The Seamstress - Gothic Clothing & Tailoring.

If you are anything like us, then you can spend hours wandering around the darkest recesses of fabric shops, searching for that perfect cloth for your project.

Well now you can do it from your sofa, with a coffee.

MacCulloch & Wallis Fabrics and Equipment is just astonishing. They supply some of the finest period costumiers in the country and have such a huge range of fabric that I have yet to scratch the surface and I already want to sing their praises.

Embroidered Silks, Brocades and Lace to make you weep. They also supply everything you need from thread to corsetry supplies (including the all too rare steel boning, in a huge variety of sizes and thicknesses!).

Just go and lose yourself for an hour or so. But beware the temptation……!

Gloomth’s goth clothing website is a wonderfully humorous place (with the catchline Gloomth and the cult of melancholy), with some phenomenal designs, which do seem to be very reasonably priced. Based in Canada, they will ship to the UK for a small charge (again, very reasonable).

The site itself has some excellent touches on it - all of the pics are clickable, giving larger versions. Each item tells you how many of them have been made (often only single figures, so you can be pretty certain that you’re not going to be wearing the same thing as all the other girls at the goth ball). Each piece also has it’s own size chart - the one thing The Seamstress was wary about as each item’s sizing is different, so beware. It seems that some items are made larger, with the idea that you can strap or tie them in to cinch them, so don’t just presume that if you fit one item, you will always fit that size.

One of our favourites was the Gothic Aristocrat Autumn Weight Overcoat, which has it’s inspiration in the classic English riding jacket, with just a little strappyness and some eye holes that clean up the lines and turn it from practical to stylish, without making it unwearable at the local gymkhana.

My own personal favourite is the Gothic Damask Lolita Dress, which though I am not normally a fan of Lolitas (they need feeding usually, and I have no interest in women much younger than me) this one is an absolute treasure, and I think could be worn by women of any age or size (or maybe it’s just the stripy stockings…?).

There’s also several pieces for the corpgoth part of your life, like the wonderfully understated Precious Misery blouse and the Lobelia in Jet Blouse, both of which would be emminently suitable for the liberal office.

(Many thanks to Taeden for allowing us to pinch the pics!)

Based in New York, Stacy Williams’ company - The Aesthetic’s Corpgoth and Fashion Clothing leans towards the mainstream, but with an edge that all but the most hardcore (and probably pretentious) goths will appreciate. Though some of the designs do tend toward the silliness of fashion, the very best of them come very close to being timeless in style. All of the items are made to order, so if you are looking for an impulse buy, you may be stuck.

The women’s range has some lovely items in it, from the wonderful Peplum Corset Coat, with it’s hint of equestrian fetish, it’s internal boning (who could do without it?) and it’s strappy detail on the back, it could just make it onto the essential list by virtue of it being really very wearable.

Other favourites include the Geisha corset dress, which is a lovely cross between tradition and modernity, the V-train Skirt, and the interestingly urban Skants (both short and long). They have a small corset collection, including a men’s corset (tempting) that looks like it actually suits the man it is modelled on - something which most fail miserably to do.

If you’re looking for something that you can’t find anywhere, they will do custom work for you, though unless you’re in New York, this may not be the ideal way of going about things, but The Seamstress cannot be everywhere. We especially like the Brocade Trenchcoat they made:

For those in the UK, most pieces are available through Designer Clothes Online.

(As always, we hope that The Aesthetik don’t mind us using their pics - if you do guys - let me know: theapprentice@theseamstress.co.uk)

Designers with an interesting history have always intrigued me. Jed Phoenix’s background is both exciting and varied, and this seems to inspire her designs and the way she runs her clothing brand - Jed Phoenix of London - A twist of English.

The City Punk clothing range has razor sharp lines and could easily pass for corporate goth in many situations (though you may have to tone down the bondage aspect by matching the skirts with something less strappy, and taking the tie-sleeves off the coat!).

The CP2 skirt even has a pocket for your favourite riding crop, and it’s touches like this that will cheer even the most hardened and cynical fetish clothing buyers.

For the corp-goth and fetishists, both the citypunk and victoriana ranges have some marvellous touches, and testimonials from users attest to their practicality in whatever way you use them.

There are some wonderful pictures across the whole site, and the blog gives some interesting insights into how the company is run, their ethos and philosophy, and I have to say that it is people like Jed who really cheer me when I get tired of the off-the shelf cheap velvet import stuff we are so often presented with.

My personal favourite is the Victorian Bustle Skirt. A wonderfully underplayed piece in pinstripe fabric, which seems to be beloved of dominatrices! The Short Bustle Skirt would also look marvellous on a girl (or boy, though I doubt I have the legs for it) on a leash.

(Many thanks to Jed for letting us use the pics - theapprentice@theseamstress.co.uk)

Goth, Punk and Fetish clothing represent a mindset which challenges the norm, but unfortunately there are so few companies out there who do this with the way they work. The Seamstress has decided that this needs to change. As her apprentice I hope to convey her ideas.

Period costume and clothing provide a basis in the quality and style from which all of the clothes draw their influences. Using traditional techniques from period tailoring, hand-knitting, crochet and embroidery, The Seamstress creates some of the most imaginative and authentic pieces available.

With an emphasis on tailored, hand-made clothing which can either be worn every day, or kept safe in the realms of darkness (though not too dark - you need someone to see how good you look!), we hope to introduce people to the very best in cult clothing across the net.