Tea is a Goth Thing Now

It's Black Friday made a YouTube video recently discussing tea and it's associations with the Goth scene and speculations as to why tea is suddenly so much more popular. She is a relatively new Goth YouTuber, but I freakin' love her and her stuff! You can see the video here.

Now, as a tea drinker I just wanted to add my two cents and personal opinion to the topic. Hope you enjoy!

I pretty much agree with everything she states, and we have the same tea preference.

She is living in New Zealand, and while that is a different country to the one I live in, there are quite a few cultural similarities. Tea, particularly black tea served with milk, is something my parents have both always drunk, and it was natural that I started drinking it pretty much since I was a teenager. My sister doesn't like it, but my brother is starting to like it. Both of my parents, my grandparents, and myself, can hardly function in the morning without a cup of hot tea and always drink it during the 'social daylight hours'...
I think tea really was largely a rural thing in Australia until quite recently. While some people living in the city have drunk tea for a long time, in the country everyone drinks it. Well, almost everyone.
Companies such as T2 made 'fancy' and trendy varieties of tea readily available in the cities, but plain old black tea was something always drunk in the country, which is where I spent quite a lot of my life growing up. I'll always be a city person at heart, but I do love the country for different reasons. Coffee is still The Drink in Melbourne, and Melbourne is one of the biggest drinkers of coffee in the world.

Source: Tumblr

As for tea being a Goth thing, I feel that tea's popularity in Goth culture is also because it is something that was popular, elegant and social throughout history, particularly in the Victorian period. Also, relative to coffee, at least in this country, hot tea is still less mainstream than coffee or iced tea, although with the recent popularity of hipsters that possibly has changed. I don't know exactly, nor do I care.

With a few exceptions, whenever I go out I almost never buy a cup of tea. This is pretty much because 9 out of 10 times it is from a crappy tea bag (I prefer loose leaf), and is over $3. I can make a far better cup of tea at home any day. But, hot coffee made by a professional barista is something that I cannot make at home, at least to the same degree as I don't have one of those fancy, expensive coffee machines. I have ordered tea once, at the Sofitel which is a 5 star hotel. Needless to say, I wasn't paying. I can't afford to buy drinks in hotels. But still, the tea was premium quality, loose lead, and tasted amazing.

As previously stated, my personal preference for everyday is black tea, served hot with milk and absolutely no sugar. I really really dislike too- sweet drinks. And while I will have sweet drinks occasionally, such as a hot chocolate or juice, I tend to prefer a fruit based sweet flavour. I tend to not like drinks with buckets of added sugar.
I also adore flavoured black teas. I adore Chai tea and anything with chilli or other spices. Recently I also tried tea with rose flavour. The flavour was slightly perfume-y, which is something that I don't like but I realised that I would love black tea with natural rose flavour or real rose. (Sweet Rose is a scent that I have been absolutely in love with lately, specifically not too floral.) I am particularly fascinated with chocolate and other warm notes. I think Chocolate Chai with Chilli and Rose would be my ideal tea, hypothetically.
I quite like many herbal infusions. Peppermint is a favourite, and I am sure that doesn't surprise anyone. I also enjoy SleepyTime Tea, which is the only herbal infusion by Celestial Seasonings that I can find here. I know they sell an Autumn flavoured tea which sounds heavenly. I love lemon and honey, either from a tea bag or made from scratch. Occasionally I will have a fruit based herbal tea, particularly with berries.

So there's my personal love for tea, and my general extra comments on the topic of tea being a Goth thing. Thanks for reading, and I will have another post soon!

xxx Lilly

Goth in a Box

Hey my darling readers, sorry for the period of inactivity; university was getting very stressful with exams and assignments, but thankfully now that is all past. Thanks to everyone who wished me well! I've been on my summer break for about two weeks now, and so far things have been good, although the weather has been heating up more than I would like...

I am excited for this summer in regards to this blog, as I have lots of interesting content coming up, so stay tuned for that!

