On Halloween Rants, and a few personal woes...

Hello everyone, and welcome new followers! I'm still constantly surprised at the amount of people who are willing to listen to me blither on....

I know I haven't been blogging with much enthusiasm lately, and there are many reasons why, all of which have had me in a kind of crisis mode and few of which I'm willing to fully describe on the internet. Suffice it to say that some of it involves my husband's ex-wife and some family issues. I've been feeling very low the last few weeks, and it has culminated into feeling almost nothing at all the last couple of days. I've kind of shut down emotionally, and maybe that's what I need to reboot.

Anyway, this post has been vaguely writing itself in my head for some time, so I need to put it down.

There are a few things that irritate me around Halloween, as much as I love the holiday, and these aren't even so much of the comments that I know we all get (i.e. "Nice costume" or "Are you going to a party?" No, what irritates me first of all is some of the costumes.

Yep, Goth costumes.

I think this bothers me in much the same way as other costumes that seem to be making a weird persona out of a specific group of people. I ran up on someone the other day that planned on going as a lesbian with one of her friends. That's not a costume, that's a person. In the same way things like this bother me:

source

Described as a "Goth Bride of Darkness" costume

Ok, I understand, maybe I'm being too touchy. Halloween means ooky spooky and this would certainly do it for most people. However, the way that gets translated is that someone seeing me in my everyday clothes assumes that I am in costume, that I'm trying to achieve this look, and that it's not who I really am and I'm playing pretend. 

What these costumes do is take Gothic fashion and make fun of it. Maybe I'm being too sensitive, but I can't be the only one who feels like they are begin ridiculed. 

On the other hand, I do love the holiday and I buy things that are cheesy and cliche, if only to gently poke fun at myself and make sure I'm not taking myself too seriously. I know that it's weird for me to complain about the above picture and then buy this:

It says "Gothtini." Had to get it. Had to

Maybe in the end it's how someone uses the imagery that effects the way I process it. If it's just a costume you're putting together to make yourself seem "scary" because you think Goths are scary, then I feel I'm being made fun of in the wrong way. If you genuinely think it's cute and intend to use it for more than shock value, I can get over it.

I'm curious to know if I'm the only one that feels this way. How do you guys feel about Goth costumes and such?

There is one more little thing that bothers me around Halloween. I am a Christian, and I know Halloween is sometimes a four letter word in the Church, but really, if you're going to claim that it's evil, don't turn around and have the exact same thing at a church and call it something different and say that's ok.

Maybe this is just a thing with churches around here, but every one of them have an "alternative" set up for Halloween night, where the kids dress up in costumes (although they ban "scary" costumes), they give out candy, they play games, and they call it a "Hallelujah Party" or something similar. It's ridiculous. If Halloween is that twisted and evil that you don't think I should celebrated it or let my kid go trick-or-treating, why are you having the same exact damn thing at the church? Do you really think calling it something different means you're not celebrating the (pagan) holiday just like everyone else???

Does anyone else see this happen where they live? What do you guys think about this?

Outfit Post: The Lady in White

I like to wear a mostly white outfit every now and then to throw people off. This is actually the same outfit I wore on Halloween day last year, and people kept complementing me on my costume.....

Top: skeletal bride and groom, from Walmart last Halloween

Skirt: the white skirt I bought at Goodwill, and added the lace trim myself. All hand-striched, because I have an irrational fear of sewing machines. They make me think I'm going to sew my finger to something.

The skeleton lady cameos you have seen on me before; I thought the pearls and white details were a nice touch to this outfit.

I'm debating on what I want to wear on Halloween day this year. I don't wear costumes, but I do dress up to the nines in whatever I have. What are you guys planning to wear? Do you have any special plans for the day?

Halloween-style Welcome Mat

My house is officially a home now! Check out what I picked up at Target:

I haven't been able to get much this year, but I'm happy with this.

Halloween Sock Haul!

Hi there! Sorry for my absence; I've been uber busy with the house, Zach's school, my school, and the car insurance people, but I did manage to do a tiny bit of shopping, and I'm in a bragging mood.

Yay new socks!

I love the eyeballs! I'm wearing them right now.

Guide to Halloween shopping

The season is almost upon us! Well, close enough, the stores are stocking spooky goodies anyway. I was actually inspired by The Everyday Goth's post on shopping for year-round decor, and thought I would add just a few things to her helpful list:


Is it durable? :  There are two types of Halloween decor; those that are meant for parties and other such one-night events, and those that are meant for a longer shelf life. Metal, plastic, or heavy resin are you best bets for year-round home decor.

Will I use it? : If you are anything like me, the moment Halloween shopping strikes, you want everything. However, before you convince yourself that the eye-ball lights are a must, think for a moment about how you are planning on using them in your home. Do you already have an idea for a particular item before you came to the store? Can you think of a place to put something that may be more of an impulse buy? The great thing about this time of year is that we can find a spooky alternative to nearly every household item imaginable, but what good is a plastic grim reaper if he is just going to sit in a closet or in an attic while you wait for an opportunity to use him?

