Sometimes it takes a while to choose a really good patch placement and sometimes you get lucky. For whatever reason the patch gods have looked down upon me today and guided my hands. I like things to be in balance when I do patch work because I feel that a jacket is more put together when this is done. Others like to do the opposite and that is okay. You’ll find that the more you do DIY projects the more you will get into your own creative flow.
These are all sew on patches. I have never ironed on a patch in my life because it is more easy to remove them if you want to use them again. Plus, my days of going into pits are long gone so I don’t have to worry about them being ripped off.
I bought all of these patches off of Etsy. There are tons of artists on there making very cool spooky patches. Shipping is very expensive right now unless you are buying from sellers in your own country; then it is usually cheaper.
This is a themed spooky jacket that is going to be mainly black and white. Tim Burton’s films and the colour green are not allowed on it because I’m not really a huge fan. I like Sleepy Hollow and Edward Scissorhands but I wouldn’t ever base my identity on them. It’s just not for me. I love Hammer Films and gothic horror in general. Christopher Lee will always be my favourite Dracula because he can be quite feral at times; he forgets his manners and will sip on his guests. No colour green because green with stripes is a very overplayed look and people associate that with Beettlejuice and Burton. I will be using purple thread because I think that will make a nice contrast. I will share more news on this project as I go along.
A bunch of patches have come in since the last post. My favourite being the large Boris Karloff as the Mummy patch. I have a bit of a soft spot for the Mummy; he isn’t given the same respect or attention as Dracula or Frankenstein’s monster. If the Mummy were a child going to a monster type academy they would probably be picked last all of the time during games. He is going on the back of the striped jacket for all of those reasons and more. I’m not sure which others are going on yet because I am waiting for more to arrive.
Where did I get these patches? Etsy. There are so many patch sellers that you will more than likely find the exact kind you want on there. I have noticed that there are a few unscrupulous sellers right now overcharging for their spooky patches because of ‘goth’ being a current fashion trend. So, if some seem too expensive to you it’s probably because they are overpriced. I will update further on this once more arrive.
I’m back from the dead! I just needed some away from the internet time and I am doing much better. Hooray! I was going to finish this post a week ago but I caught a head cold and had absolutely no energy. I’m just about over it and feel, much, much better. Off we go!
As the title of this post states I am starting work on yet another jacket. When I go onto the ‘high street’ of my town I always browse the New Look store’s clearance section. I always come out with something because I live in a very conservative area. Anything too ‘out there’ for the local normies goes on clearance, and the prices are cheaper than the local thrift stores. It’s a win win for me because it means I don’t have to pay a lot of money to find a piece of clothing to do some fun DIY type work on. I would say that the quality of their stock is better than Shein, so if you are a weirdo with a budget in the UK you ought to head over there.
Since it is a black and white striped jacket people will assume that I am going to ‘Beetlejuice’ it. I think that type of look is very overplayed and I am not a big Tim Burton fan. Because of all of this I am not allowing any green on this jacket. The patches that I will be using will be mostly black & white. There will be some purple, red, blue,etc…but no green. When it comes to DIY battle jackets you should always put what YOU love on it; not what others tell you that you should have on it.
The purple really sets it off.
So far the only work I have done to it is place some purple studs right beneath the pocket openings. Since it is an unlined summer type blazer I might not place any more studs on it. When you stud a piece of clothing you make it heavier so that would go against the purpose of this blazer; a lighter summer type garment. I may feel differently down the road but that is my headspace right now.
I am waiting for a bunch of patches to arrive. This is going to be a ‘spooky’ jacket: horror films, TV shows, sayings and maybe some bands. When more get here I will show them to you all because they are peachy-keen! Okay, I’m going to cheat and share one below that is defitely going on it. It is a thing of beauty!
Official Etsy statement sent to creators owed money.
I use Etsy quite a bit and have gotten most of my accessories from there so I find this a bit troubling. They are literally having issues paying the sellers due to having money tied up in Silicon Valley Bank; a bank that has just gone under. I’m not buying anything more from there until they have this figured out and can pay creators what they are owed. I will give updates if I see anything further about this. EDIT: Apparently the FDIC is covering the money that businesses have in this bank so that said companies have access to that cash. This means Etsy can pay the money they owe sellers. At least in theory they can, which is a good thing. Nobody knows exactly how all of this is going to pan out so stay tuned.
