chateau bizarre: hardcore glamour & curious finds, reviewed daily

Etsy Highlights: Bellydance pants

2010-03-11T00:13:03Z

The aughts, the recently bygone era of fried blondes and rhinestoning everything to death, did manage to burp out a few good fashionwise things while they were going on. One of them is Tribal Fusion’s influence on the humble jazz pant, once the province of dancewear catalogs, now exploded into a wide range of lovely permuations, good for anchoring a tribaret outfit with a sparkling booty showcase, or throwing on a pair of cotton bellbottoms for looking cute during Errand Day. The elastic/drawstring waistbands that don’t require zips or hooks to fasten, and the frequent use of machine-washable materials, make them ideal for the comf-minded glamourpuss.

Tiers of ruffles descend down a totally funky silhouette. They also come in black. From Chacabraka.

These “Sugar Britches” volumize the knee with petticoat-like volume, and they’d probably double well as an underlayer to a long skirt. They, too, come in black. By From The Fig Tree.

Disclaimer: I was having the hardest time finding black lace bloomers that wouldn’t make my legs look like a pair of frilly porkchops – I bought a pair of these but customized as black capris, and they turned out fab. She also does lace-topped garter pants if you’d like your costume to involve flashing some thigh. From Creaturre.

The ruffles scream for dancing around like an utter loon, eased by openings in the front to make sure you don’t trip over yourself in your ecstasy. From Nakara Style.

Cotton pants are raised to headturning heights with the addition of lace-trimmed ruffles – this shop is loaded with similarly-slathered gothic bellydance goodies. (The lace capris are a separate item and not included in the listing, but do illustrate the layering possibilities nicely.) From Dark Fusion Boutique.

Eeldrytch Armouree

2010-03-10T22:21:18Z

Leather fashion from the Renaissance era, sculpted and scaled and dotted with bits of fancy metal. Reptilian armor, fierce bracers, studded jerkins, pentacle-emblazoned cinchers, druidy cowls, coin-studded mantles, engraved headbands and stick barrettes, gothy little pouches, baldrics and all the various hanging bits to keep one’s personal items about one’s belt. Custom is extremely welcome, to the point of the shop owners never getting around to installing a shopping cart – so contact for more info.

YouTube Tuesdays: I deny you the Nidus!

2010-03-09T19:05:48Z

Once upon a time, way back before the Nickelodeon network adopted an orange splatter as its corporate identity and their station bumps were full of pinballs, there was some pretty good television airing after the morning’s total domination by “Pinwheel” and before the 8pm changeover to an arts channel. If your tastes run to early-80’s British speculative YA, The Third Eye delivers the goods.

Filmed in 1981, “Into the Labyrinth” was one of Eye’s four miniseries, and perhaps the best known because of the cool black robes, the trips into the labyrinth, and that infamously bitchy catchphrase. This show chronicled the power struggle between a pair of time-traveling magick-flingers, Rothgo and Belor. Rothgo enlists the aid of three schoolchildren who free him from a giant styrofoam rock, sending them into various eras to find his past selves and capture the Nidus – which can only be seen in a mirror’s reflection – to restore his power from the evil clutches of Belor.

You just *know* the guy playing Rothgo has done some serious Shakespeare time, and Belor has a fabulous deep witchy Eva O laugh when she’s not raiding the Stevie Nicks discount bin. There’s a lot to like in this show: the cave sets, the sudden explosions of lightning and thunder when somebody gets pissed off, the fabulously low-budget way the magicians look when they’re flying, the dark fantasy caterwauling of the theme music, and, amid all of this, some pretty good performances. It wasn’t long before “Rothgo? Ha-ha! I am Rothgo!” made its way into our repertoire of in-jokes.

The Nidus has since gone on to open a YouTube account and upload not just all the eps from the first season, but surprise surprise, there’s also a second and third season. Enjoy!

My Baby Rocks

2010-03-09T18:05:59Z

Skull-slathered wears for wee ones, browsable by infants, toddlers, and kids, with maternity and daddy stuff too. The navigation categories include punk, band stuff, goth, rockabilly, 80’s retro, geekery, and other hard-to-find flavors, so this is your shop if you’ve been dying to pick up a baby bat hoodie, a boombox-emblazoned playdress, or a pair of teeny tattooed high-tops.

Haute or Not 4: Runway monstrosities

2010-03-08T18:30:35Z

(Originally published July 8, 2003.)

Welcome to the fourth installment of Haute or Not, where we’ve gleefully gathered together some of the worst designer ideas ever to sashay down the catwalk. All images presented here are from FirstView.

Byblos. “Honey, look what I brought you home from the Star Trek convention! Chenille tribbles!”

Oh yeah, punk is back, Comme Des Garcons thinks so, punk is so in, it’s so punk-rock to wear plaid, yeah, let’s start with a rather cool plaid fitted jacket and go sit on a Doberman!

It must really suck to diet for years, struggle against hunger pangs and deprive your body of strength and nourishment, and starve your way into the perfect hourglass figure, only to have Frank Sorbier come along and start arranging foliage in your bosom.

Here’s a cute look for spring, from Ines Valentinisch: a chipper yellow-dotted top with tied shoulders, matched with orange and yellow striped calf boots that are actually kind of cute, and for a little pizazz, a skirt made entirely from Daffy Duck beaks.

What is going on here? Why are we throwing fruit at this woman? Who on earth throught food stains looked great sliding down white chiffon? Oh, right, Arkadius. Strangely enough, this model looks so…intent.

Bella Freud. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present – vagina dentata!

