THE MOVE

Due to mounting frustrations with the blogger format I'm moving the blog to:

peggydreadful.wordpress.com 

Hope to see you there! 

McQueen; 'She is a night creature inhabiting a charmed and Surreal world'

There are three things I thought when I watched Alexander McQueen's Fall 2016 show:

feminine

mystical

transformation  

I actually really liked this collection although it doesn't scream 'dark' McQueen I think it still captures a strand of Gothic, albeit in a lighter, almost hopeful tone.  

Sarah Burton was notably expecting her third child as this collection walked, and I think the themes of birth-rebirth-transformation are really evident here.  The coat (first image below) literally cocoons the model as she walks, and although the texture of her outer-garment drowns her frame, the cascading 'tail' of a much more form-fitting dress reveals a glimpse of what lies beneath.  The coat then becomes almost an enactment of a much darker prompt, not look at, but rather look beneath...

Above are just some a handful of my favourite looks from this collection - in case you want to check it out for yourselves! 

I really like the how skin feels like it has been manipulated throughout this collection, from the wholly sheer looks that overlay the skin with intricate designs and use the model as a true canvas.   The many cut-away patterns expose and conceal the skin in deliberate lines; literally the models are spliced and transformed like their garments.  

The collection also featured embellishments of unicorns, moths, owls, swans, eyes and mirrors.  Darkly feminine, it is not a stretch to feel the 'witchy' nature possessing these clothes; these women are adorned in symbols of nature and beauty.  These images are at times set upon 'powerful' cuts of impeccably tailored suits, corsets, even bondage-inspired adornments, that provide a nice contrast to other softer lingerie looks within the show- whilst also providing notable nods to McQueen's most infamous designs.

Personally if witches, darkness, transformation and the battle between inside/outside (or surface/depth) isn't Gothic enough then you might not have liked this collection, but I personally think that the Gothic as a 'style' in terms of fashion doesn't have to be overtly threatening or uneasy - I think this collection is more 'Gothicised' by its consumption of itself.  This collection draws the eye continually to the surface, to the excessive embellishment, whilst revealing LOTS underneath - unease almost comes from the shape of the fabric, swallowing, draping, cutting, consuming the model.  The fact it's based on ethereal women in the night with moths and the moon (paraphrasing majorly here) is just a dark bonus!

***

I found it coincidental that last week I received a copy of the latest ASOS magazine with 'Making Magic' upon the front cover.  Upon closer inspection this edition also provided an article on 'Modern Magic' which detailed how the mystical is becoming more mainstream, and 'crystals are cool'.   Furthermore you could read how to 'max your moon power' and discover the benefits of making a vision bard (which I actually quite liked the idea of being a massive Pinterest fan and a serial mood boarder- I've never really thought to make a 'vision' board!).  

So, you can take this post as celebration of the apparent cosmic alignment of all things Witchy this Spring.  Go forth and wear beautiful clothes and make happy visions - maybe even buy a cat? 

Gothenburg

I've recently returned from a trip to Gothenburg, Sweden (a place I fell in love with) and I've got many more posts on the way now I'm home!

First I just wanted to share some of the cool things we stumbled across, and prove that traces of the Gothic unexpectedly everywhere... 

*evil villain laugh*

First up is some 'cliff art' of Death and the Maiden (because that's totally a thing over there) because romance is not dead.  Speaking of romance, there are many vintage clothes stores in Gothenburg, one of which I found a rail of lace and satin ballgowns which looked like Sleeping Beauty's wardrobe.  I died and went to Disney heaven.

We also found a Steampunk bar which was full of old brass trinkets, clocks and cogs, weird sepia photographs, and victoriana armchairs.  There was a big iron spiral staircase in the centre which was horrible to try and manoeuvre whilst carrying cocktails.  The cocktails themselves had THE best names: 'elixir of mystery' and 'the dark forest' were our favourites.  I've never had a steaming, frothing drink before but I'm now left with bitter disappointment that all my beverages aren't as sassy. 