The patch placement on the back I am more than likely going to run with.
You have read that correctly, I have finally started working on the Glenn Danzig themed jacket! This will entail including patches from the Misfits, Samhain, Danzig and other related spooky stuff. The funny thing is that all of this is happening around the same time that I finally got my eyes tested and found out that I need reading glasses. It was getting difficult to thread a needle so that really needed to happen.
We own a cat, can you tell?
Without glasses I managed to sew on the Samhain death dealer patch. I used red thread to make it pop a little. I have decided not to tire the hell out of my eyes any further and just wait for my glasses to arrive before I start on another patch. So, I will be back at it next week. While I was waiting for the last patches to arrive I started yet another project.
Love this hoodie so much!
I bought the above Misfits hoodie from Hot Topic’s website about a month ago. I only order from the site once a year because they charge way too much money for shipping. I’m just going to slowly sew more patches to it and perhaps add some spikes.
All of the patches shown in this post I bought from Etsy.
That is me on the left in early 1991. I’ve posted this photo before but it is one of the only photos of myself that I have from back then. I didn’t like having my photo taken.
I have seen these questions making the rounds all over social media and I thought I would join in since my answers will be a bit different compared to a lot of the other answers I have seen. This is due to being old and also being heavily into punk music.
1. How long have I been goth? My area of the San Francisco East Bay did not start using the word until around 90-91. Some of my favourite bands in high school in the late 80’s, that are considered goth, were Specimen, Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Cure, Gene Loves Jezebel and The Cult. So I have been listening to the music since about 1986. During that time I also loved U2 and The Dead Kennedys so musically I was all over the place. I didn’t call myself a goth until about 92 because the people who used the term first in my area were the uber goobers and I did not want to be lumped in with them. They took themselves way too seriously, which I never did. I have also always had a foot in the punk subculture.
2. How was I introduced to goth? Nobody sat me down and told me what to listen to or how to dress. There was no internet, of course, and it could be kind of difficult to find out about bands. At the first high school I went to I was the only person in my friend group who listened to the music, and they thought the music was too weird. There was a Bay Area ‘modern rock’ station during that time that would play the more obscure stuff late at night and that’s how I learned about a few of them . At my second high school there were more weirdos, and some of them were quite helpful with bands. Back then the term ‘post-punk’ wasn’t used at all in my area, rather all weirdo music, except for punk of course, was called ‘alternative’ or ‘modern rock’. The term ‘alternative’ was ruined by the mainstream record labels who used it for grunge in their attempt to sell ‘weirdo’ music to the masses.
3. What gothic subgenre would you put yourself in? If you regularly read this blog then you know how much I dislike all of the ‘goth type’ crap. It originated as a joke in the 90’s, making fun of the stereotypes seen in clubs. For whatever reason a lot of younger folks, and some deluded old ones, feel the need to fit themselves into a box. I do tend to listen to a lot of deathrock music, probably more-so than any other ‘type’ but I refuse to call myself ‘deathrock’ because there is more to me than just one form of music, and I refuse to box myself in just to please others.
4. What do you believe to be the bases(basis) of the gothic subculture? First, I would love to point out how the person who wrote out these questions uses both the terms ‘goth’ and ‘gothic’. We used to always use both of the terms interchangeability way back when but now ‘gothic’ means spooky architecture, while ‘goth’ means the subculture. I think the basis of the subculture is the music more than anything else. Without the music there wouldn’t be a subculture. Period. The clothes and make-up are secondary. Anybody who calls themselves goth but who doesn’t listen to actual goth bands is more than likely a trend whore; a person who jumps from trend to trend. Since the term has been super popular in the mainstream for the last few years there are quite a few of these people floating around all wearing the same really shit Demonia boots and the same kind of outfits. I find them all boring, but it is rather entertaining when these fashion victims bitch about their Demonias falling apart within a week of wearing them.
