Gothic Fashion Bonanza at Wave Gotik Leipzig

It's one of the biggest displays of Gothic fashion in the world.  2000 20000 fans converged on Leipzig, Germany for Europe's most popular Gothic music festivals.  The most impressive spectacle of course, was the fashion on display last week.

Almost every sub-style was represented at Wave Gotik Music and Art Festival.  You had your romantics, your Renaissance and Victorian groups.  Cyber punk Goths mingled with Steampunks.  Lolitas were on board, along with new styles like Camo-Goth.   While black and red are the classic Goth palette, there many who used bright colors in their ensembles.  

photos by Carsten Koall, John MacDougall

Toronto Steampunk Exhibit - Difference Engineers: Reinventing Steampunk

Those of you who know Steampunk, know that it is a mix of history and science fiction.  Fans of this site love the aesthetic and beauty of the eras the costumes portray and marvel at the craftsmanship.  Fans of the literature love the historical detail and fantasy.  

How much do people really follow the science though?   Students of the Master of Museum studies degree at the University of Toronto have put together The Difference Engineers: The Origins and Development of the Steampunk Counterculture Movement at the Ontario Science Center.

The exhibit imagines an alternate history for downtown Toronto.  One where the skies are filled with "sky-seeing" trips from steam-powered airships while workshops produced clockwork robots next to ladies at afternoon tea.  

Some of the fashion offerings include Steampunk renditions of popular X-men characters.  More elaborate creations that mix function and style came in the form of the gear-filled glove below.  

The Ontario Science Center in Toronto, Canada 

For more information, check the Ontario Science Center website

Todd English's Cross Bar Restaurant

Looking for some Goth gourmet?  NYC has the best eateries for whatever you might want.  The big "nose to tail" trend of using the whole animal has come to Chef Todd English's Cross Bar.  The new restaurant is housed in the legendary former church turned Limelight Nightclub (now Limelight Marketplace).

The decor encompasses red leather, onyx crosses and wrought iron light fixtures throughout.  The food includes roasted suckling pig and gourmet snacks like caviar potato skins.  There will be two wine walls and three fireplaces.

photos by: Oleg March

Savage Beauty: Alexander McQueen Exhibit at the Met

Shocking, visionary, artist, a true designer.  Alexander McQueen's death shocked and saddened many of the fashion world, but his creative legacy is eternal.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC launches Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty today.  The extensive exhibit is one of the most elaborate, dramatic tributes to a designer I have ever seen.

The exhibit opens with two mannequins in a darkened foyer.  One dressed in an ombre red feather gown, the other in a sculpted dress made of razor shells.  You then proceed into soaring black walled halls with antiqued gilded mirrors and horror movie sound effects.  The display of impeccably tailored black suits showed of McQueen's Savile Row background, but the rebellious variations of draping and corset finishing was all his vision.  This was the most sedate part of the exhibit.

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The opposite side of the room contained gloriously rich black gowns of Gothic fantasy.  Influences like Tim Burton were named. 

The "Cabinet of Curiosities" room contained displays of hats and accessories made for Alexander McQueen.  A flurry of butterflies from Philip Treacy, Samurai armor inspired headpieces, sculpted shoes in the shape of a mutated spine.  In one corner, was the infamous trapeze-like dress worn by Shalom Harlow for the Spring 1999 show.  She was spun around mechanically on the runway and spray painted with robotic nozzles.

The next rooms contained an elegant tribute to the Scottish Highlands of his ancestry.  Jeweled gowns, billowing velvet capes and gorgeous tartans were on display.  This transitioned into the controversial "Highland Rape" collection of Fall 1995/1996.  There were simpler chiffon dresses in Earth tartans shredded, placed in a distressed wooden set.

The next gallery was an exploration into Romantic Exoticism.  Traditional techniques of layered Chinese and Japanese embroidered were heavily worked into avant-garde interpretations of historical Asian silhouettes.  An exquisite, but tongue-in-cheek expression of traditional Japanese armor was presented in the form of a lotus-printed football helmet.  A dress of large mother of pearl paillettes was a terrific modern take on the pearl embroideries of the past.