Also bear in mind that certain Halloween decorations can be used as Christmas decorations later on. I have multicolored skeleton lights for my tree and a black wreath with purple bats on it for my door, both bought the Halloween before Christmas last year.

eyeball ring I picked up last year

Will I wear it?: This pretty much goes with the "will I use it" question, but for clothes and jewelry. There are plenty of lovely things to be had during these months as far as Gothy fashion goes. However,  you need to keep in mind how an item will look after the Holiday is over. Is it too Halloween specific? While there are many good reasons to wear skulls and bats all year round (unless Halloween imagery just isn't really your thing), but candy corn and ghost patterned things .... might be cheesy in a bad way.  

Above all else, be creative! This is our opportunity to acquire things that will turn our environments into   what we really want, so have fun and try not to go completely broke!

Someone make it be Halloween already!

source: Facebook 

Zach's Outfit Today

Check out the outfit that the gremlin picked out for himself today:

Orange and black, Halloween colors! It gives me a warm glowy feeling inside to know that I'm corrupting a young child. 

My Obsessions: Socks

Yes, I have a slight obsession with socks; Halloween patterned socks, that is. I know it sounds weird, but just go with it.

I hate the sight of those plain white athletic socks that everyone in the mainstream seems to think should be the standard, along with athletic shoes (rant: tennis shoes should only be worn when playing sports, not with every single outfit ever!). Personally I don't see how these things add to ones personal style, and I an a great believer in everything being a maker of style, no matter if it is visible to the general pubic or not. Yes this includes panties. There is no excuse for being lazy while shopping and buying ugly panties because they are in your size, but I digress.

So, a couple of years ago I set out on a mission to rid my wardrobe of tacky white socks. The original plan was to simply stock up on Halloween socks during the Halloween season. Here in the US, we are blessed with nearly every shop stocking (mostly) cute Halloween stuff starting around September. Then came the realization that Ebay has a virtual stock of cute spooky patterned socks all year round.

Thus my husband's nightmare began.

I didn't over do it too much (I don't think), but I now have enough spooky cute socks to have allowed me to throw away all tacky ugly white socks in favor of those that better suit my wardrobe: spiders and skulls and bats, oh my!

Some of my sock collection

I still troll around Ebay looking for good finds, and I can't wait for Halloween this year to replace some of my socks that have gotten slightly old and ratty-looking. 

Sam makes fun of me, but our son has several pair of "spooky socks" of his own that he loves to pick out everyday, and even Sam wears the dancing skeleton pair that I bought for him every weekend when he isn't working. 

These are some that I'm coveting at the moment: ebay.

Future obsessions post: horror movies clowns. Do you guys have any weird obsessions?

Halloween Goth?

So you might have noticed that I describe myself as a Victorian/Halloween Goth in my profile. What in the underworld do I mean when I say "Halloween Goth," you may ask? Allow me to explain.

I've seen many Goths (ok, online Goths, but whatever) invent their own names for their personal interpretation of Goth fashion. I've never really seen a subset that described me accurately. Victorian comes close, but not entirely.

So! Halloween Goth; my definition would be 'one who revels in Halloween imagery in fashion and other aspects (home decor, etc) on a daily basis.'

Now I know that Halloween is held dear to most Goths. I say most because I've seen some write rather venomously on the subject, saying that it too cheesy or what have you. Most Goths do revel in Halloween  imagery to a vast extent, with the wearing of skulls and spiders and bats and such. What I'm saying is that my use of Halloween images mounts almost to an obsession.

Am I serious? Partly.

I know it sounds ridiculous, and that I probably sound more of a newbie than I intend, but if we can't laugh at ourselves for dressing to the nines in jack-o-lantern-themed goodies and calling it "fashion" then we all might as well give up an respect for this subculture and go back to the mainstream right now. Self-procalimed style monikers don't have to be entirely serious.

So what do you get when you pair flowing lacy skirts with Halloween t-shirts purchased in Walmart clearance sales? Behold the Victorian/Halloween Goth!

glittery spider top: Goodwill

spider lace long-sleeve top: ebay

skirt: Goodwill

lace-up victorian boots: Goodwill

necklace: Gift from Sam

And lookie! Halloween socks!!!!

So, what are your thoughts on making up a name to describe yourself? Leave me a comment!

You Might be a Goth if....

• Yu spend more money during the Halloween season of one year than you have during the Christmas season of the last three.
• When buying Halloween goodies, the casher trying to scan your purse thinking it is a decor item.
• When you log into your ebay account, you see advertisements for Shrine, Lip Service, or Tripp.
• your friends request to borrow your home decor times to use as Halloween decorations.
• There are more skeletons in our  wardrobe than a typical anatomy classroom.
• For Valentine's Day, you've given your significant other some hear-shaped object -- that was anatomically correct.