5. What do I dislike about being goth? I know that a lot of goth women bitch about being sexually harassed by men who think all goth women are kinky, but that hasn’t happened to me at all in real life. I think it’s mainly because I look older and use a cane. There are some upsides to being diseased and middle aged. There really isn’t anything that I dislike since I am in my own bubble of existence. I am just me being me.
6. What do your parents think of it? My mom was with me when I got my first undercut in 88, so she has always been very supportive of me and has said that if she had been my age she would also be goth. I have a cool mom. My dad died back in 85. I honestly think that his death had a lot to do with me becoming a weirdo. I was already an outcast for being poor and having a dead parent so morphing into a goth/punk weirdo wasn’t a huge step for me to take. In fact just about everybody into goth/punk music back then was some sort of societal reject.
7. Eyebrows or no eyebrows? Eyebrows, because I look like crap with them shaved off.
8. What is my favourite band? I have a holy trinity of all time favourite bands; Samhain, Christian Death (mostly Valor) and The Dead Kennedys (Jello only). Those three groups have probably influenced me more than anything else. I actually got to tell Valor that in person the other month which was cool as hell. Uber goober Rozz fanatics may get mad at me for liking Valor’s music more than the music of Rozz but I just don’t give a shit. Seriously. Stay angry and irrational over something that happened about 40 years ago, it’s entertaining.
9. My opinion on Marilyn Manson? This question is a bit young for me since I was already in my twenties when he reared his very ugly head. I remember seeing people younger than me at the clubs in the late 90’s trying to look like him and it was hysterically funny. The fact that it came out that he is an abusive asshole didn’t come as a shock to me. In the wise words of Jello Biafra:
You ain’t hardcore ’cause you spike your hair
When a jock still lives inside your head
10. What were my baby bat days like? I didn’t really experience that because I was so all over the place musically. However, it kind of sucked being into both punk and goth bands at the same time back over 30 years ago because according to some people I was too punk for goth and too goth for punk. The punk subculture was way more welcoming to me and I actually gained the nickname Vampira because of dressing in all black and loving the Misfits, Samhain and Danzig. It was actually a bit tough being a woman into those three bands back then; they were considered ‘guy’ bands because of the violent imagery and horror content of the songs. I have always been into horror and sci-fi films and novels so I identified very heavily with those bands and they spoke to me a lot. Kids these days get into the fashion first and then the music, but back then it was the opposite. I listened to goth and punk music first and then slowly started dressing ‘dark’. Even back then I did a lot of DIY type projects so I always painted my own leather jackets and upcycled clothing. However, there was a US clothing chain called Contempo Casuals who sold a whole lot of weirdo friendly clothing. Just about every single person I knew back then had a least a few pieces of clothing by them. I had a pair of black crushed velvet leggings from there that lasted me about ten years. No joke! So the older people in the US saying that all they did was thrift is a total lie, and they know it. I even found a long multi-layer black lace skirt in a regular mall store back then.
So, that is it! I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it. As you can see my experiences are a bit different since I was also into punk and got into the music first. It was a road of discovery for me, not a destination. Especially considering that the term ‘goth’ wasn’t even used in my area until after I was already listening to the music.
As I have previously stated before on this blog I do not accept anything for free for reviewing products. I have always felt that it is really disingenuous to accept free swag and then brag about it online. That is what so many younger content creators are doing within the online goth/punk communities these days and I find it really boring and trite. This is all to say that I bought every single item that you see contained in this post.
The back of those same shirts. The red print looking white in these photos are just reflections, the lettering is not white at all.
Have you never seen these Samhain shirt designs before? Me neither, and that is why I had to get them. Out of Glenn Danzig’s three different bands Samhain is the one that doesn’t have the insane level of gear that the other two have, so it is difficult to find items of the band that are out of the ordinary. This seller on Etsy has designs that I have never seen before so I am assuming that they came up with them themselves. I mean some of the elements of the designs I am familiar with, but I have never seen them quite like this before. They cost me about £18.00 each and for the price they are really good looking. The red is a little orange in places but you can’t notice that unless you are looking up close. All in all I am very happy with this purchase.
Yes, that is a Bee Gees patch and I am not ashamed!