If you can remember in an older post by The Green Fairy, she mentioned having won a subscription to a beauty box. We were all pretty much unanimously wishing that there was a similar beauty box that was more suitable to darker or alternative tastes. And that got me thinking, I wonder what items I would include if I had my own Gothinabox beauty box, in a jokingly serious way; legitimately these would all be my real choices. I also don't want this to be a Just-Add-Water Insta-Goth set, but rather key items that many Goths would use regularly and consider them favourites. Of course, I'm going to have to carefully skip over the logistics of a beauty subscription box, as that is not my area of expertise, and just focus on the 'what if'...
Enjoy!

• SPF 500+ to block out any of the disastrous and icky rays of the Yellow Hurty Thing.
• Mattifying pressed powder. Because dewy, glowing, healthy 'I just spent the day at the beach' skin is not desirable.
• Liquid eyeliner in black. With a felt tip to achieve a wickedly razor sharp point.
• Blood red lip stain. To create a freshly bitten look....
• Wine coloured lip liner. To sharpen one's Cupid's Bow to a Siouxsie-approved right angle.
• Matte black eyeshadow. For smoking one's eyes and chiselling one's jaw to taut perfection.
• Extra-Strong hold Hairspray. When Regular-Strength hairspray just won't do.

Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment below with what you would put in your own Goth Beauty Box.

xxx Lilly

The Goth Challenge 2013- Parts 9 and 10

• 5 keywords that describe my personal Goth style

Vampire, Romantic, Burlesque, Cabaret, Deathrock

• How I first found out about Goth fashion

I've been exposed to Goth fashion and culture all my life, seeing people wearing the clothes on the street, in editorials and protrayed in films and on tv, and always been facinated with it. Goth fashion was something that I slowly and naturally began incorperating into my outfits ever since I was able to make concious choices about my clothing, until it overtook everything and all of the 'non-Goth' clothing had all been sent to second hands stores to, hopefully, find a second (or third considering I've purchased 2nd hand clothes all my life) life in a new home. As I've said countless times my style is constantly evolving and changing so I think that even in a year or so I will have changed my personal style and some of my current outfit will be recycled.

Sorry again for another mini-post. Hopefully soon I will have something more substantial to post about!

xxx Lilly

The Goth Challenge 2013- Parts 7 and 8

Why I wear Goth fashion? 

My personal fashion choices come naturally to me so if I wore anything else I wouldn't be true to my own heart and personality. However, my fashion choices do change with time as my personality and interests develop and mature.

Why don't I wear Goth all the time? 

Honestly, I wear simple Goth fashion every day. The ocassions when I don't I either have a performance, a super lazy day or just have nothing clean and suitable. I do enjoy dressing up on special ocassions though. I don't go 'all out' each day simply due to time restrictions in the morning, not to mention overall lack of interest when I know I won't be going out anywhere.

http://freak-party.tumblr.com/post/42335198967

xxx Lilly

The Goth Challenge 2013- Parts 5 and 6

·   My wardrobe turnover 

In all honesty I have no idea what this actually is asking about. What first comes to mine is the turnover of my clothes ie. how often I do my washing!?! I highly doubt that that is the real question, so if someone could enlighten me, I'd really appreciate it. XD

Using more deductive skills I can think that this means 'How otften do you wear your favourite outfits?' so I'll work with that.

I tend to wear my few 'basic' good outfits each time I go out, yet I accesorise and customise them to suit each day, so they are always different. =D Favourites included my favourite dress/ shirt with a corset, tights and heels. Or a loose shirt, long skirt and boots.

·   My favorite Goth brand 

In general I can't afford high quality brands and I tend to avoid most 'cheap' crap. However, I love Gallery Serpentine, Dolly Q, Dark Muse Corsetry and Manic Panic.

