Girlies Go Goth At The Academy Awards!

A fashion blog is not officially a fashion blog until it has documented its opinion regarding who were the ultimate best dressed celebrities at the Academy Awards. So, without further ado, here are my own personal picks of the most Gothically glam gentlewomen who graced the red carpet for the most glamorous night in Hollywood’s calendar…

1) Cate Blanchett

Last year’s Best Actress winner and, thus, this year’s Best Actor presenter added a splash of colour to this elegant black velvet number with a bold turquoise neck decoration.

2) Sienna Miller

Ms. Miller rocked a similar look to the aforementioned Blanchett. I adore the simple, preppy bow detailing.

3) Kelly Osborne

I think the question here is what wasn’t gorgeously Gothic about Kelly Osborne’s Oscar attire? I especially love how this lady constantly clashes her cutesy pastel lavendar quiff with rugged, dark, sophisticated gear…

4) Zendaya

I must admit, I did have to Google who this bright young thing was. And I’m still not entirely sure. But her stunning dress just reminds me of sensual Victorian lingerie, reminisce of something you would imagine a bride of Dracula wearing…so what is not to love? Love love LOVE this dress!

5) Felicity Jones

Keeping with the theme of non-black attire, Felicity Jones looked like an absolute Disney princess in this Alexander McQueen Cinderella gown. That pearl-adorned bodice and neckline? One word: STUN-NING.

6) Rosamund Pike

I promise, I will return to the comfort zone of black, grey and all their derivatives in the very near future, but I couldn’t possibly ignore the structuring of Rosamund’s rosy LRD. The ingenious cinching gives the illusion that she possesses a waist of around a two-inch circumference…and you work that split, girl!

7) Hannah Bagshawe

AKA Mrs. Eddie Redmayne, AKA The Luckiest Woman Alive. The feather detailing on this dress certainly is something to write home about. I simply must congratulate this fine lady in her wonderful wardrobe this awards season. PS-the mister didn’t look too bad himself.

8) Melanie Griffith

THAT NECKLINE: CAN I GET AN AMEN?! The perfect combination of class and burlesque elegance.

9) Laura Dern 

I shall call this ‘chainmail chic’. It would have been simply criminal to ignore the wicked craftsmanship that has gone into this stylish suit of glamorous armour.

10) Tegan and Sara

These twinnies certainly chose comfort over formalities but didn’t they look just fabulous in doing so? Congrats girls, you made ‘casual’ on the prestigious Oscars red carpet actually work! And, if possible, could I borrow that dress sometime? Please and thank you.

11) Dita Von Teese

Okay, okay, technically she didn’t actually grace the red carpet (she just partied hard at ol’ Elton’s place afterwards) but when she looked this on-point, how could I refuse to include her in my line-up? Never one to disappoint is our fair Dita.

12) Meryl Streep

ALL PRAISE QUEEN MERYL. WORSHIP THE GROUND SHE WALKS UPON. KISS HER SACRED FEET. So suave, so smooth, so sophisticated….gah. You’ve killed me, Streep. You’ve actually killed me. Brava, you wondrous lady.

AAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDD in other news…

The BRITs were also this week.

And while everyone is still busting a lung over literally the most golden moment in live television history (ie-the moment Madonna became ‘The Fallen Madonna With Hair Like She Had Been Dragged Backwards Out Of A Bush’), I have been fangirling over Paloma Faith’s spectacular performance of the heartbreaking ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’. THIS is how you put on a performance!

Until next time muchachos!

-Niamhy xx

The Perfect Ten: The Ten Most Beautifully Flawless Women To Ever Grace This Planet…

…that is, in the humble opinion of The High Priestess.

Ladies and gentlemen, behold the icons of my idolatry. Darwin’s fittest females in accordance with the evolution of mankind. My Perfect Ten. It is time to unleash the green-eyed monster.

10) Edie Sedgwick

Andy Warhol’s muse and the only person who can wear those disgustingly extravagant earrings and not look like Pat Butcher (she somehow makes those mini-chandeliers look like the epitome of elegance): the glorious Ms. Sedgwick. Unfortunately, the wildness of the era and the whirlwind world of fast-paced youth got the better of our Edie and she sadly passed at the tender age of 28 in 1971. However, her memory lives on in the multitudes of stunning photographs of the superstar, Warhol’s films and Leddra Chapman’s haunting ode ‘Edie’ (please excuse the dodgy video). Long live the It Girl.

9) Siouxsie Sioux

The lead singer of Siouxsie and the Banshees, many (including myself) would claim that Siouxsie Sioux is the ultimate Queen of the Trad Goths…for obvious reasons. The androgynous style, the raven’s nest hair, the dramatic eye make-up; Siouxsie has it all, not to mention her stellar music! It’s official. Siouxsie is the perfect Gothic package.

(Excuse the profanity…you have been warned.)

8) Agyness Deyn

At one point in every girl’s life, she will lay eyes upon the one woman she aspires to look like. Her true style icon. For me, that woman is Agyness Deyn. I dare say anyone who knows me well would be willing to stand up in a court of law and proclaim that my obsession with Agy is unhealthy. Every night I pray that I wake up the next morning looking like her. She is the definition of flawless. I cannot even convey how much I want to be her. It’s not fair. Life is just not fair.

7) Annie Lennox

Is it becoming pretty evident that I have a mild infatuation with buzzcuts? Considering I often get called ‘Mini Annie Lennox’ by my colleagues, it would be completely unfathomable for me to exclude the gorgeous Annie from my list. As if her fashion sense (THOSE SUITS!), cracking hairstyles and angelic voice wasn’t enough to make you jealous, she has the personality of a saint and a delightful Scottish brogue. I love her. Especially in this music video.

