My Dystopian Life

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Tag: Goth Clothing

Killstar, Put Down That Crack Pipe.

August 5, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Yes, you are reading that price correctly. Notice the missing cone stud on the edge of the lapel?

I have never made it a secret that I have bought some clearance items from Killstar’s website in the past to use in clothing projects. However, the quality of their items has gone totally downhill within the last year. So much so that I can no longer find items on their site that are fit for purpose. Most, if not all, of their clothing items are now made of really cheap looking polyester that looks the same as the crap fabric that Halloween costumes are usually made of. I have said in the past that I don’t care where you get your clothing from, and that still holds true. However, I do not like people being fleeced. If I see something that is really ‘off’ on a dark alternative clothing site I will tell you about it.

The other day I got a Killstar email, and in it included a link to their new drop. I normally don’t click through their emails because I just read them at this point for the entertainment value. However, I saw a green pillow and on a lark I decided to click through. That in turn took me to the ‘new-in’ page so I started scrolling through that trying to find that damn pillow. To my shock and horror the above studded pleather jacket caught my eye; not because of the spike disaster zones located on it, but because it looks cheap as hell. Again, something that you would find in the ‘punk/goth’ section of a Spirit Halloween store.

The older Killstar pleather jacket that I own. I did the painting and studding.

I have an older pleather jacket by them that is thick and of a pretty good quality, so I am not totally against pleather. This jacket is an entirely different story. First off is the damn price; they are charging £299.99 for this badly made excuse for a pleather jacket. Yep, that much. The pleather material looks very thin and very cheap and it’s easy to tell that because of the way it doesn’t flatter the model at all. It hangs on her all wrong and she looks awkward as hell in it. If a model can’t make it work the chances of you making it work are about zero. It will look good on nobody.

This next part really cracked me up. As I stated right below the photo one of the cone studs is missing off of the edge of the lapel. It looks like a plastic screw, whose cone snapped off…and they didn’t even notice. Using plastic screws instead of metal ones on those cone studs? They will probably easily snap off if you accidentality brush up against anything. Even worse than that is that the lapels and larger areas of cones on the arms are from rolls of pre-studded pleather. I have seen such pre-studded pleather material online before so this isn’t totally shocking, but the pure audacity to charge that much for a jacket that wasn’t even completely hand studded is really outrageous to say the least. Nevermind the fact that they are claiming they are metal studs, when it fact the screws are plastic. Are the cones plastic also? I honestly can’t tell. Also, the lapels don’t even have snaps on them to hold them down against the jacket. I’m guessing because of the pre-studded material being used. It’s just generally constructed very badly and it shows.

As of me writing this they are having a 30% off sale on everything on the site, including their new items. That brings down the jacket to just over £200, which is still very overpriced. Killstar seems to be in financial trouble because of the constant sales they have been having. Not a week goes by without some sort of deep discount. This is not the sign of a company that is doing financially well. The venture capitalists who bought it a few years ago keep cranking out new ‘drops’, and have made the brand into a fast fashion label.

If you read this blog you know that I do a lot of DIY projects that involve studding. You can do it too! Honest! I believe in you! If you have to buy a pre-studded jacket please buy one from an independent creator on Etsy, because you deserve better quality than what Killstar is trying to sell you.

Fun With DIY: Cutting Patterns Out Of A Skirt

May 31, 2022 / / 0 Comments
These skulls are pretty awesome I must say.

Sometimes you order clearance items off of a site and they don’t fit. What do you do with them? Send them back, sell them, or better yet would you keep them for a future project just in case?

You guessed it, I am a bit of a pack rat. However, saving such pieces of clothing can come in handy. Such is the case with this Hell Bunny skirt. It’s a winter themed skirt but the skulls themselves look both spooky and cute at the same time. Which means they would be a perfect addition as a patch on a jacket or as a trim on a skirt.

I took a pair of fabric scissors and cut out a strip of the skulls, and then I cut out some of the skulls individually. They can be used as patches on a jacket or a hoodie, and the long strip of them could possibly become a trim for something else. You can do this sort of thing with any patterned type material. See a pattern that you love on a piece of sale clothing that you would otherwise never wear? Buy it, and then Frankenstein it to piece of clothing that you would wear.