Slottsskogen is a giant Park just south of the centre that was so vast that we were pretty surprised when we turned a corner and discovered seals, moose and baby deer.  Whilst not overtly Gothic I think just the sheer size of this place with its dark watery ponds, partially frozen and eerily glassy, meant we did feel quite in the wilderness at times and very far from the city.  We felt the same visiting the Southern archipelago.  Some of the islands had no inhabitants at all so you're just wandering around a ghost town with little wooden fishing shacks.  It was incredibly quiet and unlike anywhere we've been before.  We looked out over the water and you can see fish rising and splashing in the distance- which did nothing for my fear of the water, knowing I'd be getting a boat back with the sea monsters beneath me! 

Basically, I loved Gothenburg.  It was beautiful and quirky and not at all what I expected, I even found a Kawaii shop! 

Sweden, till next time...

" Nothing about her is human except that she is not a wolf"

At the Libertine's New York Fashion Week show, the nails of the models ruffled more feathers than the clothes.  

This 'trend' has certainly got people talking and it did get me thinking about the relationships between skin and fur and the implications of 'fashioning fur'. 

The title quote is from Angela Carter's 'Wolf Alice' tale from her Bloody Chamber collection, and I feel this unusual trend somewhat visualises the essence of Carter's re-writing of Little Red Riding Hood.  The fur has caused such a sensation online and amongst beauty bloggers, a large majority of which have a singular response: EWW.  I find this fascinating because fur has become such a glamorous adornment (don't get me wrong it is not without controversy regarding how it is procured) - but, in the fashion world at least, it is beautiful.  

Why then the horror over its presence on this particular catwalk?  

It is the placement of the fur that incites such disgust; upon the skin fur easily takes on the property of our own skin as boundary.  When we step into the wolf we are strong, we are fierce, yet we can also be beautiful- even superior as fur is often an indicator of class, wealth, or status - even outside of Western Culture.  Nail's are essentially claws, albeit our 'claws' have been evolutionarily watered down as we have no need for them.  Now nails can be a site of beauty and there are numerous ways to decorate them, but this practise is almost exclusively a feminine act.  If you walked into Boots you would find polishes, false nails, files, buffers, tints, tips, stickers, decals, gems, overcoats and undercoats and all are marketed at women.  

(I am not in any way saying guys do not/should not wear nail polish, just that they are often not the target audience!) #rockitjohnny

In placing the fur on the nails a site of beauty has been aligned with the beast.  The nails have no vulnerability, unlike the skin, they have one purpose and even in masquerade they still evoke their one function: violence, survival, predator. 

The She-Wolf has left her closet and regained her claws. 

Peggy Dreadful

Who else would you like to see join the Peggy Dreadful line-up?

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PeggyDreadful

Update on "stuff and things"

(had to reference Rick Grimes after last night's The Walking Dead mid-season premiere)

So things I still need to do: 

• Write about Buffy - my re-watch is currently at 'Graduation Day' which might be a good time to discuss some "stuff and things" once I've got these last two episodes out of the way.  

• Haven't got much further with Vampire Knight which is annoying but February has hit me like January (aka I was super productive in January and now I feel like a squirrel trapped in a nut-less tree trunk in the middle of an Alaskan winter).  I WILL FINISH THIS SEASON BEFORE THE END OF FEBRUARY. 

• Finally, I need to process what on earth happened in The Walking Dead - it got good again (at last) albeit some gaping continuity errors but I was prepared to let that all slide for the security of knowing that the group was good, the people were rallying and baby Judith was safe (lets go even go there about how she ended up safe....again, letting it slide) BUT I can't push away this niggling feeling it's all about to go very, very wrong and I'm not yet ready to address the horrors that lie ahead of us. 