The last exhibits were devoted to Naturalism.  Huge, alien-like shoes and shimmering insect chic ensembles came from one of McQueen's last collections in 2010.  These were made famous by Lady Gaga who was a big supporter of the designer.

If you want to be wowed by one of the most prolific designers of our time, get over to the Metropolitan Museum from May 4–July 31, 2011.

Can't make it to the exhibit?  The museum has published a gorgeous hardcover catalog of the show on order online.  

Photos courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Russian Fashion Week: Venera Kazarova

This is a little cheery and white to be Gothic Fashion, but it was avant-garde and I loved it.  Russian Fashion Week took place earlier this month.  One of my favorite designers was Venera Kazarova as part of the ContrFashion show in Moscow.  

The clothing was sculpted and the models vamped it up in a playful attitude.  The designer's sketches have the same whimsical quality.  Were these meant to be a bridal collection?  Or an artistic take on a ghostly pineapple?  It was fabulous either way...

Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Europe

Play Dead - Spook Show Off-Broadway GIVEAWAY!

Does a good night out for you involve being plunged in the dark and being surrounded by ghosts? Do you year for the old midnight spook shows of decades past?  Are you a fan of the more twisted half of Penn & Teller (he created the show with performer Todd Robbins).  

The new off-Broadway show takes place in the West Village of NYC.  Reviewers are hailing it hilarious, scary, old-school and a lot of fun... I myself will be attending a show soon to give you a first-hand account of my own.  

Care to join me?  I am giving away a pair of tickets to a lucky reader who comments after this post.  Just tell me which ghost you would like to meet in person when you call Death out to play... (Dates are flexible and by reservation).

If you didn't win, you can see the show at a major discount...The Courtesan has secured a discount for tickets below:

$39.50 TICKETS (reg. $69.50)

Saturday @ 10 pm and Sunday @ 7 pm

$44.50 TICKETS (reg. $69.50)

Tuesday- Friday @ 8 pm, Saturday @ 7 pm & Sunday @ 3 pm

Performance schedule:

Tues-Fri at 8pm |Sat at 7pm & 10pm |Sun at 3pm & 7pm

ONLINE: Visit www.ticketmaster.com and use code PLAYDEAD

PHONE: Call 800.982.2787 and mention code PLAYDEAD

IN PERSON: Print out a copy of this offer and visit The Players Theatre Box Office – 115 MacDougal Street (Between West 3^rd Street & Minetta Lane)

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: www.PlayDeadNYC.com

*Offer valid through 5/1/11. Offer is subject to availability and may be revoked at any time. Blackout dates may apply.  Normal service charges apply to online and phone orders. No exchanges or refunds.  All sales are final.  Cannot be combined with other offers.  Not valid for prior purchases.  Limit 8 tickets per order. Schedule subject to change. 

 Winner will be chosen on Friday, April 15th, 2011

CONGRATULATIONS THEO!  YOU ARE OUR WINNER.

Rodarte's Noir Fashion Exhibit at Museum of Contemporary Arts

In business for only six years, the Mulleavy sisters of Rodarte have been one of the most lauded and respected fashion designers of the current generation.  Honored by Michelle Obama with the Cooper Hewitt Award, celebrated by the fashion elite, the label is now being honored at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Los Angeles.

The exhibit, “Rodarte: States of Matter” shows several tutus from their highly publicized (and controversial) gig designer for the movie Black Swan.  There are also garments from three seasons of their runway collections.

Longtime collaborator, Alexandre de Betak helped to create dramatic set pieces to display the collection.  A very noir exhibit meant to display black garments as sculpture pieces, there are mannequins suspended from the ceiling and spun slowly on whirling motors.

The theatrical “immersive” exhibit is what you would hope for from a duo who cites “Living Dead Dolls” and Japanese horror films as inspiration. 

The exhibit runs until June 5, 2011 at MOCA Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.

Photos by Autumn de Wilde. Courtesy of MOCA.