Never feel discouraged if things don’t go your way at first because every single person who does DIY type projects has been through the same things. Nobody starts out knowing everything and that is okay. You will go through a bit of trial and error but in the end you will have something that is unique to you and that is very peachy-keen.

Classism Is Alive And Well Within The Goth Subculture

April 27, 2022 / / 0 Comments
The truth.

Classism sucks and I find it sad as hell that it is alive and well within the goth community. What I am stating shouldn’t be a shock because you can easily find examples of this online. Everything from insisting on buying only thrift clothes to telling people to buy only handmade items falls into this.

Thrifting clothes as of right now is very ‘in’. So much so that people will raid thrift stores and then resell the items for twice as much online. Even thrift stores have gotten into the act. Quite often they will charge more for the same items than you can get for new elsewhere. People always screech that you should get everything thrifted because they think that is the only way we bought clothes over 30 years ago. Actually, a whole lot of us bought clothes from regular mall type shops. Stores like Contempo Casuals sold very goth friendly alternative clothes and just about everybody I knew back then got at least some of their wardrobe from there. So, don’t feel guilty that you can’t buy a lot of thrifted clothes. You may even not have any thrift stores near where you live, and that’s okay.

This was originally a Killstar jacket. I did a ton of DIY work to make it look different.

People are also giving others a lot of shit for daring to buy clothing from ‘dark alternative’ online stores. I have made no secret as to how I purchase clothing from such sites; only on sale and never full price. Frankly, I really don’t give a crap where you buy your clothes from. Just as long as it isn’t Dollskill, who is a very problematic brand, I don’t care. You do you. Personally, I would never wear an entire outfit of just one brand but if that’s what you gotta do that is what you gotta do. Who the hell am I to judge you?

It is very classist to exclude somebody from the goth subculture just because they don’t have the money or the time to do DIY projects. Studs, paints and other such things cost money and can be expensive to buy online. In this economic climate it is super hard for many to afford all of this. I only have a lot of DIY supplies because I have bought them little by little when I have the cash to do so. Also, many people just don’t have the time to work on a huge project like a jacket. I have MS and sometimes it can take me weeks to complete something because of how exhausted I always am.

Where a whole lot of weirdos bought clothes in the late 80’s/early 90’s.

Remember that people have lives outside of online spaces and no longer live with their parents. The people who get really zany about all of this are the younger folk who either don’t know any better or who think they are an authority on the subject even though they don’t even know about basic goth bands such as Bauhaus. Some of them even attempt to create YouTube channels so that they can get sponsored and receive free crap to show off. Most of these type of YouTubers quit within a year or two because they want to jump off the goth train and climb onto another one.

Clout chasers should get no say in how you want to dress. Their reality of free gear and taking hours to look like a cheap-ass version of Siouxsie is not the reality for most of the people in the goth subculture. You do not have to spend tons of money on expensive gear to be a goth or to participate in the subculture. If you are poor and listen to goth music that makes you a goth, not the clothing that you wear. Be you, and don’t let the ignorant classist bullshit artists dictate where you should buy your clothes from.

The Back of The Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian Themed Denim Jacket Is Done For Now

February 22, 2022 / / 0 Comments
Finally done!

After many months I can finally say that the back of this jacket is done!Will I ever add anything to it? Probably, but I am happy with it right now.

This jacket is originally from the clearance section of Killstar. I actually went around my town seeing what kind of denim jackets were on sale. All of them were more expensive than this one so I went for it. It came with the grommet lacing on the sleeves and with the ripped hole in the back. Everything else on the back I did myself.

Notice how I hung the chain from two safety pins on a seam. I was originally going to hang it from the bottom, but that top seam is very thick and can hold the weight way better. I also put a few safety pins on the bottom and hung some keychains from them. I got the patches and studs from Etsy. The most difficult thing for me was sewing the arm patches onto the upper sleeves, and placing small green and yellow pyramid studs below them.

The cool thing about this jacket is that if something falls off that’s okay because it is not meant to be perfect. For example, one of the upper safety pins I used on the Obey patch has come off and I am not worried about it. It’ll get replaced when I replace it. I used mainly green and yellow accents for this jacket because it goes well with the patches.

I hope this has inspired you to create some DIY projects of your own because it’s a lot of fun and in the end you get to wear something that is distinctly yours.

