to talk to her and she asked if I knew any places to shop other than Shock, gesturing vaguely at my corseted dress. I of course had no idea and agreed that while Shock was fine, it was a chain store with all brand name items. So we parted ways and went shopping.

Later, when we went by Shock we met the same lady leaving with a bag and she proceeded to excitedly show us what she had bought. (Much to the bemusement of my grandmother. She eyed the leather corset a bit doubtfully.) Then she showed us this dress. I'm so happy she did because the store was pretty big and I don't think I would have found it among the sea of black if I hadn't known what I was looking for. And that's the story behind the dress ^^

Collectible 'Monkis'

 Monki is an immensely popular store up in Sweden. In fact, in Stockholm there seemed to be one on every corner. The whole concept of the chain is based on a 'magical fantasy story about little black creatures with dual personas that live in a derelict City of Oil and Steel'. Weird right? The atmosphere in each of the stores is different, each with their own crazy color scheme, fluorescent lights, and sometimes just plain confusing layouts. One of the stores had mirror walls everywhere. I nearly ran into them more times than I can count, but it was actually really cool. When asked about the inspiration one of the designers for the stores said 'We think misunderstandings, fever and optical illusions are very inspiring!' so you can imagine each store is it's own fantasy world.

The clothes aren't anything to go crazy over. I'd compare it to something like Forever 21. The real reason I enjoy Monki so much is their adorable little mascots. Remember those creatures we talked about? Well, there are twelve of them and I want to buy every single one!

Oki

Mocki

Mozik

Tell me they aren't adorable! I especially would love that Goblin one. Unfortunately most of the stores are in Sweden (they've expanded to a few other countries nearby) and I don't believe they ship to the U.S. They do however ship to the UK. The Monkis themselves are only $12 (or 10 Euros or 7.8 Pounds) though I didn't see the shipping price.

Here's the website if anyone get the urge to buy one of these cute little things. (If you need more motivation, they're extraordinarily soft and function as a lovely pillow.)

Sophistique Noir Theme~ Bows

 I almost didn't do this one because I figured I wasn't going anywhere and didn't want to get all dolled up for a blog post ^^ My eyes are enjoying the summer break from makeup. However, it turned out a friend who moved to New York was back in town for a few days and wanted to meet us for dinner. So I pulled out a few bows and got to picture taking!

For my hair I stole a bow off of that cute lil' undead bunny I bought. I also rummaged around a bit and managed to find the spiked bow belt I got at Goodwill. I had been having problems with it because the little pegs were too small for the holes to keep closed and it kept popping open at embarrassing times. Like walking through the halls at school... I was going to replace the pegs with better ones but instead I was lazy and found some Velcro in the sewing cabinet. A few strategically placed squares, and voila! It doesn't snap open every time I sit down...

fickle me changed from a shirt to a tanktop and bolero ^^

I was browsing Pinterest and found this hair idea that fits in very nicely with the bow theme. If I had longer hair I would try this for sure.