Gothic Lace Secrets
Update your gothic style with the return of gothic lace secrets!Lady Lace, our featured fashion writer will divulge some secrets of lace and Lady Eureka will advise how you can include it as a part of your gothic style! Lace has long been associated with a bare-shouldered décolleté and beautiful ringlet or wavy long hairstyle, since the Victorian era of the S-bend silhouette and tight-boned corsets! A lovely lace choker has been in vogue since that time, posing the question, what is underneath the corseted dress? Perhaps a pair of lace panties…is part of those "secrets in lace"? Let's start with ancient history.
1. Lady Lace, what is the history of lace?
Since ancient times lace and even lace wigs, adorned with beads, have been associated with Ecclesiastical embroidery and The Church. There were Biblical rituals with starched white linen, gold and silver needlework and lace presided over altars by members of the Clergy or Priests. Lace was sometimes called 'Punti-in-Aria' meaning 'stitches-in-the-air'! Lace, well-positioned on one's body (whether as panty lace) or neckline lace, also symbolically recalls the sites and sounds of the cosmopolitan city! In another era, this would have been Grand Venetian Architecture and the wealthy churches of Italy.
Eventually, European lace became a very popular product due to what we call 'conspicuous consumption', in the 1500s and 1600s. Lace declared upper-class 'status' and prestige. Hand lace was incredibly labour-intensive. European peasant women, eked out a living in their damp cottages, often ruining their eyesight by slaving for months and even years over making elaborate altar cloths, lace collars, cuffs and flounces for their upper class patrons. Dainty lace with fine, floral patterns was handcrafted all over Europe in Ireland, England, Greece, France, Italy, Spain, Malta and Belgium. But in Victorian times, it was lady-like to cover your almost bare-breasted, lace-fringed neckline with a demure paisley, fine wool shawl. Not any more!
Art of Adornment lace choker on model, Tristan Risk
2. How did contemporary lace made a comeback in the 1980s?
In recent history in the 1980s, designers such as Vivienne Westwood paired up romantic lace style with punk, making that juxtaposition of dynamic, snappy, tight and racy against softness and romance. The iconic Material Girl, Madonna who declares turning 50 is the new 36, made a revolutionary fashion statement with lace back in the eighties! Lace bras, lace panties and lace stockings was her trademark fashion accessory, popularised as ‘outer-wear’! Romance was all the rage. Other celebrities such as Robert Smith from The Cure, the godfather of Goths, made romance and lace, with big hair all the rage! That was when gothic style emerged due to a convergence of punk and new wave, with lace a part of that dark look.
3. Why is lace considered a fetish?
The prim, proper and sentimental look of demure, 'good girls' and ladies of the Victorian era inevitably have its 'underworld' juxtaposition: the seamy and steamy side of life – the dark and deeply erotic and highly sexualised! By wearing lace, your secret lace question is posed to your admirer whom you wish to impress with your outfit. That secret lace question is: Are you good or bad? A whore or a bore? To be bad is to rebel from the ‘stiffness’ of The Church and the ‘staid’ family way of ‘proper’ life, symbolised by white or cream coloured lace frills, embroidery and silent, demure forms of femininity. Lace was a very time-consuming product to craft. A set of lace collar and cuffs could fetch half the price of a castle! Thus, only aristocrats could afford lace, so wearing lace became symbolic of having power. Whenever a clothing item carries a perceived value of high status, it becomes a fetish. And today due to labour-saving machines, the aesthetic appeal of lace can affordably be your addiction!
Art of Adornment lace choker on model, Tristan Risk
4. Why is lace connected to Gothic style?
Wearing lace is a statement. Lace is a subversive costume. It questions modern lifestyles. People like to put hard and soft of 'things' together, the proper and the promiscuous – and that's how items like lace collars or chokers, corsets and fishnet stockings have become a fetish in Romantic Goth style circles. All fashion evokes memories of both historical, decorative arts and avant-garde references. I'm seeing influences from old-school Goths from the 1980s, gaining in popularity with gothic designers such Art of Adornment. Valerian's hand-beaded lace chokers are an example. This talented artist crafts with heavier lace, such as 'Venetian Gros Point', typically used for collars and chokers during the mid-to-late 1800s.
Art of Adornment designer, Valerian
Thank you Lady Lace for your historical overview of lace for goths.
Now Lady Eureka will advise you on adding some lace secrets for that dark and romantic look. If you're lucky enough, you can rummage through vintage shops to find a lace shirt from the 1980s or from earlier decades that can be worn on its own or under an underbust corset. Non-goths, style mavens have been snapping up vintage lace shirts due to influences from major couture designers such as Prada for Fall 2008. But goths secretly know lace has always been in style!
For exquisite lace touches, visit Elaine Foster's ("Valerian") Art of Adornment website: www.artofadornment.ca, where you'll find historical inspirations of vintage Victorian, romantic Renaissance, daring 1920's and dark modern Gothic style for limited edition and one-of-a-kind jewellery and accessories. You'll also discover hand-crafted wares by owner-designer Valerian and select other designers. These include cameo pendants, rhinestone-encrusted lace chokers, crystal chandelier earrings, intricate antique silver necklaces, elaborately trimmed top hats, elegant cufflinks, and beaded pocket watch chains. This wonderful online store features a selection of hard-to-find hosiery, gloves, hand fans and decor items to compliment your decadent gothic taste.
'Art of Adornment lace choker in 'Venetian Gros Point'
For more information on other goths secrets including gothic makeup, gothic hairstyles, how to wear corsets, PVC, leather and latex, read “Step-by-Step Essential Guide to that Elusive Gothic Look & Style”.