The DIY Saga Of Painting The Back Of My New Rock Boots Green

February 3, 2022 / / 0 Comments
The finished product with which I am very happy with.

Why was doing this a saga? Unbeknownst to a whole lot of people, including myself, New Rock have changed the way they make their boots. Seriously. These boots I got on sale and they are a newer style. Gone are the rubber soles, padded tongues and thick good quality leather. These boots have a PU sole, thinner plastic covered leather and no padded tongue. In other words they have gone down the same route as the bad quality Doc Martens made in China, but still want to sell them for an outrageous amount of money. I wouldn’t be shocked if they actually move most of their production to China, making the really fancy pairs in Spain.

Thirty years ago I painted the back of some 14 hole Docs I owned green and I wanted to do something similar again. I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal and that I could do it the way I did it years ago with no issues. Oh by golly that wasn’t the case at all! I have painted both leather and pleather multiple times before and all I had to do was paint with acrylic leather paint and it would stay put. However, this time the paint slid off of the surface when dry. Seriously. I had even de-glazed the surface before painting and that did nothing at all. So, it was then that I figured out that the leather is actually coated with plastic. Again, not something I have ever encountered before in a DIY project.

To solve all of this I sanded the areas with some sandpaper over the space of two days until the plastic coating was gone. When I tested a spot with some white paint it actually stayed put! It was like a miracle; the DIY gods smiled down upon me! Over the space of a few days I painted the back white two times and then did the same with the green. It looks quite DIY which is the look I was going for since a dystopian/post-apocalyptic style is in no way about the perfection of your outfit.

What can we learn from this?

  1. Never pay full price for New Rock boots. They are frequently on sale so finding them for cheap is not too difficult.
  2. New Rock have changed the way they make their boots. Their newer models are made of plastic coated leather, unpadded tongues and PU soles. From what I understand they are starting to use these same materials for their older styled boots as well.
  3. Never give up on a DIY project, because there will always be a workaround. It may take you a little time to figure it out, but that’s okay!
  4. Doing DIY projects gives you a sense of accomplishment and it is something that gives you your own personal style. It’s a lot of fun and you end up with something that nobody else has or can easily copy. That in itself is very spiffy!

My Favourite Etsy Stores

November 29, 2020 / / 0 Comments
It’s okay to look good if you’re wandering the wasteland.

If you have read some of my DIY posts you will know that I absolutely love shopping on Etsy. If you buy clothes and accessories on there you are not only supporting independent designers you are guaranteed to not look like a carbon copy of all of the people who prance around in head to toe Killstar. The only issue that you may run into on Etsy are people selling cheap mass produced crap from China. They are easy to spot though because all of them will be selling the same exact products.

With all of that being said here is a list of some Etsy stores that I really like. Since I really love post-apocalyptic and dystopian themed clothes some of these stores focus on that kind of style.

Wasted Couture This shop features handmade post-apocalyptic style clothing and accessories for both cosplay and everyday wear. I have ordered chokers, necklaces and bags from them and everything has been well made. This store is based in Poland and sells items made by different artists in the post-apocalyptic DIY community.

Lucyfirefashion I bought one of my favourite skirts from this site. A lot of the clothes are kind of post-apocalyptic meets goth and metal. Very wearable clothes.

DaquinoHats I ordered a bolero type hat from them and it is the nicest hat I have ever bought. It’s very well made and quite sturdy. I highly recommend them for all of your hat needs.

StudsAndSpikesCom This shop carries tons of different studs and spikes. They even have coloured pyramids which are very cool! If you live in Europe the shipping might be expensive since everything coming from the US tends to be. However, you will receive what you order and not get ripped off.

Screen13Shop Some of the best horror film patches I have ever owned come from this store. If you love horror films this will be a very dangerous store for you to browse because you’ll want a whole lot of them!

darksparkledesigns I have ordered some goth and some post-apocalyptic jewellery from this site and everything is very cool looking and well made. They have a ton of items so it will take you quite a while to choose which ones to buy!

DigitalPharoahUK I purchased a Cyberdyne messenger bag and a Tech Noir t-shirt from here and was actually surprised by the print quality of the products. They carry a bunch of horror and sci-fi film merchandise, some of which I have never seen anywhere else.

WirehedLaboratories They carry a whole lot of film, spooky, etc… pins and stickers. They even have pins of the post-apocalyptic film Hardware which thrilled me to bits because it’s one of my favourite films. If you are looking for something from an obscure post-apocalyptic film you may find it here.

