<i>they don't have a catalog and items are released at will by the designer in a variety of fabrics</i>
Well, good grief, no wonder everyone goes mad over each single item that surfaces. Am severely tempted to indulge in the outfit I've been eyeing up.
Kristine, those outfits are <i>fantastic</i> I severely covet your wardrobe! I can see why that PVC corset dress is your favourite. How fabulous to have been able to wear these outfits at some really great events - Burning Man sounds really interesting. I read a couple of articles about it this time round. Over here, Glastonbury has unfortunately taken on an increasingly staid weekend-novelty air.
It's occurred to me that I've neglected the corsetry side of things, even though it's central to so many looks. I'm still looking for a great corset dress to keep (the search centering around Sarah Whitworth!) and I'm perennially tempted to acquire more long-line steel-boned corsets to wear, even though in terms of the expense:# of wears ratio, it's not very economic...
I must defer to Lei as the resident corsetry expert, and recommend her superb collection & write up on the lingerie resource, but a couple more instances of alternative/gothic corset-wear might not be out of place here:
<p align="center">{<i>Corset Interlude</i>}
<img src="/goth/perversion20.jpg" height=300><br>This is a shot from another regular London fetish club of somebody in a wonderfully put together outfit, including a steel-boned corset.
</P>All sorts of varieties of real and faux corsetry are popular as goth ensembles. In terms of the proper steel-boned corsets, the most well known and sought after brand around these parts is Vollers, who have been in business since the end of the 19th century. Many of their classic models are based on Edwardian designs, although I see they've just launched an entire new trendy collection called 'corset culture' in order to exploit the current fashion revival of corset-styles. (I say corset-styles - I don't know what kind of substructure underlies the Versace ribbon-lattice 'corset' dress, for example).
The other well-known long-established firm is Axfords, who use slightly less fine materials than Vollers and are less expensive (their corsets often seem to me a bit more bulky and, actually, sturdy than Vollers, so I'm not sure how both wear in the long-run).<p align="center">
<img src="/goth/axfordscorset.jpg"><br>An Axfords corset - halfway between goth burlesque and wedding night!</b></p>
Both Axfords and Vollers produce fairly simple, standard modern corsets influenced by their old models, rather than antique reproductions. Historical veracity doesn't matter to most of the goth market (apart from the period attire fans - and they have to go elsewhere for the earlier Victorian hourglass or straight-busted Elizabethan varieties). (n.b. Vollers have a black and white sewn in label in their corsets, making them easy to recognize for resale purchase; Axfords, as far as I'm aware, only have a sticky label on the inner lining, which falls off after wear).
But in fact, faux corset-styles are as big, if not bigger, in the goth market than the tight-lacing real thing. Largely because many goth girls can't dance all night in the steel-boned kind (wusses!) and because watered down corset styles can be more suitable everyday wear.
The recent mainstream fashion corset-style revival has fed into this - it leaves a lot of discarded worn-once-for-party faux corset tops to be taken up and re-incorporated in more baroque ensembles by the goths! 'Corset style' 'ribbon-lacing' 'bustier', 'boned' and 'basque' (regardless of precise definition) are all good faux-corsetry-shopping keywords to cram in for any garments of this nature.
As for brands specialising in fetish, I've already mentioned Velda Lauder:
<p align="center">
<img src="/goth/veldalauder.jpg">
</p>But another sought after maker is Amsterdam's <i>Demask</i>, who have been in business since 1990. They also have branches in New York, Nurnberg and Munich, and they specialise in pvc and leather fetishwear, including the most industrial buckled corsets!
<p align="center">
<img src="/goth/demaskcorset.jpg" height=430>
Again, their stuff becomes available second hand very rarely.
Please recommend any makers or styles that you think are good! When you spend $300 on a corset, you want it to be just right...
<i>End of the corset interlude...</i>
