10 Romantic Goth Wardrobe Essentials

What is Romantic Goth Style?  Well, I can tell you what it means to me. I have always loved the fashions of a by-gone era. A time when ladies wore gloves and hats when they went out. A time when it was scandalous to wear your hemline above your ankle. A time when ladies wore black to show respect for lost loved ones. To me it's looking back at historic fashion with a romantic point of view. Taking the best parts of historical fashion and mixing them together with a morbid sensibility. I have always been a sucker for Gothic horror movies or period fims with gorgeous costumes and sets.  Those classic movies provide a lot of inspiration for a classic wardrobe and designs.

If you've always had a fascination with Victorian or older fashion then you might like dressing in the romantic goth style. I have to admit that I feel like a lady in a long dress with flowey romantic sleeves. You can't help but feel pretty in them. The colours in my wardrobe are dark. Black, black, and more black.  However I do wear colour sometimes and mix it with my basic black pieces. I pretty much stick to the basic goth colour scheme of black, red, burgundy, purple, grey, and occasionally green. It's more about mixing textures of fabrics and silhouettes than it is about colours for me. 

To build a romantic goth wardrobe can take a long time. And if you can't sew for yourself it can take a lot of money also. Good quality gothic fashion is expensive! My recommendation is to build your wardrobe slowly. Have items custom made and shop vintage for accessories and basic items. A romantic wardrobe can not be built by shopping at the local mall. You are going to have to look elsewhere for most of it. But that is a good thing. You can build a look that is entirely custom to you. A beautiful wardrobe takes diligence and patience to collect. 

So if you are interested in building a custom romantic goth wardrobe here are ten essential items to achieve that look. All the images used are collected from Pinterest. Pinterest is an excellent place to start if you are looking gothic clothing. 

1- Tops and dresses with flowey gothic sleeves- Large romantic sleeves are essential to this look. Velvet, lace, and chiffon are nice fabrics for gothic sleeves. Good quality fabric like silks and rayons are perfect for romantic clothing. Cheap velvets can look costumey if you're not careful. 

2- Corsets- I cannot stress enough to buy the best quality corsets you can afford. You get what you pay for when it comes to corsets. I buy mine custom made but there a few online suppliers that are good as well. The most important point is to buy one with steel bones and curvy lines. Stay away from corsets that are straight on the sides. They will never be comfortable. 

3- Long Skirts- i wear long skirts all year long. Morticia style skirts that are long and slim are especially flattering. Velvet and chiffon are my fabrics of choice. Velvet in the winter and stretch chiffon in the heat of summer. Victorian walking skirts, hi-low skirts, and handkerchief hem styles are best. I rarely wear my skirts past the knee. 

4- Velvet Dresses- I started wearing velvet dresses for day in the 90s and never stopped. They are extremely comfortable in stretch velvet and always look good. Crushed stretch velvet looks a little more casual than regular velvet and it doesn't crush as easily either. Most crushed stretch velvets can also be washed easily making them very practical for every day. 

5- Shrugs and Shawls- I love a pretty shrug or shawl to wear over a corset top or sleeveless dress. They go a long way to dress up any outfit. A simple dresss becomes something really special with a pretty lace shrug. 

6- Victorian Inspired Jackets- Corset backed velvets and brocades are so pretty on gothic coats. The more lace and ruffles the better! Take a vintage velvet blazer and add some lace trim, new buttons, and maybe add some corsetry on the back and you have a great new jacket for fall. A little DIY can give you a custom wardrobe without the high price tags. 

7- Gothic Jewelry- accessories can make or break any outfit. I have a huge collection of costume jewelry to choose from. I have been collecting for a very long time. Most of the pieces are from the local antique marts and thrift stores. 

8- Boots- I wear boots all year long. During the snowy winter months I wear Doc Martens. And for the rest of the year I wear granny boots with a heel. I also love pretty romantic high heels with a nice dress.

9- Hats and Fascinators- I love hats! I have a few really nice hats that I've collected over the years. My vintage top hat and veiled hats are some of my favourites. I even have a hat with a taxidermy bat on it. But I will save that for another post! 

10- Parasols and Gloves- antique parasols are lovely but they can also be very fragile. If you actually use your parasol on a regular basis like I do, you should invest in a nice sturdy modern one that will hold up to a few gusts of wind. Vintage gloves however are perfect for a romantic look. You can wear them as is or cut the finger tips off to wear them as fingerless arm warmers. 

Now I'm not saying this look is for everyone. It isn't especially Corpgoth friendly. Although you can take parts of it to mix with business basics. It is high maintenance and it's expensive. But it is also timeless. It's a style of fashion not a trend or a fad. The pieces you buy today you can still wear in ten or twenty years. However in a world of most people wearing jeans and tee shirts you will stick out. So be prepared for the attention that comes with it. Some good and some bad. But life is not about just blending in all the time. Be brave and wear what you want to wear! Be true to yourself! 

March Update: Designing and Sewing!

It has been a crazy and extremely busy month for me! I have so much going on right now that it's been go! go! go! all month. My main focus lately besides my family has been getting my business up and running. I make custom gothic dresses, tops, and skirts. So far things have been amazingly successful for me. I'm trying to make as much stock as I can right now. My week is filled with designing and sewing. Those are two of my favourite things to do so life is good right now. 