BohoDayAndAge Their jewellery is very inventive and includes actual chainmail pieces. I bought one of their wasteland necklaces made out of aluminium soda can pull-tabs and it is very nifty!

BlasphemyClothing They carry a lot of obscure goth and punk t-shirts, including bands like Samhain and Specimen. They are located in the US so if you are in Europe the shipping will cost a lot. However, the actual prices of the shirts are fairly cheap and the designs are unique.

That is all for now and I hope you have a lot of fun browsing these stores creating your own style. I will make another Etsy store recommendation list in a few months.

Here Are Some DIY Ideas That I Have Had Lately

November 15, 2020 / / 0 Comments
The denim post-apocalytic/dystopian jacket I’m working on. It came distressed.

I originally posted this over on Reddit, but I think it deserves a place on this blog.

Through the years I have worked on quite a few DIY clothing projects, but since the virus started I have come up with a lot of ideas. I wasn’t working before the virus started because I have MS, and that had me really depressed. However, since the world economy is crashing I decided to finally work on some projects that I have always wanted to do. Mainly, I have wanted to achieve a post-apocalyptic/dystopian meets goth look for ages that doesn’t look like a costume. Here are a few of the ideas I have had and I hope this post inspires some of you to create your own style.

  • I bought a spiderweb pattern pleather jacket and a distressed denim jacket on sale for fairly cheap on Killstar’s site. A regular pleather jacket and a regular denim jacket would have cost me more than these two did. Also, they have features, such as grommet work, that I don’t feel comfortable doing. Plus, if I mess up doing things to them I won’t feel completely heartbroken because I didn’t spend a lot on them to begin with. There is no shame in buying ‘dark’ clothing brand products on clearance, and then using them for DIY projects.
  • I used Angelus Leather paint combined with some hardener to paint the pleather jacket. Stencils helped me with this greatly and there are tons of different stencils for sale on Etsy. It’s also fairly easy to make them yourself. Just use an x-acto knife to cut out your drawing made on cardstock. I also might stencil some radiation symbols onto some plain knee high New Rocks that I have. Yes, they sell boots without all of the metal crap.
  • I’m going to sew some post-apocalyptic/dystopian film patches onto the denim jacket. I will also probably stud part of it with skulls and pyramids. I got them, and a very sharp awl, off of Etsy.
  • I cleaned out my clothing drawers and found some old craptastic bondage belts with chains clipped to them. I am going to take those chains and either put them on the jackets or on some of my messenger bags.
  • I am going to distress some thrift store finds and use some big safety pins for decoration on them. I will also be cutting up and distressing some ‘goth’ online store finds that I bought on clearance. Things such as ripping off peter pan type collars and replacing them with some torn up fishnet fabric.
  • Buying a plan black messenger bag and sewing some band and horror patches onto it. I will also probably be studding it to some degree.
  • Buying some jewellery wire and making some broken jewellery into zip pulls and for clothing decorations. I will be attaching them to zip pulls and bondage belts with some metal clips. I also bought some cheap spooky keychains off of Etsy to use in the same way. Keychains with skeletons, spider webs,etc…
  • Using stencils, and a bleach pen, I have created radiation and pandemic bleach drawings on black leggings. The leggings I got for very cheap off of New Look’s site.
  • I will be distressing some film and band shirts. Rather than creating a fancy cut pattern on them I’m going to make more random cuts. I will also be cutting off the sleeves of some of them.
  • I don’t feel confident enough to make my own jewellery so I have bought some very cool post-apocalyptic themed pieces on Etsy. Those are usually not too expensive. However, the ready made post-apocalyptic themed clothing is usually very expensive! Most of it looks very cosplay, but I have found some very cool skirts that I can pair with a plain top so that it doesn’t look like a costume.
  • Etsy!!!! Etsy!!!!! Etsy!!!! If you haven’t guessed by now I get a whole bunch of my craft supplies, patches, jewellery, bondage belts, band shirts,etc…off of there. Most shops on there are reasonably priced, especially when it comes to studs and spikes. Also, head over to Bandcamp for shirts and patches because some bands have them for sale on there.

I really hope that I have helped and inspired you, because it is always fun to do DIY projects.

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