Neon Days

How about this neon yellow colour trend, eh? It just won’t go away – and I’m very happy about that! I’m obviously still very much in love with neon colour, even if I’m not exactly a cybergoth or raver these days.

I ventured out to Newtown to Just Feathers this week, and found some gorgeous goodies in that neon yellow/chartreuse colour that’s still so of-the-moment.  And everything I bought was between $25 and $39.95!

 

Firstly these leggings jumped out at me, with their tron/blade-runner/futurist bent and Prada-like 70’s honeycomb print. The yellow piping really pops against the black & white monochrome print. Thinking of my impending holidays, I kept my make-up neutral (no eyeliner!) and threw on a visor and loose skull-studded long tee from Glad News (Japan). Chartreuse platforms from my Korea trip last year, and neon yellow spiked cuff (from Just Feathers) completed the look.

(Minpin accessory not included 😉 But how many times can you spot him?)

 

Another great buy was this chartreuse top with flared peplum. Initially I thought it should be worn with a gently flared skirt (from Dotti last year) and a shirt underneath for modesty.

 

But this baby doesn’t HAVE to be ladylike…it can also be glam & clubby.  I decided to put it together with the leggings, a black corset belt from Cue and a studded skirt, sans undershirt (!) but with more dramatic make-up:

 

Yes, the hair also got a nice midnight-blue dye job – well spotted, those who picked it! The bright eyeshadows are by LimeCrime, the lipstick by Manic Panic.

To complete the cyber-y look, my white boots with cut-out platform from Esperanza in Japan (see this post) seemed an appropriate choice.

In the various shots here, you can see little vignettes of my living room (dark charcoal wall & metallic teal wallpaper opposite), the sunroom (zebra chair, palms & Indian carved wooden screen), and dressing room (dark wooden shoe shelves and wardrobe doors, plush zebra striped rug & black mock-croc chair).

I WILL be doing some interiors posts before long – just have to finalise some pieces before I unveil them to the world!

To cyber it up even more, I threw on this Spank neon yellow jacket with clear PVC panels, a black spiked collar, and a neon yellow see-through corset belt from LB-03 in Japan (see this post) – perfect for this ensemble! I love how clothing from my travels and my various past incarnations, can still come together in an outfit 🙂

 

 

Finally, I had to grab this comfy soft jumper (above) in a pastel yellow-green hue…and pair it with a metallic neckpiece that is made  out of lots of gold bobby pins (kirby grips for my o/s readers).  A very Mary Katrantzou-like dress was another purchase of mine, as seen right, but I will leave that for another outfit post (and yep, little dawg Fritz just had to get in these pics AGAIN!)

So if you happen to be near a Just Feathers store, or an outlet for the labels Smoke & Mirrors (leggings), Imprint (jumper) or Paper Heart (chartreuse top)  you might just wanna grab yourself a bargain.

So have you jumped on board the neon trend? Dipped your toes in with a bright satchel or footwear? Do tell!

Beserk Tights!

I just discovered another of my fave aussie alternative labels, Beserk Clothing, has now started a range of very creative tights!

I know you love tights and leggings as much as me, so here’s a peek.

1. Tera Angel

In this, Fleur’s first design, the wing of the Angel wraps around the back of the leg:

 

2. Dreaming Desire

These tights have a very Japanese-inspired manga girl with her hair flowing around the legs:

 

3. Diamond Heist

These tights have an all over diamond pattern – not just a diamond pattern, but a 3 dimensional rendering of a diamond gem:

 

In classic black and white with a touch of red, these are sure to go with so many rockin’ outfits you might be planning. (Oh, and Beserk also stocks some Black Milk tights! James is a fellow Brisbane designer)

Beserk has a great range of clothing in graphic designs, from dresses to singlets to shorts to skirts to armwarmers…really, you must check out the Beserk store!

 

 

There are even armwarmers to co-ordinate your outfit, in Sakura/Cherry Blossom print, skull print, and military chevrons.

 

If you like what you see, I’ll leave it to you to peruse further.  For more reading, I’ve previously mentioned Beserk in my Under the Blue Moon Festival post, and my Sunday Links post here.

