Archive for July, 2009

Gothic Clothing and Fashion



Where did Gothic Fashion Originate?

Gothic style has featured strongly throughout history and prior to their being a fashion style for so called “goths”, buildings, literature and art were referred to as being “gothic”. The original goths were a Germanic tribe that were recorded as having a major part in the fall of the Roman Empire. At the time, Europe’s style was classical and after the fall of Rome, during the Renaissance period, new styles appeared that were unusual and subsequently were referred to as “gothic”.

Gothic sub-culture has always been associated with darkness, mystery and the supernatural as well as the Roman Catholic church. In decades following the Renaissance, a nostaligic wave swept over Europe and the facination with gothic ruins and this alternative lifestyle started to create a following.

Literature and films have developed over history, typically set in a castle or dark ruin and usually featuring an appearance from vampires, mysterious beasts and femme fatales.

Gothic fashion

Romantic style gothic clothing

Gothic culture and fashion is considered to ultimately be about expressing one’s self and being able to be creative, imaginative and unique in appearance and personaility.

Typically, gothic dress consists of mainly black clothes often with black dyed hair, black painted nails and heavy black eyeliner as part of the makeup. Clothes may include tight fitting trousers, long black coats or gowns, gothic style dresses, PVC corsets, chokers, black buckled shoes or boots, piercings and silver or pewter jewwllery. As gothic culture has a strong connection to the Catholic church, crucifixes often feature.

A gothic outfit is often put together mixing items of various different fabrics such as PVC Clothes, latex, leather, fishnet and sometimes fake fur.

This sterotypical gothic look is often referred to as the “romantic goth.

Lolita style gothic clothing

A style called lolita goth” is a similar look to the “romantic goth” and it originated in Japan. Many “lolita” styles borrow ideas from Medieval, Victorian and Elizabethan period dress, such as ruffled high neck shirts, items trimmed wih lace or ribbons and outfits are often both black and white. Accessories such as parasols, lace headresses or top hats accompany the outfit.

Cyber style gothic clothing

More recently, an array of bright colours have been added to the tradional black and people following this new look have called themselves “cyber-goths”. This is gothic fashion moving to a new level as black items are now being combined with neon, wild colourful hair extensions, bright makeup and futuristic accessories such as googles.

PVC Clothes and the gothic look

PVC is one of the most popular fabrics used in gothic fashion. It’s shiny surface offers a contrast to other fabrics like velvet or even just cotton. It is cheaper to buy than leather and latex but has a very similar finish and overall look and feel. Items such as PVC corsets are typical of a gothic outfit, as they are erotic and sexual, which is often represented in the style of gothic fashion. Long black PVC coats and dark thigh high or knee high PVC boots are often used to finish off the gothic look.


Top 10 Online Wholesale Clothing Shops



Looking for a list of the most reliable and dependable online wholesale clothing shops on the net? Then here is my top 10 list of picks when it comes to online wholesale clothing shops that really delivers the best service among all other!

ApparelUs.com

They offer quality wholesale clothing and accessories at extremely economical prices with superior customer service. As one of the top online wholesale clothing shops, they enjoy a diverse customer base because they are one of the few wholesale clothing suppliers that do not require a membership to make purchases.

Now, serious shoppers can get even more savings on their wholesale clothing and merchandise by becoming VIP members. For only $49/year, our VIP members will receive 15% off on their first order and 5% off on all other additional orders for an entire year. Additionally, VIP members will receive premium customer service from senior account reps and can negotiate larger quantity orders when necessary. All of these benefits can also be combined with any other current promotions or discounts such as our free shipping deals as well.

ClothingIsland.com

ClothingIsland.com has been in the business for 20 years, providing the best services that customers would ever wish to have. This site offers different kinds of wholesale clothing from women, men, and kid’s clothing, to special deals such as closeout deals, scrubs, and church suits.

With 20 years of experience in the wholesale clothing industry, ClothingIsland.com guarantee’s the highest quality standards of wholesale clothing lines with the lowest of prices available. Best of all, ClothingIsland.com can offer free shipping on all of their collection.

RedTagClothing.com

If you’re looking for the very best source of wholesale clothing for women and juniors on the World Wide Web, this is the right place.

Red Tag Clothing is a premiere B2B or business-to-business dealer offering the hottest styles on the market at some of the best wholesale prices anywhere. They carry hard-to-find wholesale plus size clothing in the trendy designs that your buyers are shopping for, as well as an impressive selection of junior wholesale clothing lines in all styles.

To ensure top notch services, Red Tag Clothing have added a quality control team that goes over all of the items they stock to ensure that each wholesale clothing piece will please your customers.

SevenWholesale.com

SevenWholesale.com specializes in providing urban wholesale clothing lines for men, women, and children. Their collection of brands includes the most popular in the urban community such as Sean John, Rocawear, Apple bottoms, Gino Green Global, Makaveli, Coogi, Snoop Dogg, Miskeen, Phat Farm, Enyce, Mudd, L.E.I., Ecko, G-Unit, and many more.