6) Kat Von D

She is the woman who worked wonders for inked ladies all over the world, highlighting the power and beauty of tattooing and encouraging everyone to embrace their bodies as a human canvas. Not only is Kat Von D a magician with a needle and ink, she also has a killer fashion line (which I plan on doing a blog post on once the online shop is up and running again following a devastating fire) and a fabulous Gothic make-up range. With talents galore, it is impossible not to adore this masterpiece of a woman.

5) Twiggy

The Bambi eyes. The boyish figure. The pixie cut. The button nose. The pouting lips. Twiggy is my vision of idealistic beauty. She is the woman who made me fall in love with vintage fashion many, many moons ago and for that I am truly thankful. Thank you, Twiggy. I owe you big time.

4) Kate Bush

As if having outrageously brilliant talents for choreography, singing and song-writing isn’t enough, Kate Bush just had to throw in the fact that she is stunningly gorgeous and can work a tweed suit better than any Fleet Street businessman or Oxford English Literature lecturer ever could. She is also insanely intelligent and isn’t afraid to make controversial political statements (Army Dreamers, anyone?). In your face, Patriarchy. IN. YOUR. FACE. Altogether now: I’M COMING BACK NOW, CRUEL HEATHCLIFF, MY ONE DREAM, MY ONLY MAAAAAASTER!

3) Florence Welch

I fondly recall summer 2010 as the summer my best friend and I officially became infatuated with Florence + The Machine’s album Lungs. That was the beginning of our ongoing adoration of Ms. Welch. No matter what she is wearing, be it an ethereal evening gown or a suit made from what resembles cheap wallpaper from the 1980s, the lady never seems to put a fashionable foot out of place. And speaking of feet…Florence’s perfectly pedicured tootsies are also things to be envied. Yes. She is so immaculate that even HER FEET are perfect. Ugh. And if this song doesn’t make you shed the tears of a thousand lonely sunsets, you have a heart of stone I tell you.

2) Stevie Nicks

The White Witch herself. Stevie is just completely magical. Mystical. Spellbinding. It cannot be denied that the blood that courses through her veins sparkles with stardust. If you have ever travelled through the countryside of Ireland via train, listening to Stevie’s haunting vocals whilst the rain sends floods of teardrops cascading down the window pane, you will understand the power of this woman’s soul. It is to Nicks that I owe the deepest gratitude for encouraging me to embrace the fantastical world of the paranormal, the tarot…all things dark and enchanting. Thank you, beautiful, beautiful woman. You allowed me to be who I am.

1) Dita Von Teese

Um. Yeah. I don’t think I need to go into detail here. I think we all know. There is no need. Dita Von Teese. My sin. My soul. Oh, Dita, do me a favour and lend me your coat. I swear I’ll give it back. I promise.

So, if you haven’t all drifted into the Land of Nod having been completely bored to death by my nonsensical ravings, I thank you for your attention and your patience. Now, leave me to wallow in self-pity, self-loathing and jealousy. It’s going to take me a little while to get over this post. Too much perfection. Too much envy.

The green-eyed monster, over and out.

-Niamhy xx

An Ode To Dita

As I previously stated, I am basically wandering aimlessly through this world of fashion blogging, so I dare say that this style of post will soon evolve into a feature along the lines of ‘Style Icon of the Week’ but we shall cross that ivy-suffocated burning bridge when we come to it. Anyway, let’s get to it…

Burlesque star. Pin-up model. Fashion designer. Business woman. Actual superhero. The classiest, most glamorous, most alluring woman to ever exist. Who else would have a list of accolades this lengthy? It can only be one person. This, ladies and gentlemen, is my ode to Dita Von Teese.

Sigh.

There are simply no words to convey the envy I feel for this lady. She has it all. Everything that makes her ‘perfect’ in the Gothic style stakes. Actually, she has so many wonderful attributes that contribute to her distinctly Gothic image that I couldn’t even begin to list them. But I’m sure as hell going to try.

1) Her flawless skin.

This is possibly the greatest item of anguish for me that Ms. Dita possesses. She is (metaphorically) a porcelain doll. She has the skin of a newly-birthed blanket of midnight Christmas snow. And you know it must be something grand because I literally just wrote a poem about it in that sentence.

2) The perfect pin-up hourglass figure.

Sometimes I find myself staring at images upon images of Dita with one question whirling around my mind…HOW? Surely a figure like that defies every law of science. This woman defies all of the laws of science.

3) She works a tuxedo better than any man ever could.

Dita Von Teese: forever making fashion statements which scream, “Sisters are doing it for themselves!” (You will soon learn that women in menswear is my favourite thing ever.)

4) She has a vintage wardrobe to positively DIE for (just keeping it Goth).

Von Teese is one of those life-ruining people who still somehow manages to be breathtakingly beautiful doing the most human tasks. Bringing out the bins. Walking the dog. Posting a letter. SHE ALWAYS LOOKS LIKE A STARLET. She struts around in those Louboutins like they are ballet pumps. She takes no prisoners.

5) She wore the most killer purple dress when she married the Goth Dark Lord himself, Marilyn Manson.

Marriages fade. The perfect dress lasts forever.

And if I hadn’t made it crystal clear enough yet that Dita Von Teese is the most perfect person to ever grace this planet, she is an avid supporter of the charity PETA, whilst also raising awareness of AIDS and campaigning for women’s rights. Should we just drop everything and build a shrine to her right now?

Dita has no need to fear falling downstairs…the stairs build themselves around her…

If there are any readers left who I haven’t scared off by my uncontrollable gushing about Queen Dita, I bid you a fond farewell and hope to speak to you soon. Over and out!

Niamhy xx