Event Post HaVeN: Dark Waves.

 Made last minute plans to attend a night I've never been to. I'm really excited since I have this goal to go to all the Goth nights in New England at least once. This ones a summer beach party deal. Goths in bathing suits, I cannot wait. (I'm really hoping someone sports a Wednesday Addams style suit!)

I have two bathing suits I was debating wearing and have decided to bring both, maybe change halfway through the night if I'm feeling frisky! I'm going to post pictures of me wearing them on here. They are not great so be warned! (Once again I'll try and post pro pictures if I can.)

This bathing suit has a nice cut to it that flatters my body shape in a nice way. This picture is old though and quite a few of the little metal studs have fallen off.

Terrible picture I know, but you can see the design part. This suit is actual uncomfortable and doesn't stay on all so well, but the design is really nice.

I'll also be bringing my little skull and crossbone tote bag, Silent Hill beach towel and spiky sandals.

Slightly different view of the sandals. Those spike are actual metal. and yes they hurt.

Next post is another special event first time club post! Yay!

Event Post: Resurrection Just Dance!

This weeks event doesn't have a theme so I didn't really have guidelines to follow. Which is nice every once in a while to just wear straight up gothiness. I decided to get bony. I have a serious things for bones, skulls in particular. (I could do a blog dedicated to one skull thing I own a day and I might have enough for a year or more.)

Wearing a bony tank top with some flowers and the like accenting it. Bought it on clearance at Hot Topic earlier in the summer. The skirt had prints of tiny skulls and roses. I got the skirt from Wet Seal when I was in High School.

Close ups of the tank-top and skirt.

I've decided I want to wear this see-through top with the outfit. It has a neat spine going on. You can also see the back of the ribs and pelvis and hip bones from the tank-top underneath. I also bought this shirt on clearance at Hot Topic.

Close up of the top of the back.

After realizing the darkness of my divider was kind of making my outfit hard to see, I finally decided to take a picture of the whole thing against a white wall.

Booties that I got for fairly cheap at Saver's and thigh-highs a friend bought me for a birthday a couple years ago. Bones!

From glam goth to pin-up girl on a budget

I'm Cherie and I will be a part-time contributor and style consultant to Goth on Shoe-string. I'm not in the goth-club lifestyle like my beautiful sister and fellow blogger Puck, but I am...or was, what was considered in my day "emo" before the term was coined (to my knowledge). Well, nowadays, I'm the proud mother of two spirited little offspring age 5 and 6 =) I am getting to why this is valid...you see, I've sort of developed a mommy on-the-go sense of style.  When I first became a mom I promised myself profusely I was *not* going to make the drastic transition  from black bondage pants, red lipstick, D-rings, studs and heavy eye-liner to unkempt hair tweety bird graphic tees and sweat pants with the "PINK" logo down the leg or on the ass. That's acceptable for the first several months after child-birth, but to get into a habit of dressing like you're in your pajamas 24/7 is not going to make you feel very good about yourself no matter what your fashion-sense is.

When you first become a parent you feel a sort of responsibility to your kids to tone your wardrobe down a bit. My style has since evolved from a goth/punk/emo style to pin-up/alternative tattooed mama look in more recent years. The "alternative" style incorporates a lot of trends that reoccur throughout history and is a good way to reinvent yourself even if you're not a mom. I still get to wear red lipstick and rock the dark eye-liner. But I've traded in the bondage pants, rock-tees, chain wallet and combat boots for a 1950's "pin-up girl" inspired wardrobe.

Tips: there are a lot of pin-up hair style tutorials and step by step instructions that are fairly easy to follow right at your fingertips via Pinterest, Photobucket, Google images, Youtube or whatever your favorite media resource. Up-do hair styles can be pretty quick and easy. Throw a bandana around your favorite hairstyle, or even tie one around your neck for a little variation. A string of pearls compliments the style nicely. "Cat-eye glasses" can really look great on certain face-shapes too.  For flitting around doing housework you'd be surprised how much a cutesy apron will flatter your curvy mommy-frame. There is a lot of creative freedom in playing around with your look here. From blue eye shadow, dramatic brows, fake lashes and pouty lips... Accessories complete the look; a pair of vintage heels, scarves, and corsets, stalkings, and other undergarments from your local thrift shop. Thrift shops are a great resource for the "alternative style" Often the consignment shops in small towns can offer some hidden gems. Vintage dresses, halter tops, look for poka dots, plaid, cherries, leopard print, and stripes. Button down shirts and jean capris. Transform a cute pair of jeans you already own into cut-offs and pair them up with a pair of mary-jane flats and a button-down tied at the waist for a casual and comfortable summer-time look. Pin-up style bathing suits are also very flattering on the feminine frame, especially comfortable for more curvy ladies. Pencil skirts and "empire waist" dresses are also very flattering on just about anyone. "cuban heel" stalkings are very sexy for a more refined look. There are just so many options for the pin-up/alternative style of dress and loads of room to incorporate your own style as well.

