Outdoor Clothes, Covering and Remaining Goth

I have no idea why I didn't publish this post ages ago. It was written over a month ago, back when the weather was cooler. It got to 33℃/91.4℉ a couple of days ago in Aviemore, a relatively nearby town, and it feels hotter today, but I haven't been to check the thermometer. I am in the North of Scotland, close enough to the Pole to see the Northern Lights, but the sky is clear blue and I'm hiding with the laptop in the shade. Anyway, when I wore this outfit it was chilly and windy. Outfit posts are not the purpose of this blog, and I don't want to stray into making them too regularly, but this is a request. I described this outfit to an online friend, who wanted to see it. 

I'm not sure that's a nice smile.

I wore this outfit to walk and take public transport into the city, and this really is the sort of thing I wear on an everyday basis, except for working hours.  The 'scraps' style skirt is Marks & Spencers, and I saw a customer wearing one back when I worked in a supermarket, and it was love at first sight. I actually asked the customer where they'd got it, and they said it was M&S, but not the current season. I was so disappointed, especially when I couldn't find one on e-bay. Then, a week or two later I found a version of the skirt in my size in a charity shop in town and I was over-joyed. As I am quite tall, I was very excited to find that it was actually long enough on me. The jacket was a Viyella jacket that I bought partly modified on e-bay. It had been given lacing at the back, and re-cut to a narrower, more fitted shape. I then further modified it by altering the lacing at the back, altering the velvet cuffs and replacing the fabric-covered buttons with ornate metal ones. The cloak I got as part of a swap with a friend. The leather gloves were a Christmas present.

Yes, I'm rather tall.

This outfit also got a strange comment out of a "babybat" goth I met on public transport: "Aren't you a bit... covered up to be a Goth?". This surprised me because it held the implication that one must reveal flesh in order to be Goth, which while I have not problem with people who do, and know of quite a few Goths that do, doesn't seem to me as intrinsically part of the subculture. I personally prefer not to reveal much flesh, simply because I am not comfortable with it, and today, even with sweltering temperatures, I am in a floor-length skirt and am not bearing more than an inch of cleavage, nor my midriff nor my shoulders. Also, most historical fashions were not very revealing at all (well, excluding the "robe en chemise" styles of Revolutionary France which was inspired by pottering around in what was then an undergarment, and which could have very low necklines and be rather sheer, and a few other things) and my aesthetic and style preferences and inspirations tend to be rather anachronistic.  Also, long but loose clothes are actually rather good for hot weather. 

Sometimes I do wear shorter skirts, but I do get rather self-conscious in short skirts, a bare midriff, showing cleavage, etc. It's not that I feel ugly, more the opposite - I know that I'm reasonably attractive and I don't like the attention. I can see that this seems slightly absurd when I walk around in decidedly non-mainstream clothes that look significantly different from what most people wear, but I find random insults easier to tune out than innuendo and unwanted advances, wolf-whistles, etc. I also do not think "sexy" and "beautiful" are synonymous, and I would much rather be elegant in an anachronistic way than "sexy". 

I'm sitting in a chair, in a pile of cushions, a big pile of cushions.
They're all my cushions, you can't have them... preciousssss cushionssss.

Now with added candles.

I am also covering my head in this outfit, but for practical rather than religious reasons. Actually, I cover my head with non-hat items quite often. I'd rather like a nice top-hat to wear, but I can't afford a real one. The wind here feels sharp - the damp air makes a cold wind sting. I tend to wear a velvet scarf over my head and ears and my hood up to keep my ears warm and comfortable and to keep my hair from blowing in my eyes. I do know of Goths who are Muslim and Plain Christian who cover their heads for religious reasons, and I do not feel that this is counter to them being Goth, despite the fact that displaying fancy hair has been a strong part of the subculture since the huge back-combed styles of the '80s. Each person with an interest in the Goth subculture should join in however much they want, and should be primarily themselves, rather  than try to conform to the aesthetic of other members, and if they want to incorporate Goth into a religious lifestyle, there are no Rules of Goth to state otherwise. 

I would say that this outfit is somewhere between Aristocrat and Romantic Goth - the sharp, relatively minimalistic jacket and leather gloves seem more Aristocrat, but the cloak, layered skirt and makeup are probably more Romantic Goth. It's definitely not a traditional Goth outfit, anyway. Whatever it is, it is one of my favourite outfits for cool but not wet or particularly cold weather.