90s Grunge Goth Inspiration - Betsey Johnson Autumn Winter 1997/8

I was browsing Pinterest the other day for some 90s goth style inspirations and stumbled across the following number. Spring is just around the corner here in Berlin and I feel like it's time to wear thinner stockings and shorter sleeves.

I have generally been in a very romantic goth style phase - I wear lots of long black skirts and tight black long sleeved shirts with lots of jewelry. It's a very comfy style to wear and leaves room for thick thermo leggings and winter socks. Yet those go to the back of the close now and I want to pretty much wear the same thing but with tank tops.

All images found on firstVIEW.

Autumn Winter 1997

Betsey Johnson has always been off the wall. She's kind of like the American Vivienne Westwood, only tackier... 

I love how the above are so street wear. It really brings you back to the classic 90s goth look. Very medieval inspired, long silhouettes, straight hair, HUGE crosses...

Makeup wise, I have been rocking this for over a year now.

If a goth would wear it, it's not exactly reinventing the wheel, but when I think about it, you don't see goths dressing this way today either. Maybe you have this in a grungier version, or throw a shrug over it and you would have "witch goth". Either way, we need to fucking bring these shoes back!

Those glasses though!

There were a few more "trad" looks found on Johnson's Winter 1998 collection. Suddenly there's big hair! What happened? It also looks very Kinderwhore, appropriate to it's time.
Check out that white dress look! We need to sport white goth outfits more often! Aside from a huge white button up shirt, I never did!

I have found the 1997 runaway on youtube. Shitty quality and it's uploaded in 4 parts, but part nr. 2 (below) is where it's at, and where the looks from the beginning of the post are taken:

I loved the entire show!

Would you rock this look or is it dated/ cheesy? Is this "very 90s NYC?"

What are your recent style inspirations?

Time to blast off some Mephisto Waltz and pretend I can stand 90s gothic rock :)

Maria

Grunge-Goth photoshoot with Sheila

A while ago I modeled for my friend Sheila, who's about to launch her first online store. She picked out some friends to model, and I am happy to be of the lucky few to model the many vintage and second hand jems she has collected over the years. I was so excited with all the clothes!!!!

It has been many a year since I modeled last, and I enjoy it immensely. I had lots of fun picking out the outfits with Sheila that represented my own style (or dream style?) and it made modeling the clothes a lot more sincere to me.

I am also happy the pictures are not heavily edited like with most alternative photography. The aim was to give the clothes an urban vibe, besides - heavily edited pieces of clothing online are not exactly believable. I loved everything I wore!

Photography and styling by Sheila Calavera:

There were some less dramatic gothy moments too. I am happy the outfits and pictures are different. I can never stick to a certain style and I am definitely more goofy than elegant.

That shirt though!

This one has to be my favorite:

That shirt though #2!

It got me thinking: from the entire photoshoot, what makes certain looks my favorite? Of course poses and the way my body/face looked have influenced the way I looked at the pictures, but some shots depict the way I want to be seen and want others to see me. 

And I think - cool, this is me. Modeling has made me so happy; happy to see how much I've grown up.

Maria

More 60s Goth

My internship was over last week which now leaves me with a lot of free time and a nice summery mood, so I made more of those "this is my new style now" pics.
It's not really my new style, I don't wear hats ever, but I do need to dig out more of Boris' hippie stuff, like that vest I'm wearing for example.

I have also been inspired by Sonic Youth's weird experimental albums which I kind of like and dislike at the same time. 

And I found this new weird-ass band called The Garden. I hate how goofy they are and their awkward lyrics, then again, this is how they look like:

should I utter another word?
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We're having a gig with our band tomorrow and from what it looks like, we'll have gigs in the following months plus a recording session in July that will hopefully be fruitful. I am happy things are going as planned, and am excited to play live, because that's literally the best thing ever.

