24 hours of gothic fashion whirlwind
Sep. 5th, 2008 04:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alonewiththemoonYesterday we went to NYC to wear Kambriel outfits at the private opening of the Fashion Institute of Technology Museum's exhibit Gothic: Dark Glamour. What an experience!
We hopped a Peter Pan bus named Bogie Tales to NY at 10am Thursday morning, arriving about on time at 2:30pm. I dozed on and off most of the way down, listening to original recordings of Om Koulthum and Abdul Halim Hafez. It was nice to have the chance to really listen to some of that music and let my brain float away on it. We easily found Curse and Kambriel's hotel, and met the lovely Acid Poptart and Andi there. We hung out for a bit chatting, eating pizza and doing makeup. Eye Kandy should start marketing to goths as interest in it was high ;-) My dress was a straight shift, the skirt of which was made up of layers of feather trim laid out in a sort of fish scale pattern, on a base of organza that let my fishnetted legs show through in little peeks. I felt like I floated as I walked. (I'll note here that I did not break out my camera, thinking it was more professional not to be walking around with it while trying to be gothic atmosphere, but now of course I regret that)
Gradually the other models joined us, Tatiana, JV (who I had previously met at one or more of Arcanus' Chinese New Year's parties) and a lovely lady named Kat. It was a great group of people, though 8 or 9 goths getting gussied up in one hotel room was just a teensy bit chaotic as you can probably imagine. Once we were finally ready, we descended to street level to find cabs for the bunch of us. We were quite the spectacle, even on the streets of NY, and received many compliments and stares from gawkers. We were slightly taken by a private driver with a small stretch SUV thing and ended up spending more money than we should have for the trip over to FIT, but otoh we arrived in style, and he knew enough to drop us off right at the red carpet. Cameras started flashing as we alighted from the car, and literally did not stop until we were in our cab on the way back to the hotel. I am used to being photographed on stage, but it was distinctly odd to be continually aware of cameras on me. Couple of complimentary glasses of champagne later and it didn't matter so much any more. I understand celebrity drug abuse. Anyway, we did indeed get red carpet treatment, which I learned really means being told to walk hither and yon and appear to mill about so that you provide an interesting tableau for the photographers and the occasional sound bite. After a bit, we were sent into the building's lobby to mingle. Pulp were playing on the sound system; I like Pulp very much but it seemed rather out of place. The music the whole night alternated between Pulp, Switchblade Symphony and a goth rock band I didn't recognize. We all felt they should have sprung for a real dj, especially since there were a bunch of them in the crowd. (speaking of DJs, I met Mistress Laura McCutcheon, and as I know that she does gothic belly dance DJing, after I introduced myself with my real name I added "and I'm also Badriya, who does gothic belly dance events up in Boston." She said "Oh, Raks Spooki!" without my mentioning it. Yay, my little event is famous!)
In the lobby we continued to pose about, moving from backdrop to backdrop. Several of us were interviewed--not me, which was fine, I think the fact that my dress was so different stylistically from the others (mostly big hoop skirt affairs) meant people didn't always know I was part of the group, though I did get asked plenty of questions about it. Mathew was interviewed though by a man making a documentary about something or another, who told him that he looked like a cross between a pirate and an undertaker. M's response was "why can't I be both?" We joked that as dead pirates were brought to him, he would ask them, "ARRRRRR you dead?" Eventually we were allowed downstairs into the exhibit...