On the plus side I painted some new Peggy Dreadful's:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/peggydreadful 

I hope to collect my thoughts more and power through now I have *almost* finished my PhD proposal *EEEEEEEEEK*

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

The zombie is maintaining strength into 2016 with the awaited return of The Walking Dead in Spring also. 

 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies appears to be following the trend of the grotesquely rotting corpse; as opposed to a pale and wide eyed animated body as in their earliest risings, or simply a bleeding viral victim as in 28 Days Later (2002.  

I'm particularly intrigued by how skin will be treated in the film and to what extend the bodies 'rot' - or as in Warm Bodies (who took a step back from the 'rotting' likely because it's probably a step to far to fall for a guy with a weeping eye socket) the 'zombification' is more stylised when romance is also at play. 

So, really hoping that early reviews are correct and that the film is as good as I am hoping it will be - or at least interesting enough that I will have lots to say about it!

Vernon Lee

I've been re-reading Lee's Hauntings and I REALLY recommend them. 

My favourite story in particular is 'Oke of Okehurst' about a painter commissioned by a couple to paint their portraits (shockingly!).  Once he arrives he is immediately stuck by the wife, Alice who always seems as if she is in a distant place and mercilessly teases her husband (who is also her cousin, of course) about a murder committed by their ancestors who also share their names.  Alice is enthralled by their family's history and even dresses in her ancestor, Alice Oke's clothing- much to the annoyance and concern of her young husband.  

I won't spoil the end of the story but it is a ghost story, although it makes you consider whether the ghosts are that of the past, or of our own making. 

The use of clothing as masquerade, as costume, as heirloom and as haunted item is really interesting to me and it is one of things I'm looking at in my research.  

This is the version I'm reading from; I like this one because it has a fantastic introduction by Patricia Pulham and Catherine Maxwell (you should also read Pulham's book on Art and the Transitional Object in Lee's fiction - the chapter 'Madonna Portraits and medusa Mirrors' should draw you in alone!).  Also there are some interesting essay snippets at the back, one by Lee herself writing about the Supernatural in Art. 

If anyone else has any recommendation of stories/articles/books, gothic/ghost/creepy clothing or otherwise, I would love you to share them! 

-- I've also not forgotten about Vampire Knight and I'm going to try and get a few more episodes in this weekend with a mid-season review! 

Fondest Creation - Farewell American Horror Story: Hotel

I decided very early with in this series to focus on the surface.  Did it loose it's way with the many lovers of the Countess-maybe (but I enjoyed the flashbacks it afforded us).  Was John a loathsome character right up until he realised he was a sadistic killer? Of course, and it made me feel slightly shameful that he had to artistically spray a man's insides across a wall for me to tolerate him but this series really was all about the LOOK. 

I didn't really care what they were doing, or more who they were doing, I just wanted to get lost in a sea of historical costumes, glitzy make up and killer (literally) accessories.  The finale made me realise this is okay. 

Never before has Ryan Murphy, the show's creator done anything more PopGoth than to give Hypodermic Sally a release through the internet.  I LOVED IT. I loved how accurate a reflection of contemporary society the ghost was, shouting out words to anyone and no-one , leaving footprints in a mass of void and noise, and yet we are all unnatural online (and the irony of me sat here writing this blog is not lost on me). 

Donovan's beyond the grave revelation that his heaven consists of an eternal childhood Saturday morning with pancakes was tender not because he was reaching out to the Mother he scorned for a lifetime.  His 'happiness' was a memory.  It seems the truth of Gothic to remind us that although we look continually to the future with planners, diaries and holiday countdowns (both of which I have), it is the assured passage of time and the fact that everything becomes, past, that haunts and revives us. 

I don't really want to end on such a sombre musing, so I want to thank Murphy for his 'revamping' theme, bringing together vampiric creatures, fashion, rebirth, trauma and death has resulted in the American Horror Story I've been waiting for.  

It truly was my fondest creation of his. 

Vampire Knight

Started watching a new anime after hearing such great things about it; Vampire Knight.  I will update further once I've enjoyed a few more episodes! 

