Posts Tagged ‘gothic’
Circa Nocturna Gothic Fashion show: photos
March 8, 2009please go to the most exc ellent Dogmatic Blog (highly recommended by Underground Melbourne) for a great photoset of the recent Circa Nocturna gothic fashion parade. As an added bonus, you can check his other always interesting entries and the photoset of last night’s Gary Numan concert, to boot!
How up to the minute and dedicated is THAT?
http://www.dogmaticblog.com/2009/03/01/circa-nocturnacarnivale-nocturna-2009/
Gothic Fashion 2009 – Part 2: Circa Nocturna
February 12, 2009
CIRCA NOCTURNA
Melbourne’s largest alternative, subcultural and fringe fashion show.
Featuring some of the best of Australia’s alternative
fashion, clubwear and metal couture.
Fitzroy Town Hall
Saturday 28th of February
Cnr of Napier and Moore St, Fitzroy.
Doors Open at 8 pm
Tickets – $22 + BF presale $25 on the door, available online at www.wildilocks.com
Or instore at:
Wildilocks 1/382 Ltl Collins St,
VNV Boudiour 514 Lygon St Brunswick East,
Peril Underground 17 Elizabeth St, Melbourne.
The Circa web store is the newest member of the Alliance of Alternative Arts celebration of alternative fashion, highlighting their commitment to these designers and industry, so come along and be a part of this amazing launch event.
Carnivale Nocturna is FREE with your Circa Nocturna ticket
Or entry by donation
This event is All Ages (I.D. required for alcohol service)
Sunday 1st March 2009 from 4pm
Fitzroy Town Hall, Napier St, Fitzroy.
Gothic.org.au – your guide to all things Goth and Melbourne
July 19, 2008I had a request from the manager of a Melbourne goth club to advertise their event here – however, since by their very nature gigs/clubs are intermittent and changeable – I couldn’t hope to maintain a consistent resource on gothic nightclubbing or events in Melbourne.
However, there’s a forum/website which does this most ably: www.gothic.org.au. There are forums for Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. The Melbourne forum contains a gig guide, music guide, arts and crafts postings and lots of general being gothiness/alternative.
So if you’d like to know what kind of alternative/goth events and meetups are happening in Melbourne at any given time, or even just discuss alternative fashion, hairstyles, debate religion and politics or find out about a new band or ten, go to gothic.org.au and see what’s on offer.
Peril Underground expands CD emporium
June 25, 2008–break (core) ing news!
Peril Underground, already featured in this blog, has started having a massive facelift… no mean feat when you’re in the basement with nowhere to go but sideways… The clothing line has definitely sharpened up even more (plus a gussy-up of the actual clothing shelves and layout) but the big news right now is that Australian gothic/industrial/futurepop importers extraordinaire GUP (Ground Under Productions) have now made a new home for themselves downstairs at Peril, bringing the super-dedicated expertise of Jarod Collard and the outstanding backcatalogue available through GUP in to Peril! It certainly more than adequately covers what was mentioned as Peril Underground’s weak point: the cd catalogue.
Just in case you can’t bring yourselves to scroll down: here are the details for Peril again:
Address: 17-19 Elizabeth St.City: Melbourne
Contact: 03-9614 2040
Hours: approx 11am - 6pm daily
Still no website or email address. Although with GUP in the building it can’t be long…
Madame Gothic Glamour – High Street, Thornbury
February 25, 2008
Madame Gothic Glamour is now closed for business, it seems. They now operate as a mobile salon.
Circa Nocturna – Annual Gothic/Alternative Fashion Parade. March 1 2008
January 28, 2008
As Melbourne Fashion Festival approaches, in all its’ glitzy glory, it seems timely to point out the one fashion parade you might not hear about in the magazines or mainstream press: unless of course it’s the Age which seems to have taken quite a fancy to alternative fashion recently.
Circa Nocturna showcases alternative designers from the very gothic and florid to more alternative-streetwear stylings featuring designers of clothing and/or accessories. It’s up to a third year and has grown increasingly popular each year, leading me to believe that tickets this year may be difficult to come by closer to the night.
A full list of designers appears on their website and details of ticket outlets there also. $20 presale and $25 on the door.
