Last Saturday was the day for the alternative fashion event of the year. Circa Nocturna is a yearly catwalk show held as part of LMFF that showcases goth, retro, rave, victoriana and all manner of alternative fashion.  It is a smorgasbord of black, lace, ruffles and plaid.  It has become one of my favorite LMFF events as it never fails to surprise with new talent as well as still having that raw, independent quality. Unlike almost everything else you’ll see as a part of fashion week, Circa Nocturna is far less trend driven, less seasonal and much more about fashion as a defining statement

This years line up included some old favorites as well as the launch of new ones, in particular my favorite Darling James by fellow Melbourne blogger HarbourMaster. Full of retro goodness but spiced up with shorter, flirty lengths and glimpses of neon tulle. Trashglam was another surprise that had old skool raver meets Harajuku Girl written all over it.

My perinial favorite Dolly Q did not disappoint with rococo looks, high fashion styling and delightful separates. Vanyanis showed an eclectic grouping of pieces than ran from the retro to the baroque with particularly dapper menswear so as not to be out done by blushing debutantes. Emilie Gray showed just what can be achieved with an update on simple vintage lines and produced a cohesive collection of highly wearable and affordable day wear. Beserk Clothing with their dark anime influences, lit up the catwalk with hot reds and electric blues, blinged out “Love &Hate” knuckle dusters, and the most awesome ‘maned’ legwarmers I’ve ever seen!

The evening was a showcase of paradox, defining what alternative fashion should be, what it should have left behind long before now and where it is headed. It seems that Circa Nocturna gets better with age, attracting more diverse designers, more polished collections and yet more things for me to covet.

If you’d like to find out more about any of the designs or designers seen in the gallery, check out the Official Circa Nocturna site.

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All the highlights of the evening are here for your viewing pleasure and inspiration. Just click on an image to see it enlarge and navigate from there. There are arrows at the bottom of the photos, but you need to change proof sheets from the main page.

Should you wish to use any of these images, please just email me for permission.

So many good things all in one month!  Some of you will just have to live vicariously through the blog for these events, but for those of you in Melbourne there are some treats in store!

The darling Rosy Rabbit is heading to London to shake a tail feather for Burlesque week and in order to get there she is throwing an evening of daring delights.  I will not be missing this one as not only will Rosy demonstrating her legendary techniques, but will be featuring the talents of my most favorite local performers too!

Music dancing and even door prizes will make this an evening to remember,  so if you are in Melbourne the make sure to pre purchase your tickets now as you won’t want to miss it!

Now… What will I wear this time?!

Outfit Details:

BOW – $2 Shop

Dress – Angel Sissi

Silver bat wing top – Tempt

Two tone fishnets – Columbine

Boots – Candy

Earrings – Equip

Total outfit cost – Less than $100.

Why Les Miserables? Well I think it is the ragged skirt that I love so much.  Something about this combo as I was putting it together, made me think of a Parisian Courtesan on her day off or a well dressed revolutionary marching the streets of Paris. This skirt has had so many appearances over the last autumn winter season and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon.  Depending on how I wear it I can end up feeling like The Little Match Girl, Eliza Dolittle or like today, a Can Can dancer on her way to the shops! All that fantasy in one skirt? What a great buy!

(Some of you have asked for more detail of this skirt and this cardigan before, so prepare yourself for a gratuitous amount of photos)

The hair was done using my “Chic and Simple Updo” tutorial and takes no more than 5 minutes to achieve.

The makeup look has a tutorial on the way too.  I’m a little behind on the editing but hope to get it ready for you in the next week.  It is simple and soft, but can be amped up quite easily for an evening look.

Phew.. that was a lot of photos!  Now for the details..

Outfit Details

Skirt – Boo Radley

Cardigan – Friends of Couture “Daughters of Pleasure”

Teal slip – Anthropologie

Boots – Novo “Mali”

Hair Bows – My Little Rockabilly

Bow Earrings – Equip

Purple sequin bow clip – $2 shop

The first thing that occurs to me as I started getting these photos ready to post, is that I really need to allow more time before events to take some proper outfit shots! I always end up running out of time and then taking a few hasty shots during the evening that doesn’t really capture the detail of what I wore. Oh well, at least you’ll get the gist if it.

Saturday night was Circa Nocturna, the annual catwalk showcase of alternative fashion, and a place where so many of my loves can all be found at the same time in the same room!  I had planned to wear a particular vintage Gautier dress this evening, but the weather had other ideas with very high humidity and a storm that had cars floating down the roads and roofs collapsing!  So I had to do a bit of improvisation last minute.

I’d picked up these amazing boots (yes, a post on just these by themselves is coming) earlier in the week and was dying for an opportunity to take them out on the town.  Bit in the abcense of the previously planned dress, I had no idea just what I would wear them with.  So with an hour to go before heading out the door, I grabbed a pair of neglected black pants, chopped the legs off, whipped them through the machine and knocked up a pair of shorts!

It ended up being the perfect combination to keep cool in a very hot and humid evening, as well as dance the night away at the afterparty!

It wasn’t until I saw photos of myself with the lovely Hexotica, (who makes some stunning fascinators and accessories) that we realised how much we matched. In a sea of black, black and more black, a little white goes a long way.

Outfit Details

Black satin and chiffon shirt – Cue

Black buttoned cincher – CMK

Shorts- a quick creation from an old pair of trousers!

Thigh high boots – Novo Shoes

Faux fur collar – Target children’s wear! ( yes, the secret is out)

Silver clutch – Thomas Wylde

Earrings – Diva

Fingerless gloves – Forever New

Mini Tiara – borrowed from Miss 5