Have you got any style inspirations lately?
On a different note: last week Boris and I went to the zoo and saw the biggest rooster of our lives. I would love to visit a chicken contest once.

Maria

What If I didn´t Dress Goth/ Alternative? (2.0)

Noticing as this post has been one of the most visited on the blog, I thought it´s time to re-write it, as some of my style preferences and inspirations have changed since then.

So in a world where my wardrobe would be one "total look", here´s what I would have worn if I hadn´t been into the goth and/or alternative:


Tracksuit/ Sporty Style

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I know it´s stupid - I don´t do sports and sportswear these days has brought us the term Health Goth. But it just looks so comfy! And one can never go wrong dressed like a Russian Thug гопник.

Also, look at Monami Frost - she´s alternative, but all she wears is sports clothes and it always looks cool:

I think part of me likes this because you surely cannot tell what music a person dressed like this listens to, and that´s a major step from the average goth wardrobe.

Every Other Person In Berlin

I assume this is how upper class basic bitches dress these days, but damn it - it never looks unfashionable or uncomfortable. It just kind of work. I know it says Copenhagen Style on the picture bellow, but really it´s basically the same thing here in Berlin.

And what´s up with everyone wearing cute sneakers these days? The sports shoe is a style statement, and I cannot say I do not own one...

I envy those people- shopping in retail, not worrying it doesn´t come in black, not trying to stand out. So much stressed and anxiety spared...

Upper Class Boho Chic

I mentioned hippie in the original post, but this is taking your high socio-economical status and pretending you still go to the forest sometimes even if you live in Manhattan.

The aesthetic of this is pretty and soothing, you can´t argue with that.

Minimalism

The utopic idea of having very little clothes in your wardrobe to match any situation sound nice to me, and photos of people having one hanger stand to serve as their entire closet is intriguing. 

I think you could make a goth outfit pretty minimalistic and get away with it, too.

You have to be blonde and skinny while you´re at it, too..

Do you wish you could magically transform your wardrobe to a different one sometimes? Do you think it can be satisfying looking like everyone else?

Maria

Wedding Pictures

They´re here! We married on the 6th of November with Boris! By far the most pleasant bureaucratic procedure that we´ve faced in Germany.

Fun Fact: Boris´s insanely talented mother sewed both our dresses. We provided her with the measurements and the exact design each of us wanted. I wanted nothing more than to wear a simple, Morticia Addams inspired dress. Boris went for the middle ages.

Fun Fact #2: whenever in queer spaces, for example the pub where I weekly read Tarot, when we would tell a person we are getting married, they would ask if one of us is German, or rather- if we are getting married for the "documents" (must be a typical reason for getting married in the queer community). This cracked us up each time. 

Us and our families. My 16 year old brother rocks.

Fun Fact #3: We married on the 6th of November, and became 9 years together shortly after on the 10th.

Us and our Dearest ♥

N. Finsternis

90s Goth Fashion Inspirations

Posting a lot about clothes lately, maybe it´s because I am eager to change my wardrobe a bit when it will get warmer.

Trad goth aside, some aspects of the 90s goth fashion have always seemed pretty to me. Maybe it was that time when dark attire began to be very versatile: you had the grunge one the one hand, and different goth styles on the other (cyber goth, bondage, victorian etc).

Here are a few style icons that I still like:

Anna Nurmi and Tilo Wolff (the early Lacrimosa)

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I think that after all these years Lacrimosa still have a special place in my heart. Plus, Nurmi´s bondage attire is all I ever want in a goth outfit.

Jack Off Jill

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I was never into riot grrl bands nor into the kinderwhore fashion, but as JOJ being one of the first alternative bands I´ve discovered I still love their "murderous little girl" look. 

Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez

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I had to, you guys.... All is well if this has contributed to your sexual awakening at the time. I never was into MM´s music, but I´ve always loved what he did and who he was, plus I do believe he and Twiggy are talented musicians.