Highly recommended to those who wish to sample the pvc-lined underbelly of Australian alternative fashion or just like some spice in their eye candy…
Photos from last year’s show:
Charley Weaver
January 26, 2008
Charley Weaver – what a contradictory palace of curios this is! One part Gimcracks and novelties, one part overpriced ‘original’ pieces, one part genuinely unique curios: it’s certainly a difficult place to pigeonhole. Named presumably after the 5o’s American television character famous for his shambolic shirt, hat and braces look and predictable “take my wife” style humour (although I’m really not sure why it would be named after that), Charley Weaver’s emporium has been haunting Melbourne for over ten years, first in Barkly Street, St Kilda and now in Chapel Street Windsor.
The thematic mainstay of this shop is gothic/horror with a token nod to wicca: from cheap statuettes to vintage couture, corsets and the occasional bona fide antique piece. Charley Weaver’s walls and shelves are over-filled with the sublime and the ridiculous to the point where it can be difficult to tell the method from the madness. However, that’s part of the fun, and the main reason to visit Charley Weaver (apart from the days you need to buy your gothic friend a present) is to explore their eccentricity laden nooks. It can be like walking through a Tim Burton theme park put together by Ed Wood in some ways, as limply camp as the Luna Park ghost train but with a heavily theatrical ‘gothic’ sensibility. Noone but Charley Weaver would try to exist just selling this schtick. I say good on them for keeping goth just a little bit gaudy.
The best thing about Charley Weaver: the unpredictability and the camp. Occasionally there is a covetable piece in there, with special mention to corsetry and what they call ‘museum pieces’ and the chase is always a motivating force to poke one’s nose in a store.
The downside: unless you have a lot of gothic friends who secretly love a knick-knack, this shop only bears limited repetition: once every month or two seems to be plenty often enough to see the stock change and be ready for this particular brand of distraction. However there really are sometimes interesting pieces on offer in jewellery or decor: eg they do have from time to time some impressively classic looking gargoyles to hang on your wall. They do also stock some handy staple items like fishnets and hair colours. The following is what Charley Weaver state on their (extremely dodgy 1995 interwebs chic – check those gifs! ) website is their stock range:
GOTHIC CLOTHING & JEWELLERY, ROEBUCK COFFIN & CORSET BAGS, SWORDS, DAGGERS, & ATHAMES, FISHNET TOPS & STOCKINGS, DIRECTIONS HAIR COLOUR, EMILY THE STRANGE, VOLLERS CORSETS, MUSEUM SPECIMENS, WILDCAT BODY JEWELLERY, STUDDED COLLARS, CUFFS, & BELTS, LIVING DEAD & BLEEDING EDGE GOTH DOLLS
Details:
ADDRESS: 38a Chapel St. Windsor, Vic. 3181 (Melbourne, Australia)
PHONE: (03) 9529-GOTH (That’s 9529-4684 if you’d rather use numbers!)
FAX: 9534-5090
Email: charleyweaver@hotmail.com
Heartland Records – Peel St Melbourne
December 30, 2007Heartland Records are another place so underground they don’t even bother with advertising or websites. Plebians one might say. I think their theory is that they don’t really need to. All the more reason to give them a jolly good write up here. As far as music goes, they’re the most thoroughly gothic and industrial shop in Melbourne, hands down. (any challenges welcome as comments to this article).
Heartland’s main music genres are Indie/Indie dance/Soundtracks/Metal/Gothic/Industrial. They do new and second hand vinyl and CDs. they also do a small market in collectibles and tshirts, plus badges and the occasional gig tickets.
Not only is Heartland one of the best places to look for new indie releases on vinyl plus classics from artists like Pulp, Suede, New Order, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Nirvana, Placebo and many more, it’s a gold mine of independent 7″ singles new and old . Having tried desperately hard to find recent UK 7″ singles from bands like The Horrors or Arcade Fire, or even Jarvis or Morrissey, the Good the Bad and the Queen – I found them at Heartland! While there are plenty of great indie record stores in Melbourne – this is the only place I found with many new UK titles on the shelf on 7″.