Sorry for the pathetically short post; the past week I've had all manner of mouth related ailments that are severly affecting my ability to practise, and generally souring my mood at the moment. =(

xxx Lilly

The Goth Challenge 2013- Parts 3 and 4

 Presenting the second edition of the 2013 Goth Challenge. =)

•   What my own Goth lifestyle is like 

 My lifestyle tends to consist of university (although currently I'm on holidays),
down time/relaxing, going out to clubs or other evening activities such as cabarets and bars, occasionally attending meet ups and such, spending time on the internet and going to parties. I pretty much wear Goth clothing each day, and days where I go out in public I tend to be well dressed. I also go to concerts and recitals regularly, and tend to wear formal-ish Gothy attire to these events as well. I spend LOTS of time doing makeup and dying my hair, so I guess that counts. While I'm perfectly ok to leave the house with nothing but a thing smudge of black pencil, I do like using makeup and using different colours. My eyes are one feature that do tend to be expressed with many bright colours.

http://londonwarrior.tumblr.com/post/38757357164/lipstick-vamp-anna-de-rijk-vogue-netherlands

 I think that there isn't a moment in my life that isn't a Goth lifestyle thing, because it is my life after all. XD I'll probably explain this in more detail soon.

•  Favorite thing to put on my head

Apart from makeup???
I like putting synthetic extensions and ribbons in my hair, and wearing jewellery, but to be honest I don't like having my hair overly covered, so I don't wear hats or similar things.

xxx Lilly

The Goth Challenge 2013- Parts 1 and 2

This series of posts is based upon the Goth Challenge that was devised by the lovely Darstalker Girl which was based off the Lolita Challenge. For all the details, be sure to check our her post!

Also, but I'm sure this won't come as a suprise, but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to post regularly. But, I will give every effort to complete it, as I think this is really creative and interesting. To speed things up, I'll try to do a few questions each time, in chronological order. =) Enjoy

 1. 5 pieces that every Goth wardrobe should have, regardless of style

 - A basic black, well fitting T shirt. Something comfortable, that can be worn underneath shirts, blouses, dresses or pretty much anything else to provide extra warmth. This can also be worn as a pajama top for something comfy and snuggly.

-Black boots. These are another 'staple' of mine. I tend to wear my boots until they literally fall apart (I need to get my Docs repaired =S), and they can be really comfortable for everyday wear, yet have lots of style and attitude for club or dressed up attire.

-Long black pants/ skirt. Personally I rarely wear pants, but I literally live in maxi skirts. They can be suitable year-round. Teamed with thick stockings and socks for winter and with little else in summer. Pants are also suitable to wear to a job interview, work or other similar occasions, and paired with leggings or stockings underneath, can provide lots of much needed protection against the winter cold.

-Black overcoat or trench coat. Something that can be pulled on over absolutely anything if you cannot face changing into something else before leaving the house, as well as being the first line of defence in winter. On the weekend I have put my previous trench coat into semi-retirement as I found, at an everything- $5 Vintage warehouse clearence sale, a pure wool black knee length overcoat that is amazing! XD

-A special piece. Within your budget of course, let's be realistic,, but I think that everyone should have a piece or two that make you feel amazing, looks good almost all the time and really reflects who you are, whether this is a luxury dress or a loved to bits pair of jeans that are falling apart! Even better if this is something you have saved up for yourself or an heirloom piece, as it will be sentimental and personal.

 2. 5 movies for Goths

 Well, really, this will just be a list of my personal favourites that I believe are Gothy. If you don't like them, or they aren't to your taste, then that's fine. Also, these will be in no particular order, and will be a range of genres. =) Oh, and I won't put ALL Tim Burton XD

- Beetlejuice, for Lydia and Betelgeuse's style attitude and the general lighthearted interpretation of the underworld/afterlife. A firm favourite of mine

-Repo- The Genetic Opera. Again, for the Gothy Cyberpunk/fetish styles of the cast and aesthetic, but also the catchy and great soundtrack and general awesomeness. Like, DJs play Zydrate Anatomy in clubs as dancefloor-fillers!

-The Addams Family Values. This is a chlidhood favourite of mine. Just because

-Chicago. Sex, sleaze, jazz, flappers, vauderville, booze and murder.! If you can handle the musical-ness, definately see it. Even better would be to see a live production, as long as it was high quality.