Let’s talk about tights

So today the sun has finally come out in earnest, rendering today’s subject a little moot, but nonetheless, today I want to talk about tights.

I am a tight fanatic! I have multiple tights/stockings/leggings in skeleton designs, leopard print, stripe, harlequin-type diamond….but I don’t have any floral ones!! As any dolly kei girl will tell you, you need floral tights (or ones with angelly cherubs on them) to complete the look…and so I’ve gone searching. Of course, along the way I’ve just found some that are plain stunning, even if not floral.

Sister is an amazing rock-chick store in Shibuya, and they have a very cool range of tights here.

They don’t just come in blue, these; there’s reddish and khaki “Fall Victim” tights as well:

 

There are some spirally optical illusion tights called “She has 2 Sisters”, in pink & black:

 

as well as fantastic lace print ones called “Femme Fatale” – WANT these!

 

Oh and BTW, these are the tights being worn by the dolly kei girl in the grey fur in these pics:

 

The store is having a 70% of sale on 4th January too…if I have any money left after buying Fukubukuro on the 2nd & 3rd…I’m there!!
(Read the Sister blog here for more info on the brands and new releases)

Hands down my fave Australian tights designer is James from Black Milk. See my Black Milk posts here, here and here, for starters.  I have a couple of his skeleton tights, and though they’re now sold out, for the goths here’s the leg bone and little skulls tights:

   

And how fab are these Escher leggings (available on pre-order only – so order ’em fast!), and Great Wave leggings:

   

The houndstooth and tribute-to-Mcqueen abstract tights are also incredibly striking:

 

I wanna share his whole collection with you, it is that great, but will leave you with some of his flares, here in lace and velvet.

 

Seriously, check out the Black Milk range (he also does bodysuits and jackets), or see his blog Too Many Tights, for up and coming styles.

I have to confess that this next one comes to me from Susie of Style Bubble, who recently posted an outfit featuring the amazing “Cyclops” tights.

Les Queues de Sardines have quirky, fun tights in various colours & “out there” patterns, like human organs/entrails…

 

 

 

Heck, I haven’t even got to the floral dolly-kei tights I was originally gonna post, and this is getting a bit long  – so part 2 will be coming up soon!

What are your fave tights/leggings?

Studded Leggings – again!

The other day I posted about my new studded Cue leggings, and as reader Steph pointed out, they are eerily reminiscent of Topshop studded leggings from late last year. I had, in fact, saved these to my wishlist but never got around to buying them.

A bit of research shows that there have been a LOT of studded legging styles out there – all eerily similar.  We’re a little behind this trend in Australia, because we’ve been having a (very hot) spring and summer  for the past 5 months, while Europe and US and hell, the whole northern hemisphere, has been having a chilly Winter.

In late November, the blog Enantiomorphic noticed this studded leg phenomenon, and Audrey Kitching likewise posted about it, calling it the Tron look. I wouldn’t go that far; I just think they’re punk and sexy. Mind you, having been a cybergoth a few years ago, I have no aversion to futurism in fashion!

Anyway, the pics.

First, the Cue “Union Jack” leggings.

And now, some from Sportsgirl (for less than half the price)

But wait, there’s more from the UK from last year…
Velvet Studded Leggings by Christobel and Desire Clothing, left,
and Slinky Studded Leggings by Oasis right.

Crystal Studded Leggings by Topshop left,
and Blade Leggings by French Connection right.
Black Studded Leggings by Oasis left,
and Silver Disc Leggings by Daddy Long Legs right.

Aaargh!! I think I like some of the other ones better, now I’ve seen them all together! Oh, the impetuosity of youth a-girl-with-one-day-off-to-go-shopping 🙁

I think as the summer closes and autumn commences in March, in Australia we’ll be seeing a lot more of these babies (just as we’ll hopefully be seeing a lot of that gorgeous coloured faux fur in stoles, shrugs, chubbies and the like, but I digress).

I love these stud leggings now, but will I become sick of them, once I start seeing really cheap nasty versions in every discount high street shop? Or does the work and ‘bling’ involved mean they will always be relatively pricey and scarce? Time will tell.