| VampGirl's Guide to Gothic Fashion
In early teenage years clown paint, black lipstick et al may seem the obvious way to go but the suggestions on this page are intended to be a rather more refined approach to 'Gothdom' based on fourteen years of experience and the inevitable mistakes that have been made along the way. Now read on...
Face
Foundation
Save the clown-white for the circus. The keyword here is 'blending'. Take the palest shade of foundation you can find and apply lightly, or blend your natural shade with a little white foundation and evenly apply that. Do NOT trowel it on; it may end up cracked and dry with your natural skin tone showing through. It is also sometimes useful to combine a little moisturiser with the foundation if your skin is particularly prone to dryness.
Powder
After applying your base use a big brush to dust lightly with some white face powder such as Charle's Fox 'Stargazer' compact or even a non-perfumed baby talc to fix your foundation.
Eyes
Eyeliner
Black rings applied using a chubby-stump are NOT advisable. Fine lines above/under the eye and some heavy black mascara after using eyelash curlers are much more attractive than the 'Drugged Panda' effect. Liquid eyeliner is best for the top lids and a soft kohl pencil looks great smudged gently underneath.
Shadow
Any greys, dark greys, plum, purply colours look good applied carefully...but NOT all the way up to your eyebrow like old ladies do with the blue hehe.
Eyebrows
If, like me, you've plucked yours away to next to nothing, then draw them in carefully with a fine black eyebrow pencil. Don't use your regular eyeliner...it will be too heavy-looking and will most likely smudge by the end of the day. A row of small dots or jewels following the brow line above one eyebrow look very nice too.
Decoration
If you absolutely MUST do swirly spiderweb patterns, 'Death' curls in the corner or whatever then remember 'Less is More'. Better to have it in moderation than look like someone drew on your face with a black marker while drunk/asleep/unconscious for a laugh.
Lips
Lipstick
Avoid black or blue at all costs. It is not flattering. At all. I know I've worn it...but that was at least ten years back and we learn by our mistakes over time. Far better to go for a rich dark burgundy red/plum colour or a dark browny tone which is complementary to your eyeshadow shade.
Hair
You're on your own here in terms of style. I'm a diehard 80's fan of crimping, black hairdye and bleached/dyed fringes. One word about hairdye though: if your hair is still natural I would strongly recommend dyeing it red/purple or any shade other than permanent black. My natural hair is mousey-brown...last seen aged fourteen. I've tried getting rid of the black over the years with expensive (and not-so-expensive) bleach jobs in the vain hope of going all-over pillarbox red on several occasions to no avail. I'm still stuck with black (and light brown roots - bleh!) even now. Black hairdye is a BITCH to get rid of so consider your options carefully.
Clothing
Any colour, so long as it's Black. Or Purple/Burgundy Red or another dark, rich colour hehe. One rule of thumb though: Ballgowns/Medieval/Wedding dresses are NOT practical garb for everyday shopping in town and/or trips to the supermarket during daylight hours. The only possible exceptions to this might be on street carnival/Lord Mayor's Day parades etc. You have been warned. In terms of fabric : personally I'd choose velvet for daytime and save the PVC for afterhours. Of course, a PVC corset/bra style top under a net/chiffon shirt is perfect summer apparel...just don't go overboard or you'll never get out of it alive after a hot day in town hehe.
And Finally...
That concludes my tips for (refined) Gothic fashion. If you have anything you might like to add/discuss (or have a disaster you wish to share) please join the VampGirl.com Forum where there is a section entirely for this purpose.
VampGirl, 5th June 2002.
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