-Van Helsing. Frankly this movie has a crappy scrpit and is pretty shallow, but it has great special effects and lovely costumes. Particuarly, the outfits of the vampire brides, played by Josie Maran, Elena Anaya and Silvia Colloca have been outfit and style inspirations of mine since I first saw this movie...

http://monsters4ever.com/post/40505613123/van-helsing-2004

  It is great for silly afternoon viewing, or just for pure cheesey vampire goodness.

I hope you enjoyed the first installment of the Goth Challenge 2013! Please let my know what you think!

xxx Lilly

Annual Victorian Gothic Picnic Outfit Post

Here is a small collection of photos taken at the Annual Victorian Gothic Picnic held in Melbourne earlier in this month
This is my first outfit post, simply as I don't have a tripod and only have a crummy point and click digital camera.

Photo by Miserys Malice

Laura the local designer from Petticoats and Gallantry, James and Myself

Photo by Saphron Amethyst Hastie

Me and Seb in the background. I was initially attempting to crack my spine after being in heels and a corset all day; I have realised that the corset makes this almost impossible! But the lady next to me decided to take a photo. =D

Photo by Jemma Sweeney

This was taken just before we were leaving, and was a bit rushed, hence the lock of hair in my eyes. Still, it's cute, and shows off the luxurious coat of James'.

I had a lovely time at this picnic. So far I have attended each of the annual picnics, beginning last year, as well as another smaller picnic event.

Outfit- Dark Muse Corset, Black (Hell Bunny) dress, Target shirt, Hand ripped lace stockings top, Unknown stockings, Shoes from Savers.


xxx Lilly

A Very Gothic Halloween Part One

This year is essentially the first Halloween I'll be celebrating. Typically, Halloween is not celebrated here in Australia, but from my observations, Goths and fellow fans of the macarbe around town don't want to miss out on an excuse to have some cake, dress up and something extra special to drink. However, I can't help but feel that I'm not alone in my desires to make this Halloween a bit more special, a bit more personal than just tacky, crummy cheap-shop trinkets that have little value. I am a believer in DIY for clothes and decor items by nature, and this is no exception. Creating or modifying something adds a perfonal, memorable touch to something that otherwise would be just a spooky cookie cutter item.

The exceptionally observant beings in my collection of readers may have wondered about my 'Very Gothic' title. My explaination is this; I totally believe that there is a difference between 'normal' (Mundane, if you will) Halloween, Halloween that is suitable for little ones, and Halloween suitable for Goths. While all three are equally valid and appropriate, I think that adding a darker, more luxurious, more personal, adult (I don't mean sexual here, although that does come into things when appropriate. I mean mature and sophisticated) and more romantic touch to the regular Halloween activites and festivities is second nature to Goths. Maybe I'm wrong here, but I don't think so.

What comes to mind is something like this...
Handmade or reconstructed costumes and decorations; items that are not the crappy moulded plastic junk but rather good quality materials; high quality, imacculatly applied makeup.

http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00HBkTpvEJYPqg/Plastic-Halloween-Pumpkin-RHW-07010-.jpg

Less of this, ^^, and more like this...

http://www.viona-art.com/sites/default/files/styles/watermarked/public/set/images/bloodsisters.jpg

Of course, many of this attributes or ideals apply to our everyday dress and lifesyle. I think that the difference between Halloween and everyday dress ups is the effort. Not that you don't actually put in any effort before heading out to a club. (I'm known to take a few hours myself... =S) Rather, Halloween is the time to actually wear a costume. Really dress up Of course, make it tasteful, well made and completely 'you'. None of this 'I'll just go as a vampire so I don't have to worry about what to wear' nonsence. =P
Even something made cheaply by hand would be better than something rubbish purchased, as you have the liberty to take as much time and effort as you can to really perfect and polish it. 

While I think that cheaply made type decorations do have a place in our lairs and castles, particularly if your younger or have little younglings aroung the place. I am a sucker for fake black roses, plastic toy bats and cheap brightly coloured clip in hair pieces...
Cutesey, sugary pieces of spooky clothing and decor can really work!

