Heathcliff as a band and Cathy as a fan: Alistair James AW17

Funnily enough, in spite of my fondness for Austen and period dramas, it was only in recent years that I finally interacted with any of the Bronte clan. Considering their moody and dark romance, it really is a wonder but I guess the taste was a little more Austen during my childhood and both have a tendency to be given rather dusty press that can put off younger readers.

Nevertheless, my introduction came with the release of Fukuraga's 2011 "Jane Eyre", starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender. I remember insisting that my then boyfriend and his parents chose it among our options for something to watch one lazy evening and quickly became utterly absorbed and very bad company. However, it was "Wuthering Heights" that made me really fall in at the deep end.

I don't know why, really. Heathcliff is kind of everything I despise in a man and, yet... And, yet, in every adaptation and the original text he is utterly charismatic and I cannot help but be drawn to him and the gothic tale of passion, hatred, disaster, grief and pain that centres around his and Cathy's cursed love story.

So, during the brief moment I had to dash around the Designer Showrooms at LFW this season (only an hour), in my chaotic haze, my attention was immediately captured by a collection described as "'Wuthering Heights; if Heathcliff was a band and Cathy were an obsessive fan". I was sold immediately and the garments I was able to peruse there and then were right up my alley; gothy babydoll dresses, lots of black lace, elevated band tees. Upon nerding with one of the designers over the concept, I took a business card and some photographs as a reminder and went on my merry way.

I was feeling a lot of designers in the moment that day but that Bronte collection stuck in my head. So, I trawled through the photos and business cards and managed to find the name, weeks later, when the whirling around my brain refused to stop; Alistair James.

Alistair James is a two-man show; eponymously named after, and the brainchild of, Nicholas Alistair Walsh and David James Wise. The pair are a bit of dream team with Walsh being a womenswear designer who was worked with Gareth Pugh and Alexander McQueen and Wise a textiles designer who has worked at many labels, including Alexander McQueen.

Their AW17 collection takes inspiration from the Brontes, who lived a short distance from Walsh's home by the moors and was designed while staying there. Alistair James' girl this season is a "playful dreamer" and "lovesick consumed by her infatuation [sic]". With customised prints of abstract ladies frolicking in a winter garden and "Heathcliff" print, featuring lustful figures and lingering eyes, the collection is presented in tones of black, white, dusty blue and vibrant reds and pinks and includes a recurring silhouette inspired by Charlotte's "Thackerey" dress. Perhaps the most iconic element, however, are the Heathcliff slogan sweaters that are embroidered with phrases from the novel and give a nod to Heathcliff as a band.

Moody, sensual and cool, the collection is wearable and pretty with just enough theatricality and nods to the writers to keep fans of the works and fans of the aesthetic alike rather happy, indeed.

(Images courtesy of Alistair James)

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The internet and style - The Migration of Subcultures

When I was fifteen, I fell madly and utterly in love with the Ramones and, quickly thereafter, The Clash, The Damned, The Sex Pistols and a whole host of other punk bands. The music lead me to the style and suddenly gave me something to focus on. Through my love for punk, I refined my own sense of personal style and found an "identity".

I've discussed this before, but a friend and I once had a conversation about this period of our lives, years later. We hadn't known each other then but both felt that, upon reflection, we had embraced subcultures as shields. When people weren't nice to us and we were lost and confused, stuck halfway between child and adult, these subcultures made us part of something bigger and we didn't have to feel so adrift. When people weren't nice to us, it was because of the music we liked and how we presented ourselves, not because of any flaw in our personalities, not because we were unlikeable. Subcultures fueled our bullies but hardened us against them at the same time.

Subcultures were a way of wearing "who you are" on the outside. They were a way of being able to identify potentially like-minded people at a glance.

But subcultures as we once knew them are dying.

The internet means that you don't have to wait until you go to a bigger town for a day, for a gig or merely dressed in your genre, in order to find like-minded people. It means that anyone, anywhere can find people with similar interests and outlooks - no matter how niche they might be.

And, so, it has been documented that subcultures are dying in the way that we used to know them. People don't need to clothe themselves in their identities anymore and they don't need to focus on one thing, they have access to a world of possibilities and references, even more than I did just a few years ago. When I first read about this vanishing of fashion subcultures as we knew them, I was sad, incredibly sad. Will teen movies no longer have goth kids and skaters and preps and nerds? Will the tribes that created a landscape of visual interest disappear? While they haven't been such a pronounced thing in Ireland for some time now, the idea of them being gone made a fashion nerd like me a little nostalgic and achey. The slow reduction into tropes to be recycled and taken from context on runways, turned me into a grumpy old man, hankering for times gone by (and, in many cases, long gone before I was even actually born, if I'm to be honest).

Yet, while this downturn has been documented by design historians and sociologists alike, even the layman can see that it is not necessarily the absolute end for fashion subcultures. The internet has long been a second home to subcultures, a place where new fashion tribes are bred and born. And, now, Instagram, Tumblr and Youtube mean that physically vocal proponents of subcultures and styles can be given a platform, hone their look, record it to perfection and, even, become a star because of it. Hell, their look might even become their career.

These new and reimagined subcultures may not be spotted lingering outside certain Dublin buildings, causing a nuisance, any more but they are out there, dotted across the globe, crafting a sophisticated image, quoting sources left and right and living on. Take Lolita, for example, a subculture that has divided into endless sub-genres and subcultures of its own and which has moved from the streets of Tokyo to a vast online community worldwide. In fact, in moving online, it has been given new life, perhaps sustained life, and spawned niches so specific that it can boggle the mind.

