gothic

Versace Medusa Doctor Bag, Handbag of the Day

Filed under: Handbags

The Versace Medusa Doctor Bag is a gothic masterpiece.

This black Italian leather bag is lined in emo purple and adorned with a sculpted head of Medusa (Versace's signature icon). The goldtone studs provide a luxe contrast to the raised black dots which cover the surface. The metal closure at the top helps it keep its smart shape, even at 18½"W X 12½"H X 6¼"D.

This is one of those rare pieces which encapsulates the gothic look without being over-the-top. The prim look of a doctor bag, with its clean lines and classic appeal, is easy to carry with almost anything, and won't make you look like a disgruntled teenager.

We'd love to spot this on a well-to-do woman -- just a flash of her dark side.

The Versace Medusa Doctor Bag is available from Saks Fifth Avenue for $2,175.00.

Tags: clack leather, doctors bag, goth, gothic, handbag, handbag of the day, versace

Inside The Great Frog, Jeweler to Harry Potter and Aerosmith

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Luxury Travel & Hotels

The Great Frog has been making jewelry in London's ever-chic Carnaby area since 1972. They are probably best known for their immaculately gothic, daring bespoke pieces for the fashion and music industry -- as well as creating all the jewelry for the Harry Potter movies. I was lucky enough to visit their legendary Ganton Street location and get a peek into the magic lair where the sometimes sweet, sometimes scary pieces are created (aka the basement).

The Great Frog's showroom is designed to look like a French funeral parlor, a darkly appropriate choice for the originators of The Skull Ring. The workshop, however, is appropriately non-designed, with graffiti on the walls and ceiling, an enormous music closet, and cluttered work desks which look like they belong in the props trailer for the Puppet Master series. We're talking creepy dolls and skulls in beer cases.

It's fun to imagine the legends that have browsed in the shop and dictated their jewelry desires to talented, biker-chic staff. Get a look at the charmingly grungy room where the magic happens below, and check out more of their client list, including Harry Potter, Aerosmith, Metallica and Iron Maiden, (and do a little online shopping) here.

Gallery: Peek Inside The Great Frog

This trip was paid for by VisitBritain, but the ideas and opinions expressed in the article above are 100% my own.

Tags: aerosmith, goth, gothic, harry potter, Iron Maiden, IronMaiden, jewelry, london, Metallica, the great frog

You've Never Seen Tights Like These

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

After years and years of crazy tights designs, some fabulous, some hideous, and some just plain weird, someone has finally reinvented the art of legwear: Les Queues Des Sardines.

These French tights go beyond "quirky" (crazy colors and strange designs are so last season) and bring a beautiful fresh perspective to legs. The art on these tights is statement making and memorable, and unmistakably chic in a gothic meets Harajuku way. From elegantly-drawn cartoon mouths below the knees to sewn-up wounds, you've never seen tights like these.

The only English-speaking stores stocking these innovative narrative tights are Fortnum and Mason in London and Art Therapi in Balmain, Australia. Get out your credit card with the lowest foreign transaction fee and order yourself a pair (or five) of Les Queues Des Sardines from UpFactory.com, SuicidalShop.fr or Greenky.fr. Everyone will be dying to know where you got them.

Check out some of our favorite designs from Spring/Summer 09 and Autumn/Winter 09/10 below.

Gallery: Les Queues Des Sardines

Tags: cryptic, fashion, France, French, goth, gothic, Harajuku, Les Queues Des Sardines, LesQueuesDesSardines, tights

DL & Co. Claw Candle Holder

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

DL & Co.'s Claw Handle Holder is unique, to say the least. The creepily gothic porcelain piece is a "chalice perched atop a flower, sprouting from a branch, which is placed atop the shape of a pheasant's foot." It's intriguing, but might make a better Halloween decoration than everyday accessory - unless the room you need to access0rize is your secret lair. It is available in both white and black. Price: $150.

Tags: candle, candle holder, creepy, gothic, halloween

Avalon Bay Asylum Project

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

The site of the Danvers State Hospital for the mentally ill in Massachusetts is being renovated by Avalon Bay Communities, Inc. into a complex of luxury condos. Avalon is planning on putting in 497 units in total. They intend to create a "'campus-like environment' with a swimming pool, WiFi cafe and fitness center. Rents will start around $1,400 for a one-bedroom, and about half-a-million dollars for a condo." The 40 or so buildings on the 75-acre property are being demolished, though the central portion of the original 313,000-square foot Kirkbridge building, pictured, is being preserved as an historical monument.

The hospital was built in the 1870's and has been called one of the "world's scariest buildings." Some people believe that it is even haunted. The architecture is Gothic and the majority of the rooms were built in the style of a dormitory, as the facility was meant to house around 600 patients. During the 1950s, allegations of various shock therapies and lobotomies being used to control the overcrowded facility that held more than 2,000 residents were common and continued until the Hospital was completely closed in 1992. Avalon Bay bought the facility for $18 million.

Source

Tags: apartments, asylum, building, condos, danvers, danvers state hospital, estate, gothic, haunted, historic, hospital, lunatic, massachusetts, mental hospital, patients, rennovation, world's scariest building