If you're like me then you'll possess the 'Everyday is Halloween' attitude. I certainly do believe that Halloween decorations, drinks (particularly the alcoholic ones!!!) and lollies are completely acceptable year round. (I wouldn't recomend doing the whole costume-thing year round. That would just be tiring, expensive and frankly not always appropriate. Imagine how distracted the rest of the class would be if you were sitting in a lecture wearing a dragon costume!!! XD)
Subsequently, any purchases made at this time of year, when supplies are plentiful, need to be economic. This is important if you're a student like me and are not employed, as you don't want to be wasting money. Consider it something like an investment to last the year out.


Oh, and just FYI, I'm going as a fairy. Complete with hand made fairywings. XD

xxx Lilly

Acceptance within the scene

Reading back on my old posts and reflecting how I felt while writing, I remember feeling quite apprehensive about being a 'Younger Goth' and having just moved to a new city, Melbourne, after spending 12 or so years living out in a rural environment. I felt that I did not fit in to my school and had no like minded Goth friends who I could share my life and interests with. I would be lying if I said that my time spent on the internet didn't help to fill that void.

Anyway, fast forward back to now, after living in Melbourne for the second time (I was born here), for almost three years, I've certainly felt more comfortable being a Goth In Melbourne. I've been clubbing (five times only!), been to a picnic or two and spent much time in the local shops, immersing myself in the culture as much as I can and meeting new people. I've also became quite good friends with a fair few lovely ladies from the internet, and became 'internet friends' with many more, as well as had relationships developed with other Goths in person.

No longer do I avoid eye contact with older Goths or make stuttered conversation with anyone who strikes up a conversation. I used to feel that my personal style was secondary to the others who had access to the shops to develop their wardrobes for years while living in a city where there was lots of variety, while I barely could (and still cannot) afford clothes from op shops.
Now I have the confidence to dress up, dance and have a nice old time while out and not feel like I'm being judged for being myself. Men have asked for my phone numbers, and I've been photographed and complimented on my clothes and my makeup which has definately helped my confidence and sense of self identity. I feel like an adult now, despite being only 20 in 9 months, and I can be a mature adult while not sacrificing any part of me that helped to shape and develop my identity as a child and a younger teenager. I also feel that, mainly having spent time looking at pretty pictures on the internet and on others at clubs and events, my tastes in clothes have developed, matured and become more sophisticated. Now I put a lot of effort into my appearence while being out in public, and over time I feel that has paid off, despite my frequent masses of torn clothing, smudged makeup and matted hair.

I still feel very young, but feel so at home in my scene now. It's embarassing, but when I walk into a club I think to myself, subconsciously, 'Yay, I feel comfortable here.' and it's such a good feeling.

xxx Lilly

Gothic Makeup and the Mainstream

It's pretty plain to see that Goth makeup at other aesthetics have infiltrated the mainstream. Winter, which it is way down here in Australia, is typically when the darker colours show their faces. This is a good thing because it means that Goth overall is becoming more accepted and that means less hassle for us. It can also be a bad thing because there's always the terrifying notion that we're percieved as just following whatever mainstream trend that's popular at the moment instead of doing our own thing. But it does make buying clothes, makeup and jewellery easier!

Makeup is something I'm particularlly interested in. My YouTube account is subscribed to heaps of makeup related channels.
One of the most important things I've learnt while watching makeup videos is that you really don't need to be watching videos that are specifically Goth, or other dark aesthetic, in order to be learning something. Often, mundane makeup techniques can be applied to Goth makeup with some colour and intensity variation. Everything related to makeup and brush care applies to us as well, and is something that shouldn't be ignored. =)

Makeup channels that are run my non-Goths that I believe are worth checking out are Michael James, Illamasqua, Michelle Phan (Yes, her. Her technique is good, ok.) and Secret Life Of a Bio Nerd.
All of these channels have done at least one makeup tutorial or related video that I believe could work well as Goth makeup, and show very good makeup application. There's plenty that is of no interest to me, but it's not a problem to simply ignore that content and focus on the stuff that is important, and DON'T complain/ whinge or whatever about their content. It's their choice to post whatever they choose.

