Vampires and the Mainstream

Disclaimer (Just in case it's not already obvious): I do not believe that vampires exist in reality. I do not believe that I am a vampire. XD

This was touched on briefly on our Facebook forum while we were discussing the impact of mainstream culture on Steampunk, and I used this example...

'I didn't stop loving Vampire-culture just because it was mauled and mangled by the mainstream, I just waited for things to simmer down, which they did.'

And that got my mind working. I mean, I like Steampunk a lot, but I love Vampire aesthetics the same way hardcore Steampunkers and Steampunk fans do. It is a part of my soul and something I've been attracted to my whole life.

http://crazycrafters.tumblr.com/post/35243061402

For me, vampires represent something deep within my mass of grey matter that resonates with me.
Honestly, I'm not sure if now is the time to write about that, as it's nearly 3am and I am getting sleepy. Perhaps that will be a post for a later date, if I'm feeling brave enough. 

So vampire legends, belief and stories have been part of human culture for thousands of years, with many different civilisations having their own interpretation of a creature that, at the most basic level, feeds off human blood. Some crafty writers, such as Bram Stoker, noticed this legend that was capable of creating real fear in people, so he wrote a story about it, Dracula. What is even scarier is that he based the character off a real, violent person, Vlad Tepes. Not to mention that there are real human beings that have possess vampiric qualites throughout history. Erzsébet Báthory, for example, was a woman who believed the blood of virgins kept her beautiful.

http://godessofhell.tumblr.com/post/42826783436

It is clear that vampires have been part of culture since for ever, so why is now at all different? (Contiued to be edited at a very reasonable hour when my brain was no longer slush) Well, in some ways it isn't. Vampires have still been used to scare people, but they've taken on a romantic illicit appeal. Think of the grandeur of Christopher Lee or the sex appeal in The Lost Boys.
In the last 10 years things took a turn for the worst however, with Twilight essentially making vampires 'Tame'. They were no longer exclusively scary, dark and evil beings. Not to mention that they were essentially immortal and had no weaknesses what so ever, except multiple other vampires. So relatable! (Sarcasm.) Sure there were a few evil-ish ones, but the main characters were 'vegetarian' and SPARKLED! NOT SCARY! (Enough allcaps...)

Vampires were now squeaky clean for a few years, with people asking me every day 'Have you read Twilight? I think you would like it.'
The answer is 'yes' I have read Twilight. I've read each of the four books, and I don't like it. Most Twi-haters, however, have not read the books. I don't see how anyone can hate something they haven't experienced, but I guess prejudice is all too common in society at the moment.

I actually believe that despite the Twilight-mania that we all had to suffer through is dying down, Twilight has impacted vampires for evermore. We wont ever get back to how things were before, but now mundanes who normally would roll their eyes, shudder or even avoid me, now show slight amounts of interest or at least don't mutter expressions of 'freak!' to their friends.

http://zemidnighthour.tumblr.com/post/35476237030/sadie-frost-in-bram-stokers-dracula-1

I don't think all vampires need to be scary, but I do think that vampire lore is important, an if an author is going to remove/add/change or vary vampire lore they need to do it right! They need to make it believeable. Anne Rice did this. She reinvented vampires and vampire lore and it worked oh so well. Stephanie Meyer also did this, by removing every single piece of vampire lore (Even fangs! Shock horror!), and replaced it with glitter. Not to mention the ultra-conservative views that are not so subtly injected into the book, many which conflict with my values and personal choices... ahem.
So I spent a few years fuming about the destruction of vampire culture. At that time I hated True Blood and didn't want to watch the show or read the books by Charlaine Harris. (That changed...) I refused to buy any of the shirts that had fangs printed on it or slogans such as 'Most girls want to be a princess, I want to be a vampire'! And honestly, I do regret that, not because of the cheap clothing with the wanky print, but to cut up and to mod and customise into new stuff. Especially because nowadays you don't see those sorts of pieces anywhere.