The sympathetic vampire as a character will be interesting to explore through the character of Zero, who lost his parents in a vampire attack four years previous to the start of the series.  Zero's resentment of the "beasts" is understandable, and yet very early on we are given hints that there is more of the beast in Zero than he would care to reveal... 

His 'sister', Yuki, (both child victims taken in by Vampire Hunter/Headmaster Kaien after being attacked by vampires) has an entirely different view of vampires.  Yuki's was saved by the vampire, Kaname, so her loyalty to him is immediately demonstrated however, she also spends much of her time 'crushing' on him.

The vampires are already alluring; their eyes glow red when about to feed, however this feels more like it recalls the Romantic vampire's hypnotic powers than signalling a terrifying monstrous attack.  The night school students are also in almost identical uniforms to the day students, except theirs are white, and in a pleasantly quirky contrast it is the human day students dressed in black.  I quite like this move away from the black-clad vamp - even in The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural it is common place to dress the vampire in black leather or a brooding amount of metal chains.  Understandably this styling aligns them (or tries to) with an appropriation of 'goth' culture and indicate their 'dark' character but I am quite refreshed by Vampire Knight's preppy vampire denied to us in Twilight.  Much like Pam's Walmart sweatsuit, the vampire is as threatening in mundane clothing because their clothing gives nothing away about their identity.    It is comical to imagine a vampire (ala Dracula) in a school uniform but maybe that's how modern vampires want us to react, to laugh when really we should run... 

Fairy Tale Fashion

Once upon a time (in another reality) I had enough money to whizz over to New York for this Exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Technology (January 15 – April 16, 2016).

When I was younger I used to sit and look through my Ladybird copy of The Little Mermaid for hours.  Tim Walker's 2013 interpretation for W Magazine capture the Little Mermaid's transformative journey through scales to skin perfectly, whilst using fabric anchor his mermaid somewhere between human and creature.

By far the allure of fairy tales for me was always the villain(ess) - Maleficent was always my favourite.  The 'dark ones' also always wear the best costumes, there's something in the excess of their characters that translates to such rich costumes be it embellishment or through outrageous shaping (Maleficent's speciality- especially in the headwear department). 

It seems almost surprising that the most monstrous of fairy tale characters are often so clothed; a Witch's warty skin is as obvious an identifier of her evil as her cloak.  The tentacles of Ursula the Sea-Witch blend seamlessly into the basque upon her upper body.  

Monstrosity has no limits upon Fairy Tale bodies. 

Inspired by this theme, one of the most celebrated designers who truly wove magic into his garments, was Alexander McQueen.  His models are not maidens or monsters; they emerge  on the catwalk somewhere between beauty and beast.  Their stories are as important as the ones in Grimm's tales; be strong, believe in yourself, be different, be wild. 

http://www.fitnyc.edu/museum/exhibitions/fairy-tale-fashion.php

Countess Couture 

*SPOILER* (sort of) Just a quick musing on the 'death' (again) of The Countess.

She rarely looked her age on this show, and thats not to insinuate any judgment on Lady Gaga's cosmetic appearance, but rather that the Countess, in the 'present' that is our contemporary time, rarely dressed in the styles of this current period.  In flashbacks of course she embodied the twenties, the eighties and even nineties grunge, but in our time she was often in their costumes.  So over the top, so styled in history - why, is our time, the present, the time at which fashion becomes past?  Even Alex when newly turned initially releases herself of her Levi jeans and Gap t-shirts and swoons the hallways as a 'true' Nanny, a tightly bound, high seamed Victoriana Governess.

It's a true Gothic pun that the vampire (yes, I know we aren't supposed to call her that...) is always out of time, and time is evidently all they have.  Even when dressing in there garb of the eighties, her natural body likely should never have seen those clothes, let alone adorned itself within them.

With a final episode to go I am excited to see what fashions the 'true' death have in store for The Countess.