And wow. Such amazing, amazing work was on display. The exhibit was well laid out into a few thematic areas, and the pieces were displayed quite atmospherically, with archways and mesh and catacombs surrounding them. There was a good flow of the classically gothic into the more modern cyber influenced stuff, and the information cards were genuinely informative. I recognized a few pieces from the cutting edge of haute couture exhibit that the MFA had a couple of years ago and was thrilled to see my Galliano coat again. It cries out to me to bring it home every time I see it, so that I can wear it stalking down gas-lit city streets as the bell tolls midnight with a grim expression on my face, or perhaps marching across the tundra to meet my destiny. I'm not usually about religious iconography, at least not Christian, but this coat just kills me. It's very Witch Hunter Robin meets Brotherhood of the Wolf. Maybe it's the sequins in the skeleton trim, I don't know. Probably predictably, I liked the Galliano and Alexander McQueen stuff the best, but there was plenty that I'd've happily taken home with me. The vast majority of the pieces were very well chosen. Mathew especially liked the pieces by Rick Owens. Ah, if only we were independently wealthy.
One of the most rewarding things about the evening was seeing gothic subculture getting some genuine respect from a mainstream institution. Of course these designers have been influenced by gothic stuff since the mid 90s, but to have it all collected together in one place gives us I think a real sense of legitimacy in the global cultural/fashion landscape. Of course there were denials from some of the designers, duly noted on their outfits' placards, that they don't see themselves as gothic in any way, but the majority of the designers' quoted remarks were celebratory. Not that the gothic subculture *needs* any recognition from the outside world, but it felt good to see it, and honestly I felt proud to be walking around in my Kambriel finery amongst all the dressed up fashion people, doing the goth thing for a night and embracing it. One quite older woman wearing expensive stuff all in black said to a few of us, paraphrased, "You are making me so happy! I have found my place!" Maybe it was the champagne or the cosmos talking, but it was honestly a bit heartwarming. All in all, it was good to be celebrated, rather than being blamed for school shootings and the general downfall of civilization as we know it. I think I'm going to have to pick up a copy of the exhibition catalogue, even though I already disagreed with some of the observations about music just skimming it (but then I wouldn't be a real goth if I didn't, would I ;-).
It was funny to see some of the modern goth stuff on display, though--Kambriel's pieces fit very well alongside Victorian mourning dresses and costuming from Dracula, but the outfit from Trash and Vaudeville displayed in the lobby made us all laugh a bit. It looked like they'd rummaged through our closets and put the contents on display. And to see pointy buckle boots on a shelf with a little placard, too funny. I now know how any number of indigenous peoples who visit museums and see the stuff of their daily lives on display must feel! I was rather thrilled to see a torn up paint splattered blazer that Jon Klein wore in Specimen days, though. I had one very similar at the time and was a big Specimen fan.
Finally the fairytale ended, and all of us Cinderellas had to get back into taxis and return to the hotel and change out of our ballgowns. Though the afterparties sounded like much fun, M and I had decided to take the 12:30am bus back to Boston to be home in time for Ianto's morning med. (many thanks again to lepidosiren for taking care of him on Thursday night!) We had hoped we might catch an earlier bus, but didn't get there in time, leaving us with two hours to kill at Port Authority, fun fun. That turned out to be for the best, though, because the line for the Boston bus started forming an hour and a half before it was scheduled to depart, and the line was very long by the time the bus came. We were able to get into line early and get good seats, so all's well that ends well. The trip back was long. We hit bad traffic due to construction just outside of NY, heavy fog in CT and the bus hit the rumble strip so often during one stretch I feel pretty sure that the driver was dozing off, making my own sleep rather anxious. We pulled into South Station around 5am and grabbed a cab home--the T would have opened soon, but it was worth the money to just get home.
The cab driver asked where we'd come back from, and we told him we went down to NYC for the day. He said "Oh, to be young!" I thought, but I'm not young--which immediately put a Monica Richards song into my head: "I'm not young/I'm not old/I'm come into my own." It fits me now and it somehow fit the exhibit as well, a good summary thought for the day.
Once others have posted photos, I'll post links! Also, I did order the exhibition catalogue after thinking about it more, though it's supposedly not available until late Nov/early Dec. Anybody who finds themselves in NYC while the exhibit is on should really make a point of going.