Subcultures aren't truly dead yet. They've been reborn as something more personal, more professional and more cultivated. They no longer seem to be born of unified ideas and movements belonging to specific and different generations but, rather, are at the beck and call of this generation, who have developed the skills to morph and manipulate according to their own desires. Perhaps the goths and skaters, as we once knew them, are largely invisible on the streets nowadays, but they have not died out. They have merely migrated.

And, maybe, if you're lucky, you'll get to see a rare mass-gathering IRL for a con or event.

Sarah, a friend and lover of Lolita styles

Josie, another friend and lover of Lolita

Gothic themes and inspired makeup being adopted at a fashion show

Paul Costelloe taking a cue from punk a couple of season back

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Manuel Facchini AW16

Manuel Facchini's AW16 Presentation, Metamorphosis, drew inspiration from British Sculptor Richard Sweeney and the gothic architecture of Michael Hansmeyer and presented us with brooding looks and beautiful garments. 

The collection saw models, dressed and painted moodily, juxtaposed against the pastel blue walls, cream mouldings, chandeliers and large windows, streaming light, of Carlton House. The effect was all rather dream-like and surreal with all of it emphasised by the fact that the models were raised on plinths and the shard-like sculptural installations dotted about the room which mirrored the already dazzling light as well as the garments, surroundings and observers. It felt a little like one had fallen down the proverbial rabbit-hole.

The clothes themselves were largely monochromatic and all channelled the undulating movement and optical illusions of Sweeney's work in the asymmetric hems and necklines, geometric patterns and pleating. The presence of Hansmeyer, meanwhile, was apparent in the tremendous level of detail at play and the overall atmosphere of the collection. The combination of the two made the gothic into something that felt new and thoroughly organic, as if it was more than the clothes she wore but an expression of the very being of Facchini's girl - but it also felt a little alien. It was as though one was standing amongst the wreckage of some spaceship, surrounded by impossibly beautiful, well-coiffed, stylish and brooding extraterrestrials that were channelling one part goth, one part biker chick.

High necks, bodycon silhouettes, leather, sheer panels, the use of gold, silver and gun metal eyelets embellishing sleeves and trouser legs, lace and layering were all employed but everything was pulled together and made cohesive by that restricted palette and the pervasive atmosphere of the garments as well as the simple styling with a bold eye and slicked back hair.

I can totally get on board (the spaceship) with this.
























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Gothic // Architecture

Have I mentioned I've been in a witchy mood lately? I've always vibed on Gothic style but, alas, I was a punk as a teen and we were destined to be star-crossed lovers. Still, I like to read Romance poets, eye up pointed arches and dream of what could have been. And, sure, what else would you wear to a graveyard mass but witchy boots, a blood-red lace skater dress accented with a wicked-sharp black collar and a trusty leather jacket? I may look all sun-kissed and freckled on the outside but my innards are blackened as the Trials I wrote my LC History project on. 

Enjoy my perving on Gothic Revival architecture (sacrilegious to pose in front of a church, according to my brother - I call it appreciating) and creating a moodboard of my photos over the weekend. Careful not to nick yourself on those ogives.

Dress - Primark, Jacket - Upstairs at Quinns (I never remember the brand), Boots - Deena and Ozzy

Mad or inspired? You decide. And try not to call a witch hunt if it's the former. Thnks.

Alexander McQueen AW14 Campaign.

Ugh. So in love.

I'm feeling a witchy vibe coming on for A/W this year. I've gotten the perfect boots, next are the perfect clunky heeled loafers. And a cape. I need a damn good cape.

For this reason, my life-long romance with Gothic and Romantic literature, my deep-seated love for Robert Smith and much more, I'm DYING over the AW14 campaign images from Alexander McQueen. Srsly. So good. Loss for real words.

Featuring the lovely Edie Campbell, they're all my gothiest dreams come true. Siouxsie Sioux me now, this ones a heart-stopper.

What do you make of this? As squee-crazy over it as me?

Gothic Revival

...I mean the architecture, obviously. Not quite sure where the outfit falls...I'm crazy about the building I'm pictured in front of - it's my local church and I did my dissertation on its architect, John Bourke. No one had really studied him before so mine was the first in-depth study of his career which was pretty cool. They've even put my work on file in The Irish Architectural Archive!

But back to the outfit. If I had to give you its recipe it'd be one part grunge revival, one part punk and about 100 parts Colette. Such a quintessentially me outfit - comfort, black, oversize on top and skinny on bottom and minimal accessories with a nod to my musical roots. 

I had forgotten how fun outfit posts were - expect a little more of them from now on (hopefully)! Woop!

Tee - Urban Outfitters - Pants - Zara - Sunglasses - Topshop - Boots - New Look - Clutch and wristband - Self-made

Manic about MANIAMANIA

Lookbooks now rival editorials on a regular basis. It's not just making the clothes look good and buyable. It's an artform, a mood. I am LOVING MANIAMANIA's Autumn 2013 lookbook. The campaign is comprised of stills and a vid inspired by 1930s actress Theda Bara (known for her gothic tendencies) and star Ruby Jean Wilson. The video, with its use of witchy animals such as owls and snakes has reminded some of Harry Potter or anything witch-like, but the stills remind me more of dutch painting. The lighting and still life elements wouldn't be amiss in 16th century oils and momenti morii such as grapes are included. There's a dark, sad beauty about the images that I'm crazy for.

So much so, that I almost overlooked the jewellery being showcased itself. Almost. It would so fit in my wardrobe.