*Image used above is from Pinterest. 

Unfortunately my hubby is having a rough time right now dealing with some injuries he acquired in a snowmobile accident. So while I am busier than ever at sewing he is forced to slow down and take it easy right now. This is a foreign concept to my dear husband. He's a Leo and likes to go full speed all the time. I'm just hoping that he is feeling better by the time the snow melts so he can ride his mountain bike again in the spring. He's only happy when he can ride his bike! I know he will heal completely with time and patience. 

Besides chauffeuring my family around, I am setting a few business goals to work on in the future. My first goal is to set up an etsy page to sell my designs online. So far I have been selling all my products at a friend's store called Black Orchid Designs. The store is chock full of gorgeous handmade alternative fashion. I am very lucky to have my designs in the store along with my very talented friend Kerri Mercer. I also have big plans for some new dresses and skirts for spring. There will be new items coming soon! 

Here are a few of my favourite things I made this month. You can find all my products on my Facebook page Mourning Glory Designs. Most of these tops have already been sold but I'm working on new ones now. 

The Witches Tarot Review

I've been into Tarot Reading for as long as I can remember. My mom had a set of the traditional tarot deck, Rider Waite, when I was a kid. I would play with them all the time because I was fascinated with the images. I'm pretty sure I didn't know they were for divination at all at the time. I just enjoyed playing with them. My mother was quite gifted psychically. She predicted that I would have a son named Alex when I was about 12 or 13 years old. She would meditate for hours because it calmed her and she used the Tarot.

Even though I've read Tarot for myself and friends for a lot of years I've never considered that it could be a career path for me until recently. I am fortunate enough to have a lot of gifted friends around me and a few of them have mentioned I should be reading Tarot for others. I dug out my old well worn and weathered deck called the Enchanted Tarot that I received as a gift in the 90s from a good friend and began reading for friends again. 

Even though I love my older deck I decided I wanted something new and special for this new phase of my life. I chose The Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan from my local New Age store called The Cat, Book, and Candle. I was drawn to the cover of the box featuring the moon card. I bonded immediately with these cards. And now they are my go to deck. 

I am taking an advanced Tarot Reading course at The Cat, Book, and Candle. I am loving every minute of it and learning to be more confident with my tarot and trust my intuition completely when reading for others. 

Here are a few sample spreads I did today. I asked the Tarot if I will be reading Tarot professionally for others in the near future. I think my answers were very positive! 

So I highly recommend this deck for both experienced tarot readers as well as beginners. There are a few substitutes from the traditional Rider Waite deck but it was very easy to remember them. For instance The Devil becomes the Shadow Side and Judgement becomes Karma. The faces can sometimes be a little strange but I think that is because the author used friends and family for models. However the artwork on the major arcana is stunning and easily relatable. 

What I wore today:

Butterfly Kimono with fringe: Made by me
Ruffle tank: thrifted
Tiered skirt: thrifted
Docs
Butterfly and flower hair accessories

A better look at the kimono cardi:

Homework Assignment: A Quilt in the Making

This month's homework assignment from The Curious Professor Z is all about unfinished craft or sewing projects. Or as I like to call them: UFOs. I have to admit I don't have a whole lot of UFOS which is unusual for a sewing enthusiast. The ones I do have are really really old. I have some unfinished velvet tops from about 10 years ago. But I still might finish them soon and sell them.

However I do have a few unfinished quilt tops. They started out life as baby quilt tops that I was going to sell. And I just never got around to putting the backs on them. 

I pulled them out last week to have another look at them and decided the green and black one had potential to become a larger throw blanket size. I pulled together some some more fabrics from my stash and added more rows to the small quilt I had started.

Here is my progress so far. I still don't have a back on it. But I'm really liking the touch of green in the quilt! 

Which also inspired me to start another quilt top featuring the Mr Chillingsworth Panel from Andover Fabrics. This one will be in black and white. 

But the really interesting thing is that seeing the green in my living room has me thinking that I need to revamp and redecorate my home again! Ahh!...Oh what have I gotton myself into?! 

January Update

Things have been moving along very quickly in my life lately. I have been extremely busy the past few weeks and enjoying every minute of it. I recently took on a third job of sorts at my friend's store. I am doing a lot of sewing and starting to get orders for my designs. It's all very encouraging and exciting to be sewing again! The store carries all sorts of alternative fashions like Rockabilly dresses, classic goth clothes, and repurposed vintage clothing. I can wear whatever I feel like that day! Lately I have been wearing my corsets...

I apologize for the crappy selfies but it's all I have for now. And here are a few velvet tops I made the past week: 

And I started working on some new corsets as well. I am having a really hard time finding the bones and grommets locally though. I will have to wait and go to Toronto or Hamilton again for supplies. 

Besides sewing like crazy this week I have started down a new path in my spiritual journey as well. I am taking a class on herbs, crystals, and candle magic at The Cat, Book, and Candle in Hespeler. I learned quite a bit in my first class. It was great to speak to other ladies that are interested in the same things. I love to read books and research different topics on Wicca and Paganism but there is still no substitute for taking a class in the community! I am really enjoying this one and I am sure there will be more in the future. 

It's been a busy, creative, and fulfilling month so far. I'm looking forward to what comes next!