We hopped a Peter Pan bus named Bogie Tales to NY at 10am Thursday morning, arriving about on time at 2:30pm. I dozed on and off most of the way down, listening to original recordings of Om Koulthum and Abdul Halim Hafez. It was nice to have the chance to really listen to some of that music and let my brain float away on it. We easily found Curse and Kambriel's hotel, and met the lovely Acid Poptart and Andi there. We hung out for a bit chatting, eating pizza and doing makeup. Eye Kandy should start marketing to goths as interest in it was high ;-) My dress was a straight shift, the skirt of which was made up of layers of feather trim laid out in a sort of fish scale pattern, on a base of organza that let my fishnetted legs show through in little peeks. I felt like I floated as I walked. (I'll note here that I did not break out my camera, thinking it was more professional not to be walking around with it while trying to be gothic atmosphere, but now of course I regret that)
Gradually the other models joined us, Tatiana, JV (who I had previously met at one or more of Arcanus' Chinese New Year's parties) and a lovely lady named Kat. It was a great group of people, though 8 or 9 goths getting gussied up in one hotel room was just a teensy bit chaotic as you can probably imagine. Once we were finally ready, we descended to street level to find cabs for the bunch of us. We were quite the spectacle, even on the streets of NY, and received many compliments and stares from gawkers. We were slightly taken by a private driver with a small stretch SUV thing and ended up spending more money than we should have for the trip over to FIT, but otoh we arrived in style, and he knew enough to drop us off right at the red carpet. Cameras started flashing as we alighted from the car, and literally did not stop until we were in our cab on the way back to the hotel. I am used to being photographed on stage, but it was distinctly odd to be continually aware of cameras on me. Couple of complimentary glasses of champagne later and it didn't matter so much any more. I understand celebrity drug abuse. Anyway, we did indeed get red carpet treatment, which I learned really means being told to walk hither and yon and appear to mill about so that you provide an interesting tableau for the photographers and the occasional sound bite. After a bit, we were sent into the building's lobby to mingle. Pulp were playing on the sound system; I like Pulp very much but it seemed rather out of place. The music the whole night alternated between Pulp, Switchblade Symphony and a goth rock band I didn't recognize. We all felt they should have sprung for a real dj, especially since there were a bunch of them in the crowd. (speaking of DJs, I met Mistress Laura McCutcheon, and as I know that she does gothic belly dance DJing, after I introduced myself with my real name I added "and I'm also Badriya, who does gothic belly dance events up in Boston." She said "Oh, Raks Spooki!" without my mentioning it. Yay, my little event is famous!)
In the lobby we continued to pose about, moving from backdrop to backdrop. Several of us were interviewed--not me, which was fine, I think the fact that my dress was so different stylistically from the others (mostly big hoop skirt affairs) meant people didn't always know I was part of the group, though I did get asked plenty of questions about it. Mathew was interviewed though by a man making a documentary about something or another, who told him that he looked like a cross between a pirate and an undertaker. M's response was "why can't I be both?" We joked that as dead pirates were brought to him, he would ask them, "ARRRRRR you dead?" Eventually we were allowed downstairs into the exhibit...
And wow. Such amazing, amazing work was on display. The exhibit was well laid out into a few thematic areas, and the pieces were displayed quite atmospherically, with archways and mesh and catacombs surrounding them. There was a good flow of the classically gothic into the more modern cyber influenced stuff, and the information cards were genuinely informative. I recognized a few pieces from the cutting edge of haute couture exhibit that the MFA had a couple of years ago and was thrilled to see my Galliano coat again. It cries out to me to bring it home every time I see it, so that I can wear it stalking down gas-lit city streets as the bell tolls midnight with a grim expression on my face, or perhaps marching across the tundra to meet my destiny. I'm not usually about religious iconography, at least not Christian, but this coat just kills me. It's very Witch Hunter Robin meets Brotherhood of the Wolf. Maybe it's the sequins in the skeleton trim, I don't know. Probably predictably, I liked the Galliano and Alexander McQueen stuff the best, but there was plenty that I'd've happily taken home with me. The vast majority of the pieces were very well chosen. Mathew especially liked the pieces by Rick Owens. Ah, if only we were independently wealthy.
