Gothic Haute Gypsy for Oscar de la Renta's Pre-Fall 2010 Show

Did you enjoy the holidays my sweethearts? I know I did. I have had enough of the cold and am ready to see some pretty, colorful things. Oscar de la Renta, the classic American fashion designer (who has dressed many a Hollywood star and multiple First Ladies) presented a darker, dramatic collection for 2010. While I have come to expect gorgeous laces and embroideries, I did not expect the fierce dark eyes and moody, romantic silhouettes. The striking red flowers in the high swept hair were played against dark fairy tale dresses. It was the look of a Gothic princess who had survived the worst and was now determined to show how beautifully strong she was because of it.

Horror Movie Poster Collection Giveaway!

Just in time to disturb the family for the holidays, the Madame here was given a gift from one of her favorite film industry suitors. As I only have room for only so many gifts each season, I thought I would share them with you, my wonderful readers. I have two collections of horror movie posters direct from theatrical release.

What does this mean? They are all the heavy duty, glossy 27" x 40" double-sided posters you see inside the cinema, ready for framing...

Collection One contains the following posters:
30 Days of Night
Prom Night (2008 version)
Resident Evil Extinction
#23
The Uninvited
Saw IV

Collection Two contains the following posters:
30 Days of Night
Prom Night (2008 version)
Resident Evil Extinction
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Voldemort poster)
The Invasion
Saw IV

If you would like to win one of these collections leave a comment below telling me what Gothic stylemaker is your favorite. (This could be anyone from artist, fashion designer, writer, film director, mixologist or anyone else who inspires you.)

Winners announced December 31st, 2009. Good luck!

Macabre Gift Guide: Boys, Toys & Games

Are you shopping for the young boy who is more likely to watch a horror movie over baseball game? Does he prefer a cape over a skateboard? Fear not, the following gifts should entice him out of his shell for a brief moment before disappearing into his lair of wicked fun...

The Grimm and Desiree ($17.99 USD) stuffed dolls by Bleeding Edge are creepy enough to be cool, but still cute enough not to make a civilian doubt the sanity of you or the child who receives it. Fantastic site Babygoth.com sells an entire collection of these dolls with lots of other creatures to keep Grimm happy.

Have an XBox lover in your life? I just watched a demo of The Adventures of P.B. Winterbottom from macabre designers, The Odd Gentlemen. The game is a beautiful homage to silent black and white films, with a noirish aesthetic. If Charles Addams and Edward Gorey designed video games, this game is what I imagine would happen.
While the girls are swooning over vampires and werewolves, the best undead buddies for boys this year are zombies! The guys over at October Toys offer a very diverse selection of these animated corpses. Every color range, glow in the dark, every genre (schoolgirl, rockabilly, Santa...you name it). Easy, quickie gifts include the "Horde in a box" above for $10 USD that include 13 randomly selected monsters. More discerning zombie lovers would love the Zombie art cards, featuring a collection of artists with your favorite creature as muse ($5).

Dark and Edgy Holiday Store Windows in NYC

Who says store windows have to be full of tacky glitter and fluff for the holiday season? (Okay, many people seem to think so). Some of the more striking retail displays in NYC have a darker, humorous edge to them but still convey a great look.

Calvin Klein has a simple, dripping black window, appropriate for the chaotic shopping day known as "Black Friday" in the U.S. (the day after Thanksgiving where all stores mark down merchandise for the holiday season).
Bergdorf Goodman had an Alice in Wonderland theme. It seemed to subscribe more to Tim Burton's version than the Disney one. It had a wonderful, chaotic, nightmarish quality about it.

Creative director Simon Doonan has always had an edgy sense of humor. Instead of decorating Barney's holiday windows with fluffy reindeer and snowy happy scenes, he paid tribute to the comedy of Saturday Night Live. The over sized papier-mache versions of the show's iconic characters were disturbing and creepy, (probably intentional). The colors deviated from your typical Christmas colors and set itself apart from every other luxury store in the city.