By: The Gothling

As noted at the end of my last column, our crowd has more accessories to work into our wardrobe than your average normie. Along with the usual earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings, there are other accessories to be worked into a good club outfit. We Goths get to play around with things like arm-warmers, gloves, and hair/dreadfalls.

I’m going to come out and say it, I LOVE ARMWARMERS. I don’t only love them because of the temperature outside right now, although that does help. Arm-warmers seem to add a little more oomph to any club outfit to be worn. However, one cannot just go around throwing arm-warmers onto outfits right and left, willy-nilly. In my experience, they look best when they work into the look of an outfit. For instance, one of the best looks I got with arm-warmers was really pretty simple. I had on a fishnet top, over which I wore a plain black tank. I put the arm-warmers (black lace with white ribbon corseting up the side) on over the sleeves of the fishnet top, pulled on a black mermaid skirt, a pair for fishnet tights, and my black platform mary-janes. I got quite a few compliments on an ensemble that had taken maybe 10 minutes to put together. I also have some black fishnet/black fabric ones with electric blue stitching that match a corset I own. When paired together, and I do my make-up with the blue eye shadow I found in the exact matching color…mmmm, perfection! With kimono-style tops gaining popularity everywhere, I’d suggest investing in a pair of plain fishnet arm-warmers that reach up to the elbow. The kimono top, with black pants or skirt of your choice, and fishnet on the legs and arms, will serve you well in the club. And gentlemen, arm-warmers are not just for us ladies! They can be found with spikes and studs; I even saw a pair with mini-handcuffs. These can be a great addition to your club gear.

Gloves are also great for both genders. Women on our scene tend to prefer the fishnet and lace gloves, while most men I know own at least one pair of leather gloves. Gloves generally look best with a long sleeve, or short/sleeveless tops. Wearing them with half or three-quarter sleeves chops up the arm awkwardly, and tends to make even the longest and most graceful arms look stubby. I’ve also noticed that almost none of the gloves we wear actually have fingers. Properly fitted fingerless gloves emphasize the fingers, making them appear longer and leaner (and thus more artistic, maybe?), and also make picking your change up from the bar a whole hell of a lot easier.

Hair and dreadfalls seem to be almost exclusively the provenance of the Goth scene when it’s any time other than Halloween. There are ones made from real human hair, ones made from plastic hair, yarn, wool, fiber optics, fabric…I’m just waiting for ones made from feathers. I love making my sometimes wimpy looking pigtails stand out with dreadfalls, especially if there are streaks of color in them. I have two pairs of black and purple dreadfalls, just in case one breaks! If you are like me, and you like adding a splash of color in every once in a while, hair and dreadfalls is a great way to do it. They also allow you to experiment with wild colors and textures that you may not normally be allowed to because of work, school, or anything else like that. One thing I do have to say, though: If the amount of extra hair you’re putting on your head weighs more than a small dog, you may be using too much. See if there’s something you can do with the hair that’s already there, because it would really suck to have a third of your hair suddenly shift or slide off your head at the club, or suddenly drop a clump of dreads into your best friend’s drink.

As for now, be good (but not too good), be safe, and be well!