From Alexander McQueen, it’s John the Baptist’s Revenge! This is something that About Face would have a field day with. I don’t know about haute couture, but it’s a cute Halloween costume.

Previously:
Haute or Not 3: More catwalk follies
Haute or Not 2: More fashion blunders
Haute or Not 1: Couture blunders

Davyne Dial Modiste

2010-03-08T18:13:50Z

Hats from the late 19th and early 20th centuries for Victorian teaparties and Edwardian day ensembles and flappers on the go, just demanding to be introduced to an elegant pair of gloves and a smart little purse. Cloches, wide-brimmed straw designs, velvet floppies, garnished with flowers or tied with sashes or draped in silk veiling. There’s a section just for bridal headwear, and the silk roses can be bought a la carte.

Friday Cat Blogging: More baby pics

2010-03-05T23:23:01Z

So this week’s pics continue the dip into the past with the girls getting to know each other. They did not take to each other right away – more like, Pollywog REALLY didn’t take to Bella at all, and Bella, having just been fostered with some huge fluffy cats, was all, “Oh, whatever.”

After some initial hostilities, I woke up one morning and found them hanging out in the cat carrier together. Apparently heating pads draw forth waves of forgiveness along with a comfy place to park one’s ‘tocks.

Check out Miss Anime back there, with her serene kitty smile ready to be plastered onto the side of a J-pop handbag. As if the hissing and intense suspicion never happened. Hmmmm, maybe a little sister would have its benefits.

Like having someone else handle one half of the complaining.

ChicStar

2010-03-05T23:01:54Z

A “design community” where customers submit sketches, vote on which ones get manufactured, and buy them when they come into existence. And it’s not just t-shirts: they do mermaid gowns, 50’s swing dresses, bustle skirts, trenchcoats, corset-laced jeans, flared 70’s jumpsuits, lots of body-hugging stuff with liberal splashes of retro and Victorian goth. A lot of it comes in plus sizes, too – and if it doesn’t, speaking up is welcome.

Oddity of the Week: Bodice chains

2010-03-05T00:31:02Z

A medieval addition to an overbust corset: chains of pearls and Czech glass beads anchored by cabochons to cascade fetchingly from one’s cinched bosom. Sapphire and Sage whips these up according to your specifications, and as demonstrated on their Bodice Jewelry page, pretty versatile in the draping configurations. And while the designs shown are inspired mainly from Renaissance portraiture, they look ripe for burlesque ensembles of the high-society sort.

My Two Cents Clothing

2010-03-04T23:52:08Z

Original tees loaded with pirates-guns-skulls-beer-good times sentiments, where rockabilly’s iconography gets smashed over punk grime with a few tattooed knuckles lurking at the edges. Hoodies, babydolls, tanks, tote bags, pins and patches are all emblazoned with various madnesses, with hats and belt buckles proudly flaunting the one-finger salute.

Etsy Highlights: Polymer darkness

2010-03-04T00:19:15Z

Polymer – it’s long had connotations of mushrooms, hempen cords to hang them on, and all manner of hippieness. But it’s the intent, not the medium, that ultimately matters, and here’s some jewelers putting a more nefarious sculpt on things.

Here’s a pendant perfect for a doll collector, who doesn’t have to leave all her companions behind when getting dressed for the evening – this dollface cameo brings a flapper along for the ride. From Moniee’s Art Doll Shop.

A glass vial is encased in black clay and winged with silver mica, ready for love powders, medications, or “other tiny dry items” to be kept close to one’s person. From Olga Ayala Handicrafts.

Etched fleurons, stitches, curling inlaid wires, damned if I can see where the polymer is in this piece but it’s still pretty cool. From Myithilien.

Taking a break from the usual renderings in fantasy pewter, dragon wings are spread across the tiles of a choker like tiny fragments of stained glass. From The Sage Arts.

And speaking of fantasy pewter, this reminds me of one of my favorite necklaces that sadly got lost over the years, a very 80’s silver witch’s hand where each fingernail was a red gemstone. Here’s a more flesh-and-blood version that’s just as wicked. From Pearl Moon Arts.

BodyPunks

2010-03-03T23:30:43Z

Body jewelry staples with some interesting finds scattered throughout: plugs that look like the bobbins from a sewing machine stoppered with gemstones, belly ring monsters, UV labret cones, vibrating tongue rings, nip shields, stretching claws. Also clothes from Dickies, Iron Fist, and Tripp along with megaton of t-shirts.

YouTube Tuesdays: Academy Award-nominated short animations

2010-03-02T23:49:34Z

So last weekend, The Stray suggested an outing to the IFC Theater to check out the animations up for an Oscar this year. Very arty, lots pretty, with a helping of Wallace and Gromit. Not only did we get to see who’s in the running, but the bonus of the “highly commended” stuff as well. Here’s a couple of the more psychotic entries:

First, from Spain, “The Lady and the Reaper,” which starts off with a lovely sepia echo as a widow embraces the image of her deceased beloved. It soon descends into her mortal soul being fought over by Death vs. an utter Link Hogthrob of a doctor and his four fawning nurses.

From Ireland, “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” is pure Mary Blair on crack, remixing the bright visuals of midcentury storybooks into an ode to cantankerous grandparents everywhere, complete with cute traumatized child.

I feel like I’m teasing you all by posting this one, because the only thing I could find was just the trailer – but “The Kinematograph,” a heavy-handed yet visually stunning entry from Poland, is an antique gadget junkie’s dream. Hopefully the full thing will come up someday soon.