Lydia from Beetlejuice

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Again, I had to... I love how there´s not much going on with Lydia´s look- there´s some huge black dress, messy hair and that´s it. You don´t have the exaggerated makeup, the edgy clothes or whatever. This is very down to earth goth, looks very comfortable too. I think why a lot of people find Lydia´s style inspiring is because it is practically applicable.

Malice Mizer

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I know, I know- visual kei is an entire different realm, but you have to admit that it is fascinating. Malice Mizer were one of my favorite bands when I was a teenager, and I love their 90s looks more than the others. And for the record- I´ve always liked Közi and Klaha, and was never that excited about Mana.

Contrary to basically everyone, I hate Nancy from The Craft. Sure, she was dressed well but I didn´t like that representation of goth (nor witchcraft) in that movie. She was evil, narrow and stereotypical. I loved the main character in the film a lot more.

I also love the grunge look, but I couldn´t find photos that were very gothicly inclined.

What are your 90s inspirations?

My health issues are getting better. Luckily I will not need an operation in the end, which is a huge relief. Big assignment is due on Monday as well, so I am quite stress, can´t wait to relax afterwards.

Have a wonderful weekend!

N. Finsternis

Boris´ hippie shirt

While the weather has turned really disgusting lately (rain and wind galore) I have been inspiring myself into summer with colors and garage rock. 

This is a rather optimistic solution since:

1. I have a huge paper for uni to write.
   
2. Physiotherapy is solving one of my leg problems veeerrryyy slowly and I fail to have the patience when constantly feeling pain in my right ankle while walking. At least it is somewhat working...
   
3. Regarding further leg problems (this time my left knee, I have an issue with both my legs, unbelievable...), I will have to endure an operation on my left knee and I am fucking terrified. Like omg, an operation???? MRI is first to come, another "industrial speedcore gig" awaits (if you have ever done an MRI you know how loud that is)...

I have had very optimistic expectations towards the beginning of this year, and I certainly hope these weird orthopedic issues will get solved before April comes, I have a lot of fun plans for that month and I want to be fully mobile! Not to mention being able to work. :(

A lover of eyeless selfies, am I.

Tuesday was a lot of fun at the premiere screening of the new season of RuPaul´s Drag Race. The local queens have organised a great live show after the screening, and were all stunning. My favorite queens of the season are Max, Miss Fame and Violet Chachki.

N. Finsternis

Long black jacket -or- Joy Division is your favorite band

While shapeless black things (as The Mutant Stomp Friends likes to call them in her blog, and yes- thanks for inspiring me to write about fashion more!) are a relatively recent dark fashion item, the long black jacket (shaped black thing?) has existed a lot longer, and is frankly one of the most classic wardrobe items ever, along with the black suit, little black dress and whatever other items rich people wear.

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I haven´t given a thought about it until I have encountered a few Tumblrs which had a very "post punk noir" feel to them. And then it hit me- the long black jacket is the key item in every young person´s wardrobe these days, especially in Berlin, where you can see hipster resembling kids walking to the club in the Kreuzberg or Prenzlauer Berg district.

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That Saint Laurent guy has been on my radar lately.

The long black jacket is a very simple piece. Even if you don´t give a rat´s ass about fashion, wear it and you become automatically sophisticated as fuck. And oh, is that a "hate" back patch? I see where this is going...

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Seriously though, there´s something very elegant and mysterious in the rectangle shape which this item gives you. You can wear anything underneath, it doesn´t matter- you have already seized the street with a timeless look, and if you are a bigger smartass you will wear your long hair with an undercut in a messy bun, and pair your long black jacket with -god forbid- colorful Nike sneakers.

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I love how this is very androgynous and basic, and pretty much work safe.

Do you have a long black jacket? What do you think about this look? Should I continue blogging about fashion?

Have a great rest of the week, we are going to see the premiere of the new season of RuPaul´s Drag Race today, following some performances. So excited!

N. Finsternis