As a preface to this month’s question, the Lady of the Manners is going to make a statement that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, and yet even the Lady of the Manners herself is occasionally tripped up (literally) by the realization:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Goth fashion isn’t really practical. Especially the more elaborate aspects of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A stunningly obvious statement, yes? But until one really thinks about the day-to-day logistics of it all, it’s easy to shunt aside with a wave of a hand. The Lady of the Manners even joked about it a few months ago on one of her social media accounts, that she was having to relearn the muscle memory of wearing long ruffled skirts while using wheeled office chairs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then Violet Webb wrote in with her question of logistics: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dear Lady of Manners
My question is less one about etiquette, and more about logistics. I have my own mix of Victorian goth and punky style that I was perfectly happy with until fairly recently.
The problem is that around 3 years ago, my chronic health conditions deteriorated, and I had to start using a wheelchair full time. I can no longer stand or walk, and a large portion of my clothing is not suitable for wearing in a powered wheelchair.
Most of my skirts are long enough to get caught in the wheels, I can’t wear jeans because the seams and studs on the back can give me pressure sores, and anything shorter than knee length will be a problem because everyone can see up it all the time.
I can’t seem to consistently find clothing that works for my practical needs and fits my style, and it’s getting really depressing. I would certainly prefer to keep my style rather than lose that part of my identity in addition to the other things that have had to change in the past years. I’m relatively happy and comfortable being a disabled woman now, but it is still frustrating that certain clothing is not wearable for me. <\/p><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Strangely the first thing that popped into the Lady of the Manners head was a tag she’s seen being tossed around Tumblr: cripplepunk<\/a>. While the Lady of the Manners wavers back and forth on how she feels about the tag itself, there are some interesting Outfit of the Day posts that pop up with that tag. Many of those outfits are similar to a \u201cdark mori<\/a>\u201d\u009d style: loosely fitting clothes made of flowing or drape-y fabrics, usually with layers of slips, dresses, cardigans, and skirts with asymmetrical hemlines. (Lagenlook is a similar style, but with less witchy drama.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here, a description of the sort of outfit the Lady of the Manners is envisioning: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- A lightweight blouse with some sort of high ruffled collar.<\/li>
- A drape-y textured cardigan with some sort of interesting buttons.<\/li>
- Leggings or long bloomers.<\/li>
- A knee- or calf-length skirt with ruffles.<\/li>
- Comfortable slip-on shoes<\/li>
- Interesting goth\/punk accessories or jewelry.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
And of course, because the Lady of the Manners is nothing if not predictable in this, here’s a quick Pinterest board she put together<\/a>! (Who knows how often it’ll be updated, but it at least gives a bit of visual reference for what she’s talking about.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking of skirts and wrangling ones that are too long for your wheels: Dress hitches! You need dress hitches! They’re essentially the same thing as a dress clip that all of us used in the 80s and 90s to give more of a nipped-in waist to jackets, blazers, and dresses. They’re a short length of elastic, ribbon, or other fabric with a clip on each end. Attach one clip at the top of your skirt, clip the other to a pinch of the skirt around knee-height, and ta-da! A skirt that is up out of the danger zone, but still looks quasi-Victorian! It looks like the Steampunk folks<\/a> ran with the idea, so there are a plethora<\/a> of them on Etsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another very practical solution is to find a seamstress or tailor to shorten your skirts to an appropriate length. Even if you have sewing skills, because while skirt shortening can<\/strong> be a simple and straightforward project, it’s also a time and energy -consuming one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Longer bloomers are an option instead of tights or leggings. Places like April Cornell<\/a> always seems to have at least one style in their catalog, as does Holy Clothing<\/a>. The Lady of the Manners has also found that pirate -focused retailers (Pirate Fashion<\/a>, Dress Like a Pirate<\/a>, and so on) carry bloomer-y type garments. If you do search for bloomers, other keywords to use are: pettipants<\/em>, pantaloons<\/em>, and culotte half-slips<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now is the time when the Lady of the Manners hopes other Gothic Charm School readers have helpful comments for Violet Webb! Suggestions? Clicky-links? Other Pinterest boards? Leave a comment! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Lady of Manners
\n My question is less one about etiquette, and more about logistics. I have my own mix of Victorian goth and punky style that I was perfectly happy with until fairly recently. <\/p>\nThe problem is that around 3 years ago, my chronic health conditions deteriorated, and I had to start using a wheelchair full time. I can no longer stand or walk, and a large portion of my clothing is not suitable for wearing in a powered wheelchair. Continue reading