There are plently of dark, Goth or Goth friendly makeup video makers on YouTube. Many of them, frankly are rubbish but there are a few diamonds in the rough. My personal choices are Helena Is Red (many of her videos are in Spanish, but they're in pretty good quality so you can see the techniques well and some even have English subtitles), Adora BatBrat naturally, Audfaced who does many FANTASTIC horror SFX makeup and Fille de Porcelaine who is a beautiful Loltia (who has the same name as me!).

Anyway, I'm going to leave you all with two really awesome videos from Audfaced. Enjoy!






xxx Lilly

Am I Goth because I wear black, or I wear black because I'm Goth?

No, don't leave! This is (hopefully) going to be a less superficial post than you might be thinking...

I have been musing quite a lot lately about the notion that maybe we are Goths because we, for example, like to wear black, or are interested in spooky things or all of those other things. I really do believe that this is the case for me.
Goth for me is something that has encompassed all of the interests I hold dear, but I have been wondering, maybe there are some Goths that have decided to 'be Goth' and then developed that 'thing' with all of the dark spooky stuff. You know what I mean, that deep understanding and familiarity with darker things. It's hard to put words to, but I hope I am succeding. It seems to be more of a 'superficial' way of thinking about things, because it would seem that an individual's first introduction to Goth was purely visual. Ah, but here's the catch... wasn't that the first thing I noticed when I first saw a Goth. I didn't think 'wow they sure love their Star Wars' or 'I can tell they like Nick Cave'.
I noticed how they looked. It was only later that I combined my love for black, a dark aesthetic, dark music and everything else with the visual aesthetics of Goth clothing that I love. So really, it appears to be a mixture of the two.

Anyway, tell me your thoughts about this.

xxx Lilly

How I became a Goth...

Here's a story of my own personal transformation into the dark person that I am now.

In all honesty, I cannot remember the first time I actually laid eyes on a Goth. It was probably sometime between the ages of four and seven. Considering that I am only recently eighteen, it's obvious that Goth has been around and thriving well before I was born, let alone at an age to appreciate and be a part of it.
I have always had three strong passions in life. The first one, although it is not the biggest one at the moment, was art. My mother is an artist (along with a botanist) and this meant that I was always exposed to art materials and was encouraged to experiment and express myself through art. Subsequently I developed a skill that probably wouldn't be as fine tuned without my mother's help.
The second thing is my love for monsters and magic. In particular, darker sides of magic such as witches (not as in any Pagan or Neo- Pagan religion. I'm talking about the curse casting witch with a familiar and all the assorted trimmings), wraiths and vampires, along with fey, celestial, mythological and historical elements of magic, mystery and the supernatural. I have drawings that I did when I was five or six of evil witches with black blood pouring out of their eyes... It was probably a very extreme thing for a young child, but if I am going to be completely honest with myself and all of you, I would have to say that my mental health has never been fantastic... being bullied as a young child, as well as a teenager, (pretty much my whole life) with no obvious reason, does not help a young developing mind...
The third thing, which really began to blossom when I was eight, was my intense passion for music. Of course, music has been around me my whole life. I especially loved classical music in minor keys (C# minor is my favourite) and this has not changed. When I was eight I began playing the violin, playing celtic music mainly, and although this instrument did not naturally sit with me, it lead me to play other instruments, most particularly the piano and the flute.
I have also loved dressing up with fantastic costumes and elaborate hairstyles. This lead to me having an inkling to wearing my hair, as I wear it now, long and down my face where it naturally parts. The only difference now is that more often than not my hair is dyed black instead of it's natural brown. Anyway, this lead my god mother to say, off hand and rather jokingly, you look like a Goth like that. I was only awear that the Goths were a tribe that had sacked Rome, so I was a tiny bit confused. Soon after, my mother explained, rather vaguely, that Goths were people who wore a lot of black and dark makeup. It was soon afterwards that I discovered that my father hated Goths and black lipstick, but let's not go into that.
Now, there was, and still is, a large part of me that was attracted to the bohemian gypsy style and lifestyle of the 1900's, and for about a year or so I wore brown, black, bronze and other lucious colours. However, I found myself wearing more black, and by the time I was 14, I was wearing all black, almost all of the time.
Then came the fateful day while I was wandering aimlessly around the Albury City Library. Now, in the hallowed  halls I came across a particularly interesting book. (For those of you who have been to Victoria, Australia, you will know that Albury and it's surroundings is probably the most Anti Goth place I have been too. It does have a thriving Emo and Metal scene, which is a bit odd)
Anyway, the book was enitiled Paint It Black, and was by none other than Voltaire. Naturally, I devoured the book, and was left with an odd feeling that I had uncovered a very strong part of myself.
Anyway, things had happened, and a few years later I moved down to Melbourne, where I actually had reasonable internet access and was able to listen to all sorts of music that was unavailable to me before. This, and YouTube in particular, revolutionised the music I listened to.
And one late night I sat by my old laptop with ear phones in, listening to some music when I came accross Voltaire's song Land of the Dead. I was transfixed. Here, in my ears was an exact representation of what I had been trying to acheive and find within myself and my creative endevours. Something that not only possessed a healthy amount of the spooky, but had a sense of humour and light heartedness. Naturally, the song, and many others that I discovered became some of my all time favourite songs. I spent some time Googling (that's a really hard word to spell...) Voltaire, like I do with all the musicians I like, and I discovered that Voltaire had indeed written the book I had read many years ago. This I think is the reason why Voltaire remains to be my favourite Goth musician to this day.
Throughout the years I discovered more music that resonated with me, and began to dress more creatively with the positive impact from my peers. I feel comfortable to wear creative eye makeup and Gothic jewellery to school, and, quite frankly, I've never been happier or more comfortable with myself. This, ladies and gentlemen, is here to stay... XD