Anyway, last summer, when I was finished with high school, recently separated from my first serious 2 year relationship and waiting for uni to start. I was pretty bored and upset, so I spent the time watched True Blood season one and a bit of season two, as well as lots and lots of other junky shows and movies. And yes, I got hooked on True Blood. I liked the sexy vampires, the large quantities of blood, the booze, the fact that the show deals with lots of real issues such as sexuality, drugs, religion and racism. Finally it seemed that the mainstream had gotten it right! These vampires represented everything I wanted in a vampire TV show. Real fangs (although it peeves me that they are not the incisors. I'm a purest!), an aversion to sunlight and silver as a weakness. These vampires were vulnerable and actually in a lot of danger due to their addictive blood. Not to mention I loved Harris' new interpretation of vampires and the acceptance of vampires within society. 'Coming out of the coffin'. That's just great. It's new and fresh, but enough lore to be faithful to vampire legends.

http://monsters-and-stuff.tumblr.com/post/42914741763/vampires-part-2-of-3

So I'll continue to watch vampire films, read vampire novels both tasteful and trashy, and wear vampiric attire on ocassion. I don't really care if the mainstream have another vampire-fad, I just hope that it is not so squeaky clean. That these beings are capable of creating a lot of harm if necessary to the plot.
I'll continue to indulge in thick red drinks and lots of red wine, red lip colour and pointed nails even if every single teenager is doing that very same thing, or vampires vanish into obscurity. And I won't stop loving (almost) everything vampiric any time soon.

Anyone else who is feeling disillusioned it whatever used to make their heart beat that little more, I say 'Please don't give up, yet!' Things will get better eventually, whether you're into games and the popularity of casual games has left a bitter taste in your mouth, or a passionate fan of Steampunk who utters a little cry everytime they see something like Justin Bieber attempting (failing) to do Sp and then have to watch in horror as all the little fiends want to cram cogs onto their school jackets. =(
Just stick things out, maybe take a little break if it really is depressing and making you loose faith in life, but rest assured that like all things in pop culture, people will get bored and quickly look for something else to satisfy their increasingly short attention spans. And then we can emerge, relatively unharmed and continue to revel in what we love.

Please, share any other experiences in the comments below!

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

Clothing and Accessories

Last night I intended to write up a post on my mum's computer but after a rather unfortunate incident that involved me dropping my mum's laptop (the same one that has her PhD notes on it!) after my boyfriend dropped a heat pack onto my chest. The computer was fine, but it was rather distressing so that didn't encourage me to use the computer for much longer. None the less I'm attempting to write here at school while researching pictures to use for my Art folio. It's a bit distracting to say the least... becuase research does include reading long articles about my favourite games and Star Wars props do take up time... =)
I also should finish my Literature novel... and prepare for my Methods SAC on Wednesday, I really should.

Anyway, I'm here finishing this post on my mum's laptop (The same one that got dropped!!!)
This post is about Goth accesories and clothes, and why you shouldn't just buy everything you see.

Melbourne is rather infamous for a particular Goth shop named Victorian Gothic, or more commonly just Vic Gothic. The shop has a bit of a reputation of being expensive. I have bought items from there before (Namely hair dye, makeup, a skirt, some boots and an out for my year 12 formal that was on friday night, plus a few other things.)


Me and two amazing girls from my Maths Methods class

So anyway, enough with the outfit. The point about the shop is their range is simply far greater than almost all of the other Goth/ dark alternatuve shops that I've been into. Most of it is branded, 'off the rack' type wear, but there is lots of jewellery, dreadlocks, hats, gloves, shoes, bags ect.
I personally tend to dress in a more minimilist way than those brands, so many of the clothes aren't to my taste, but I really do love some of the cute, pretty and spooky accessories that are sold. I much prefer to buy generic, plain black and grey clothes and spend my money on, suprisingly, accessories to enliven my outfits.