One of the most rewarding things about the evening was seeing gothic subculture getting some genuine respect from a mainstream institution. Of course these designers have been influenced by gothic stuff since the mid 90s, but to have it all collected together in one place gives us I think a real sense of legitimacy in the global cultural/fashion landscape. Of course there were denials from some of the designers, duly noted on their outfits' placards, that they don't see themselves as gothic in any way, but the majority of the designers' quoted remarks were celebratory. Not that the gothic subculture *needs* any recognition from the outside world, but it felt good to see it, and honestly I felt proud to be walking around in my Kambriel finery amongst all the dressed up fashion people, doing the goth thing for a night and embracing it. One quite older woman wearing expensive stuff all in black said to a few of us, paraphrased, "You are making me so happy! I have found my place!" Maybe it was the champagne or the cosmos talking, but it was honestly a bit heartwarming. All in all, it was good to be celebrated, rather than being blamed for school shootings and the general downfall of civilization as we know it. I think I'm going to have to pick up a copy of the exhibition catalogue, even though I already disagreed with some of the observations about music just skimming it (but then I wouldn't be a real goth if I didn't, would I ;-).
It was funny to see some of the modern goth stuff on display, though--Kambriel's pieces fit very well alongside Victorian mourning dresses and costuming from Dracula, but the outfit from Trash and Vaudeville displayed in the lobby made us all laugh a bit. It looked like they'd rummaged through our closets and put the contents on display. And to see pointy buckle boots on a shelf with a little placard, too funny. I now know how any number of indigenous peoples who visit museums and see the stuff of their daily lives on display must feel! I was rather thrilled to see a torn up paint splattered blazer that Jon Klein wore in Specimen days, though. I had one very similar at the time and was a big Specimen fan.
Finally the fairytale ended, and all of us Cinderellas had to get back into taxis and return to the hotel and change out of our ballgowns. Though the afterparties sounded like much fun, M and I had decided to take the 12:30am bus back to Boston to be home in time for Ianto's morning med. (many thanks again to lepidosiren for taking care of him on Thursday night!) We had hoped we might catch an earlier bus, but didn't get there in time, leaving us with two hours to kill at Port Authority, fun fun. That turned out to be for the best, though, because the line for the Boston bus started forming an hour and a half before it was scheduled to depart, and the line was very long by the time the bus came. We were able to get into line early and get good seats, so all's well that ends well. The trip back was long. We hit bad traffic due to construction just outside of NY, heavy fog in CT and the bus hit the rumble strip so often during one stretch I feel pretty sure that the driver was dozing off, making my own sleep rather anxious. We pulled into South Station around 5am and grabbed a cab home--the T would have opened soon, but it was worth the money to just get home.
The cab driver asked where we'd come back from, and we told him we went down to NYC for the day. He said "Oh, to be young!" I thought, but I'm not young--which immediately put a Monica Richards song into my head: "I'm not young/I'm not old/I'm come into my own." It fits me now and it somehow fit the exhibit as well, a good summary thought for the day.
Once others have posted photos, I'll post links! Also, I did order the exhibition catalogue after thinking about it more, though it's supposedly not available until late Nov/early Dec. Anybody who finds themselves in NYC while the exhibit is on should really make a point of going.
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-05 09:05 pm (UTC)I hope to catch the exhibit with nitowl when we go down on the 30th for Laibach.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-05 10:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-06 12:07 am (UTC)I am very surprised that you never met Laura (Mistress McCutcheon) before. There I go, just assuming all of my friends know each other!
no subject
Date: 2008-09-06 12:40 am (UTC)I think I have emailed with Laura before, but this was the first time I met her in person. Liked her a lot too :)
no subject
Date: 2008-09-06 12:48 am (UTC)