xxx Lilly

Goths at Folk Festivals part Two

Earlier today I got home from a weekend festival in North East Victoria. Overall I had a reasonable time, which was a good thing I believe.
This was my first time attending this particular folk festival, but I have been to many others over the years.

The biggest thing I remember was wearing Demonia (or your particular favourite brand of rather impractical yet amazing Goth boots) in mud and bad weather. In the city, this is a completly fine thing to do, but when you're in the middle of a paddock with trees and grass and a lot of much things get pretty messy quickly. (However, my feet did stay dry and comfortable while I was wearing, which was not the case for some people...)
This may seem like a very silly thing to mention first up, but in all honesty it was the biggest thing in my head for most of the weekend. I think this was because it would have been my Demonia boots in question's first 'country experience' and I wasn't sure if they'ed survive.

In a different aspect, the music at this particular festival was the most varied. There was some folk, rock, techno, funk, cabaret, punk, celtic, fusion and a Hell of a lot of other styles mashed together. My favourite performance was by a local band called Rapskallion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq_kPISO9fI&feature=related

This obviously wasn't the performance I saw, but there aren't many examples on the internet.
 They have just returned from a tour of Europe which included places like Camden in London (I believe) and France.
I had seen this band earlier this year in Canberra over Easter which was amazing.

Another thing that happened to me that wasn't particularly enjoyable was once, while I was walking from the festival arena to my campsite (Yes, camping...) a little lady stopped me and asked me what I was wearing. "What is it? Something like Goth?" She asked.
"Er, yes. Goth with some other things" Was my reply. (She didn't actually ask me if I was even Goth, just my clothes. I could have been some tracksuit wearing gansta and she wouldn't have known...)
"Like what?"
"Goth boots, socks, punk stockings..." I hurriedly listed what I was wearing...
The little lady kept following me and talking to me, even though I was a complete stranger to her. Later in the night while I was slightly more intoxicated and not in the best of moods (I am currently suffering from a particularly uncomfortable back pain which is severly inhibiting my ability to play the flute) and the woman, who had by this stage forgotten my name, came up to me and asked if I had remembered her. I had, but I said no just to be casual. This may seem fine, and it did to me, until the lady came up and approached me for the third time. I believe she may have had some sort of 'special substance' due to her dazed expression and forcefullness. Needless to say that after the third encounter with the Little Lady I felt that it was time to avoid her. I did not feel comfortable around her.