The best things about Heartland:
1. as above, the indie 7″ collection is without peer in Melbourne – Missing Link do a good US and Australian selection but for UK Heartland is King.
2. an amazing array of second hand collectible gothic and industrial vinyl, plus a great selection of new stuff on CD. Not as experimental a selection as Peril, but definitely great for goth/popular industrial/metal.
3. The downside – well, my biggest gripe is that they do absolutely no advertising so it’s difficult to know when new shipments are in… I guess you just have to ring or drop by. There is a tiny lack-of-convenience factor as well, but whinging about having to pay the Queen Vic Markets a visit or Flagstaff Gardens is churlish. It’s just not easy when you’re in a hurry running around town.
Heartland Records:
61 Peel St West Melbourne
Contact: 03 9329 9636
Peril Underground
December 28, 2007So underground there ain’t no photos of it, so just keep reading, and hopefully, one day my attempts at covert surveillance will bear the fruit I so obsessively hope for *wringing of slightly damp hands, deranged squint etc etc*.
Peril Underground – once located on Swanston Street as Peril 305 in the days before Student Headquarters took over upper Swanston (not that there’s anything wrong with that etc) – now lurks subterranean and unique in a basement on Elizabeth Street near Flinders Street. One enters via a laneway next to the horridly iconic Golden Arches, where you then enter the basement on the right, descend with care down the rather unfriendly stairs (careful in stacked heels or pumps, people), and then you’ll find yourself in Alternative Paraphernalia Paradise. Chief of the subcultural seraphim is owner Peter – a fixture of this downstairs lair and an affable and well versed fellow in alternative culture. His fair realm exhibits the following counties:
The Tattoo and Piercing Parlour. Often booked out and for good reason – so warning: a casual impetuous (possibly drunk) visit hoping to be bedecked may not bear fruit. Book ahead if possible.
Music store: featuring collectibles from teen-faves Tool, NIN, Manson etc to utterly obscure worthies like Shinjuku Thief, Laibach, Imperial marching music… with a lean towards industrial, gothic, “ebm”, metal and dark rock this store ticks the angst-o-metre up to 11 and for anyone desiring an initial dip into the murky pool of these genres, a trip to Peril could just sort you out with your first few hours of listening! For those already well familiar with such sounds there’s unknown pleasures awaiting you, plus the added bonus of an extensive catalogue to order from if you can’t find it on the shelf. In the days of internet purchasing that feature may not hold such a drawcard – except in the case of the rare recordings Peter stocks…
The clothing emporium: with humble beginnings as a small corner of the empire, the clothing behemoth has opened it’s silken maw and taken huge bites of the shop space, now emerging the uncontested winner and dominant area of Peril’s fifedom. For club girls, victorian gents, cyber freaks and the casual Top Goth shopper alike, there’s gold in them thar frills…Thoughtfully accompanied by piercing jewellery, badges, patches and artwork, not to mention gig tix and -for veteran shoppers the beloved gift voucher – Peril supports local artisanship as well, with artwork, photography and clothing – plus cds of course – from the cloistered Melbourne gothic community on display to buy.
Dvds: a small collection of cult dvds – music, documentary and film.
Best thing about Peril: the staff! Peter and his revolving band of bon vivantes will entertain you, help you and won’t scowl at you even if you are asking for a Tool live dvd. Friday nights sees a cavalcade of musicians, artists, other shopkeepers and general layabouts descend for a rowdy or possibly quiet catch up… you’re still welcome to browse but you might be able to spot the Gothing ‘leet commingling…
The downside: the hours can be quite strict, and if not it’s spontaneously so. Go during the day, don’t wander up after 6 expecting that because it’s alternative types they’ve got nothing better to do than entertain you in the evenings: they do. Also, they have no web presence to speak of which is nothing short of criminal… word is that they’re gearing up (only ten years too late!) for cyberspace though, which can only be a Very Good Thing.
The oddest thing about Peril: they accept vouchers from other shops! So if you got a bum voucher for a present and don’t know what to do with it: take it down to Peril and try your luck trading it in for perilcash!!!
Address: 17-19 Elizabeth St.City: MelbourneContact: 03-9614 2040