While walking home from symphony orchestra rehearsals today, in the pouring, freezing rain, I remembered to check my school backpack to see if the rain had soaked through. It hadn't, which was a relief but it did concern me that if I had brought my canvas messenger bag, my phone, brand new flute (18th birthday present) and CAS calculator (the $200 one that I need to pass Methods and I cannot afford to buy a new one) would have been ruined. In other words, things wouldn't have been to great overall.
I though of the other bags I owned and my mind crossed to my super sexy, PVC coffin shaped bag. The really brilliant thing about PVC things is that they're waterproof. Sure, it's not exactly the sort of bag I'd bring to school, but I have been in the rain before with it and things were not wet in the slightest.
Simarly, leather and plastic shoes are far more likely to be waterproof than fabric shoes. Conversley (and because I know that it's summer for all of my northen hemisphere readers) clothes and accesories that are appropriate for dry or humid weather need to be carefully chosen. Any year 12 VCE student will remember the GAT that was sat a few days ago. Inside there was a question about fashion. As part of my essay I wrote that many followers of fashion are more likely to buy clothes that are 'in' than ones that are comfortable, flattering or practical. Personally I am only too happy to dress from toe to neck, but I know that there are some who prefer to show some skin, and I feel that many Goths (including myself), who by their nature are not restricted by the 'rules' of fashion, can, and do, wear what they please.
Therefore, I have my own 'rules' that I follow. I did NOT intentionally make a set of rules to follow, but this came naturally to me as I get dressed each day.

Number one- Dress according to the weather. Today, considering my awful 8:15 am class, I dressed simply with stockings, Knee high Docs, a lace mini skirt, grey T shirt and black school hoodie. Despite my more casual clothes, I was still late, but not as much as if I had dressed up more. Walking to school was freezing. So cold that it made me want to go home and get some gloves. On the flip side, sometimes it's freezing in the morning and by lunch time it's 26*c. Melbourne doesn't get as cold as somewhere like Canada, but it is alarming how many people assume that it doesn't get cold in Australia. It really does, I swear!

Number two- Coffins aren't for school. I have more bat and skull accessories than coffins, but they're are lurking in the depths of my lair. I simply don't want to draw any more unwanted attention to myself *Edited* because, frankly I am really really shy and don't have the confidence for them at school. Out in the city it's a different story. Similarly, I will not wear any of my famourly hand ripped stocking, fishnets or anything that may seem too sexual in a school or other professional environment. At school at least, I have a somewhat 'cute, quirky innocent' reputation... =)
Number three- No hoodies with long skirts. Yes the classic casual mixed with luxurious thing. This is something understood by many. I only own one hoodie and that's my year 12 one. It's nice, warm and comfortable so it is good for days like today but it looks silly teemed with long skirts. The same with lace gloves, beaded necklaces or anything else that has an opulent flair. Hoodies are for jeans and miniskirts. That is it. XD

Anyway, completly sorry and a thousand appologies for not being able to post lately. Y'all know the sob story, and don't need to be reminded again.

*Edited again* (P.S Sary, I wanted to reply to your comment, but E.I is being a pain and not letting me post comments, but I can blog fine. x)

xxx Lilly

Mainstream fashion as Goth fashion...

For some, thing may seem like the end of the world, but for others such as myself, mainstream fashion can easilly be incorperated into a Goth's wardrobe. When talking about 'mainstream fashion', unless I am specific, I am reffering to places like Target and K Mart. Cheap stores that seem to sell everything. This is because most often this type of clothing is more generic and less fashionable. I.e things like plain black T shirts, tights, stockings, scarves, walllets socks, trench coats and even shoes can be found in black in these places and frankly they cost far less than buying them elsewear. (Execpt an op shop/ thrift store, of course. I generally do most of my shopping at op shops and second hand stores, but if you are looking for something in particular then things can get a bit tricky.)

However, one must be careful how they incorperate these sorts of items into their wardrobe because, as we all know, one is not in Goth fashion if they are simply wearing black. There is more to it than that. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a Goth simply wearing plain colours. (Not just black, but if you thing about it, everything else as a block colour would look a bit strange).
For example, black lace tights and a black trench coat can be worn with a long floating skirt, some lace up boots and interesting jewellery for a cheaper alternative to buying expensive clothing. These items, if you decide that there is not enough pizazz, can be embellished to your liking. However I would suggest that you wait at least a month or two before cutting anything up, you know, just to make sure.

xxxx Lilly