Lastly, upon arrival in Olde Melbourne Towne, after checking some emails, I had a delicious hot shower. After not being able to have a proper wash for three days, (there was a creek, but you cannot wash your hair for example), the First Shower really is the best shower you will ever experience.

xxxx Lilly
Listening to The Band Who Knew Too Much (Who played at this festival. It was insane!)- The Rent

Goths at Folk Festivals

This is a potentially irrelevant subject for some Goths because they wouldn't dream of going to a Folk Festival (There's an awful lot of tie-dye). There are some, however, who do occasionally embrace the happy hippies and folkies for a week or so. I've been to many in my life. Quite a  few of the festivals I've attended have been when I didn't really realise that I was a Goth (More on this later. XD Of course I wasn't a Goth when I was a child...) and I have seen others around. Arguably, a particular festival would have been one of my first encounters with a Goth (which is different to being exposed to the Goth subculture which happened many years before) and I believe that that is a rather notable event in a Goth's life.
So, how does a Goth survive at an event where there is a focus on merrymaking and folk music?
It's not particularly easy. The music performed is mainly Folk, but there is also other styles. It depends on the festival in question, but from my experience I have witnessed World, Country, Old Time, Blues, Roots, Jazz, Ska, Latin and some crossover.
In other words, nothing that would be considered Goth, unless you are lucky and there is some Dark Cabaret or similar. Luck is involved here. Not that that necessarily means that there will be no music that there would be no music that appeals to Goths. Not in the slightest. But it does mean that there may be some music that may be unusual or not to your tastes. Here, there are two basic options that you can chose from. One would be to sit through and listen to some music that your may not be enamored with entirely. Or you could enjoy other aspects of the festival culture. There are many other aspects of folk festivals that make them unique from other festivals. However, please remember that in this regard I can only report on personal experience and every festival is different.
In regard to attire I really must emphasise that there is absolutely no reason why you should abandon your spooky attire and switch to fisherman's pants and leather head bands. Actually, consider a festival as a chance to really dress up. You wont regret it. Also on this note, remember to consider the weather, and bring lots of clothes as washing is nearly impossible. Some festivals may also have a reaccuring theme each year, such a circus, cabaret or dancing. Learn as much as you can at the workshops and such available. It will be highly benificial overall.
In regard to general politeness, the folkies are not that different to other people, so just be yourself. However, use your discretion because there are some incredibly sleazy old men at folk festivals who are disgusting and have no sense of decorum. If there is some dress up party, please remember that you don't have to look sexy to have fun, and there may be some unwanted attention from old men who are desperate. I'm talking from experience here. When I was fifteen, I, quite literally, was asked for sex by strange men over the age of forty about five times... EW!!!!!!!!!


I sincerly hope that everyone enjoys their festival season and enjoys themselves!

xxx Lilly
Listening to the Prince Caspian movie with my mum and brother XD

The Humble Beginings...

As my first post in this Blog, I feel that it is somewhat necessary to introduce myself. On the internet, I call myself The Gothic Lilly, or just Lilly. Of course, it isn't my real name, but it's based on my middle name, which is good enough.The advantage of this means that I can retain a certain amount of anonimity and don't have to be so careful about what I write. XD
I used to write on a site for girls called Piczo. (I know that some guys do use it, but the overload of pink and flowers makes me think that it is designed with girls in mind.) The site, apparantly, was popular a few years ago, but I only got it earlier this year. For awhile, things were great, but recently there has almost been no activity on there. So I decided it was time for a change.
(Here in case you were wondering )

Basically, there I used to crap on about Goth, the subculture and what it means to me ect. If you don't have anything remotely interesting or positive to say about it, I suggest that you don't say anything at all. I don't want to waste my valuable life with losers who think they have a right to insult others for no reason.

Also, in case you couldn't already tell, I can't write any HTML, so please, bare with me... I shall do my best with the tools that I have.

Listening to
A Gorey Demise- Creature Feature

xxx Lilly