(Some examples I pulled from the internet) 

Vintage dresses are easy to find if you know what to look for. Amazon has a lot of pin-up styles for reasonable prices as well.

"Betti Paige" style bangs and a wild hair color compliment the look nicely and give it a bit of an edge.

In the spirit of summer, some bathing suit ideas for you or a yummy mummy you may know....

 Fuller figured ladies can easily conceal their "problem areas" in a pin-up style bathing suit.

Empire waist dresses are fun and flatteringly on just about every lady!

 Audry skirt shown here: "Audry skirts" are extremely flattering for ladies with wider hips.

Cuban stalkings:

Thank you for your time. You'll be hearing from me again soon,

"The sister"

Tips and Tricks (Cheats)

I've heard a lot of friends and gothy types say that they have trouble finding clothes sometimes. Whether it's having to travel to out of the way goth clothing stores, spending far to much money, or having to deal with order things online that might not fit. Unless you're good at making or altering clothes, it can be hard to find that outfit you want or to fill out your wardrobe in a gothic manner. I've decided to share some little tips and tricks or as I like calling them 'cheats' to get some clothes.

We're going to talk about Old Navy. Now I think this is obvious but I'll get it out of the way. I can't make you shop anywhere you don't want to and I understand if you have reasons for not wanting to shop there. I'll also be honest that I work there currently so I do get a bit of a discount and see a lot of things most people might not notice clothing wise.

Arguably the best part of Old Navy is how the women's clearance section is set up. They have it organized by style and color. Perfect for find just black or grey clothes. Even better if you need something to fit a specific themed club night.

They've also got some other items that can work well with a gothic wardrobe. The rockstar jeans rock, pardon the pun. Here are some tops I own that I've gotten there.

This purple sweater is one of my favorites. Layers very well.

Black and grey striped v-neck tee. Makes the boobs look great ;p

These two Catwoman shirts are awesome. I'm super into Batman in general though.

Even if you are an adult female, I highly suggest shopping the men's and boys sections.

The following shirt is a men's shirt though this one was given to me by a friend long before I ever worked at Old Navy.

I found this shirt in the men's section. As I said I loooove Batman so I had to get this shirt. It has him fighting Man-Bat which in my opinion is one of the under-rated Batman villains.

I'm lucky to be just small enough to fit into boys extra large shirts. They get some awesome shirts. This one is a short sleeve button-up dress shirt. It has a skull and crossbone pattern on it.

I can totally see wearing this shirt with a fishnet shirt underneath and a skirt. Like an adorable gothic school girl.

Well that's it for today!

Event: Private Summer Party.

This past weekend my husband and his brother were DJing for a friend's backyard summer party. It was robot themed. I decided to go for blue accessories and lots of lights.

I originally was working on this outfit for a sci-fi themed goth night, but something came up and I couldn't go. I basically used some of the ideas for that outfit for this one. I had a better corset picked for that one but it's somewhat broken. I had the corset and tutu. I bought them from a Halloween outlet right after Halloween (Great time to pick up clothes!) The tights and arm things were picked up from a local party store.

 I made the earrings from child-sized led bracelets. Oh also I forgot to mention the tutu has led lights also! They aren't very visible in the pictures. And yeah these photos make the corset I'm wearing look a little see-through. Whoops.

 Couldn't resist taking a picture of me and the Cyberman. This same Cyberman was at my wedding reception (minus the light). I was trying to pose like him but it looks like I'm 'heiling'. Not intended I assure you.

Of course gotta take a selfie with the Dalek!