I have been buying a lot of patches lately. Some are going to be for the Glenn Danzig themed jacket while some others will be used in projects in the future. I especially love the hand-painted severed heads Misfits patch. It’s such a work of beauty that I had to order more patches from her. If you are into Glenn Danzig at all, or like spooky imagery, you will spend money at her shop.
If a band that you like has little to no merchandise Etsy is a great place to find gear. Make no mistake, you should always look on Bandcamp first but Etsy is there for you if you happen to like bands that broke up decades ago. The only thing I would make sure to do is read the reviews of the products, because there are people on there selling substandard gear out of China. In fact there are whole stores on there that do that. When in doubt do an easy reverse image search, because that will tell you if multiple stores are selling the exact same item.
A glass pumpkin cookie jar that has become my new spooky hair clips container.
I haven’t made a music themed jacket in a little over thirty years, Seriously, it has been that long. Why? Because I am a fangirl of so many different kinds of things that it makes it difficult for me to just focus on one aspect as to who I am.
I have been massively listening to the Misfits, Samhain and Danzig lately, if you haven’t noticed, and an idea popped into my head a few weeks ago; make a Glenn Danzig themed jacket! Originally I was going to use a New Look striped jacket that I got on clearance, but after some thinking I am going to use the one below instead. It’s another New Look clearance jacket that I got about five years ago.
Love the 50’s vibe of this jacket.
If you are a fan of Glenn you know that the number 138 is a Misfits reference. I had sewn those numbers onto the jacket a few years back so in reality it was already started. Over the last few weeks I have been scouring Etsy for cool Misfits, Samhain and Danzig patches and I have found some really unusual ones. Also, I will be putting some spooky little patches on it as filler because to do otherwise would be blasphemous. On top of that I have bought a bunch of cone studs. I just have to be patient for all of the goods to trickle in. I don’t want to start until they are all here. If I have some that I won’t use I will just save them for a future project.
I really hope that this inspires you to create something of your own. I believe in you and if you ever have any questions about how to proceed with a DIY project please feel free to contact me because I would love to help if I can.
Before I start I would like to give a shout-out to Killstar since I know they are reading this. If any Killstar employees wants to pass information to me I guarantee you that I will not share your name or the position that you hold within the company. My email address is on my contact page.
Well, I have decided to start a weekly post in which I discuss all of the crap that Killstar is pulling and has pulled. Multiple fast fashion ‘drops’ a week, constant sales, and info about Bertram Capital their private equity firm owner. I will always do this over the weekend; Saturday or Sunday. Some weeks I may skip it if I become too busy. I do all of the research and writing on this blog myself so that is a given.
We will always remember you Tom. Take care!
Remember that dude that works for Bertram Capital and sits on Killstar’s board of directors? The man that led me down the rabbit hole, Tom Beerle, is now not listed on Killstar’s LinkedIn page. Also, he took sitting on the board of Killstar off of his LinkedIn CV. No joke! Too late Killstar, too late.
Killstar have been having sale….after sale…..after sale. Just this morning they have added a brand new gimmick. So exciting, right? If you purchase any of their bat themed products you get 30 % off of your entire shopping cart. This seems a bit sneaky to me, like they are trying to skirt UK trading standard laws. You are not supposed to release products for a high price and then turn around a couple of days later and put them on sale for the price they should have been in the first place. Naughty naughty! It is basically the same 30% off sale that they have been doing on and off for a few months now. They are beginning to remind me of those discounted mattress stores that always have sales going on, that are mostly fronts to launder cash. I’m not saying that Killstar are laundering their money, I am just saying that there really seems to be something nefarious bubbling beneath the surface here. The private equity firm is definitely a part of it but trying to skirt UK trading standard laws just reeks of desperation.
Who do they think they are fooling? You.
As I posted here Killstar have blocked me from commenting on their Facebook page. Do you know who also blocked me from commenting on their Facebook page about five years ago? Donald J. Trump. He had to unblock others and I because he was going against the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution in the United States. I am a very politically aware fifty-one year old goth/punk music fan. I was listening to the Dead Kennedys when I went to high school in the late 1980’s. When I was sixteen years old in 1987 I gave George Schultz, the then Secretary Of State under Reagan, the bird and loudly told him to fuck off when his limo motorcade went by me on a school trip to DC. If a powerful US government official didn’t scare me at sixteen then it would be safe to assume that Killstar will never scare me into silence.
