By: The Gothling
Accessories to Die For
Okay, so you’ve got you club outfit on, everything looks great. Shoes, pants/skirt, corset/fishnet shirt/vest, and the hair and make-up are done. You open your jewelery drawer and…now what? What to wear that will compliment your look?
It’s important to consider what you’re going to wear any jewelry or other accessories with before purchasing them. For instance, if your wardrobe fits more in the Romatigoth, but you love a collar and cuff set, think about what you could wear with them. First thing that comes to mind for me is a corset and skirt. Your collar and cuffs will show, but you’re still true to your basic style. A plus is that if you branch out into another style of Goth, your collar and cuffs will translate over into other styles as well.
I personally am a freak for necklace/earring sets. They coordinate, and I can match them with almost all of my clubwear. My most recent favorite is a necklace with a pair of black angel wings (hehehehehehe) and matching earrings that are one wing each. They go with EVERYTHING. If I wear my corsets, they look great, if I wear one of my dresses, they are superb. If I wear my black tanktops or tees, they still go. They also work well with all the bracelets, cuffs, and rings I have. Finding a good all-purpose set of accessories makes dressing for the club much easier.
My big thing is also getting the right color (besides black, of course!) of jewelry. Dark ‘charcoaled’ metals are great, as are silver and chrome. For gems or crystals, go with dark red, blue or green stones. Clear crystals and gems are good, but if you get them too big, instead of being an asset to your attire, they look cheap and gaudy. I personally am not into gold, but I have seen ensembles with gold accessories that look fantastic. I don’t really recommend mixing metals, either. It looks like you didn’t know what to wear or use, so you just threw on a bunch of jewelry and ran out the door.
Quite a few of us on the scene are into belts, and I have seen some great ones! There are belts that appear to have rounds of ammo, belts with skulls, belts with bats, the standard issue pyramid stud belts (with varying numbers of rows of studs)…. Belts can be tough to fit into an outfit, though. Belts that are too long or too short don’t look right, as does placing a belt in the wrong spot. For some, placing a belt right at the bottom of the ribcage looks good, but for the voluptu-goth… don’t draw attention there. Let the belt ride lower on your hips, where it will make your torso appear longer, and thus slimmer.
Belts also just don’t work with some clothes. Corsets and belts? Uh-uh. Dresses and belts? Probably best if you don’t. Belts with other belts? As long as you don’t look like you have on every belt you ever to a shine to, go for it. I’d stop at three, though, just to you don’t feel like you’re carrying a weight set around your waist.
There are other accessories to be discussed (armwarmers, gloves, hair/dreadfalls, etc.), but I need material for more articles, don’t I? But for now, you have a good jumping-off point for accessory selection! Have fun!