The above is a conversation that took place on Reddit today on the r/Killstar group. We have all been banned from creating new posts in the group. We aren’t sure who is running it so it could just be a Killstar fangirl who is pissed off at us. Apparently Killstar took down a video of one of their influencers on Instagram because she couldn’t fit her boobs into one of the Avril tops. Also, the above people claim that Killstar are actively deleting negative comments about the whole Avril fiasco. Things aren’t going to plan for them. I honestly think that they didn’t expect the backlash that they have received. Why? Because they haven’t a clue about how the goth and punk subcultures actually work. They think that they can just stick a Satanic pentagram on a zipper and everybody will want to buy it because goths and punks are really into Satan and shit like that. They actually see all as edgy teens that want to scare people. How boring.
Killstar ‘dropped’ another ‘collection’ a few days ago that is just a lot of the same styles as usual and all with the exact same print of moons, stars and other really over used symbols that they slap onto everything
Don’t they look thrilled?
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. Take care!
EDIT: I already wrote this whole post yesterday morning, before Killstar blocked me on their Facebook page. HI KILLSTAR, thanks for the block! You have proven that my analysis about who bought you is correct. Cheers!
EDIT 2: Sure you are doing financially well Killstar….sure. They just dumped yet another drop onto their site this morning. It contains all of the same print on everything…..yet again. £20 for a dinner plate? Wahahaha!!!!
You are reading that correctly. Killstar, against all logic, actually thought that the majority of their customers would like this ‘collection’. This actually pretty much proves that they are run by a private equity firm, because only a private equity firm would think that Avril is in any way goth or punk. They don’t have a clue about the subcultures at all. Well, I took screen shots of this entire visual fiasco so that I could give my opinions. The above photo is showing styles that they have already done but now with skeletons and barbed wire. Also, they are see through. I guess that they think that people want to show off their nipples or something? There must have been a fire sale in China of this cheap looking material for them to use it so much in just about every ‘drop’ that they do.
Yet more sheer material with the same exact print. How stunning, how original! NOT! I am not going to blast the pink because obnoxious colours can be fun when done the right way. Just not like this.
They should have collaborated with Pepto Bismol. They would have saved money. Boring. Oh, and look at the witch hats. Spooky!
I totally don’t understand the sheer trouser thing. How the hell are you supposed to wear them outside? I guess they think that people want to show off their undies? Again, the same boring prints.
They have brought out yet more of the wannabe witch hats. I guess they are telling all of the kids that they will still look like a wannabe witch in the outfits as long as they are wearing one of their black hats. Killstar is such a silly goose! The same boring prints and sheer material. That material doesn’t breathe so I can well imagine somebody passing out while wearing it in the heat.
The exact same patterns again, and again, and again, and again. Killstar and Avril sure know how to channel their creativity, don’t they? Oh, and all of the clothing is still that crap see through material. This time they plucked up their courage and made things in some black sheer material, like they almost always do anyway. Such courage and how forward thinking!
I bet that suitcase, if put in the cargo hold, would not survive many flights. It could easily be dented because it’s made of plastic. Those ‘bras’ are made of that same….sheer….material. Wearing polyester on your boobs when it is hot is going to make them itch like hell no matter your cup size. Just saying.
Sheer polyester panties? Ahoy yeast infections!
Yet more yeast infection inducing panties AND a yeast infection inducing sheer polyester bodysuit. I wonder if the private equity firm who now owns them has stock in a treatment for yeast infections because it really feels like they want you to get one, or even several. What fun!
They call that a cloak? It’s more like a Halloween costume because when the hell did cloaks start not having openings in the front? It 100% looks like something that would be sold by Spirit in their scary goth/punk rocker section but for less money.
Hooray, we are at the end now! When have harnesses been equated with Avril Lavigne? Seriously. I guess they are trying to throw their wannabe witch customers a bone?
I can’t wait to see what boring insanely priced crap they are going to come out with next. Since Halloween is coming up I bet you anything they are going to show how goth and punk costumes can be made with their clothes. I’m calling it!