WholesaleClothingApparel.com

In here, you’ll find the best prices on wholesale clothing and accessories around. Whether you have a small shop downtown or a large operation at the mall, they have the wholesale fashion clothing options that will attract customers to your retail store!

WholesaleClothingApparel.com offers first quality men’s and women’s fashions, children’s fashions, the latest jeans and accessories along with discounts for as low as 50-70% below wholesale. This is done by working directly with manufacturers and importers to get the best apparel clothing deals, and pass the savings on to their customers.

WholesaleClothing4U.com

Wholesaleclothing4u.com is one of Chinese leading wholesale clothing distributors dedicated to wholesale of women’s clothing. Their collection includes tops, halter tops, to strap tops, from skirts to dresses, and from jackets to t-shirts.

Not only do they offer the latest trends of women’s clothing in China, but also some of the cutest and the most fashionable clothing lines from Japan and Korea.

Wholesale-Clothing.com

If you’re looking for online wholesale clothing shop for kid’s clothing, then Wholesale-Clothing.com is the right place for you. Their range of kid’s wholesale clothing line includes babywear, kids’ casual wear, swimwear, sleepwear, costumes and dresses. They also provide special children’s Manchester and accessories including socks, underwear, bags and bibs.

Being in the business for 20 years, you can assure that their clothing and accessories are made to the highest standards of quality and durability and all available at discount wholesale prices.

IslandWholesaler.com

Providing 100% quality and authenticity on their wholesale clothing, reliability and trust in offering the best services, and with combined experience in both retail and wholesale of over 30 years, IslandWholesaler.com can only give you the highest quality of service found on the net.

OrangeZoneInc.com

Established in 1996, their goal is to offer fashion wholesale clothing lines at 50%-70% below wholesale prices. They carry a wide variety of New, First Quality Wholesale Womens Clothing, Wholesale Men Clothing and Wholesale Plus Size Clothing from the Nation’s Largest Manufacturers and Suppliers.

OrangeZoneInc.com guarantees first quality and grade A authentic merchandise, so you’re assured of same product found in your mid and high end apparel companies and department store retailers except for their incredibly low prices.

TBIApparel.com

TBI Apparel is a wholesale clothing line of off-price fashion and casual clothing in the juniors’ and young men’s category. Their focus is offering their customers great cutting edge apparel at a fraction of the regular wholesale price. Their merchandise mix is unmatched in its array of styles, prices and labels. Their commitment to their customers’ needs and their success is second to none.


Designer Girls Clothing is Value for Money



Fashion conscious parents are no longer satisfied with just any old type of girl’s clothing and babies clothing for their daughters, these days designer clothing is a must have for the discerning parent. At younger ages girls are becoming fussy about what types of clothes they wear. This has lead to a huge boom in the designer girl’s clothing and babies clothing industries. Little girls want cutting edge designs, one off originals, vivid colors, retro, vintage, ruffled, whimsical and beautiful, it is now possible for the fussiest of little girls to find clothing they will love.

Girl’s clothing designers are cashing in on the trend, designing more and more for little girls tastes in clothing, moving away from what they believe parents will like. Designer girl’s clothing and babies clothing is not just something that only the wealthy can afford, in today’s girl’s fashion markets designer ranges can start as low as $30.00 for skirts and shorts and $40.00 for girl’s dresses, making it possible for all parents to attain affordable designer girl’s clothing and babies clothing.

Parents are preferring to pay that little bit extra for their daughter’s clothing, the quality of the fabrics and workmanship of the garments are worth it, designer quality means the clothing lasts much longer compared to mass produced ranges. Designer girl’s clothes are made with extreme care, there are rarely any flaws or faults, the finishing touches are often hand crafted, the detailing is superior and the finished product is more desirable than cheaper girl’s clothing brands.

To gauge the quality of a designer piece of girl’s clothing or babies clothing a comparison test against cheaper, mass produced brands is the most effective way. Place the designer piece of girl’s clothes next a cheap brand, the shape of the clothing is first thing you will notice. The designer girl’s garment is shaped to perfection, you will notice that the cheaper brand is often not shaped quite right. Compare the finishing touches to the clothing, you will notice almost immediately that the designer label has superior finishes, you will often notice flaws in cheaper brands, loose threads and uneven hemlines almost immediately.

A discerning parent will be aware of imitation designer girl’s clothing and baby clothing, what we call ‘knock offs’, cheaper clothing brands often copy designer girl’s clothing brands, this is also a huge issue in the baby clothing industry as well. One only needs to apply the above comparison test to imitation girl’s designer clothing and the same results will be noticeable almost immediately. After washing the cheaper garments, often you will notice that the piece of clothing becomes misshapen, shrinks or comes apart at the seams, the inferior workmanship is duly noted in these instances.

The best way to ensure that you are purchasing a quality piece of designer girl’s clothing or babies clothing is to shop at reputable boutiques which carry authentic girl’s designer clothing labels. Contact manufacturers to request a list of girl’s clothing and babies clothing boutiques, manufacturers will also give you a list of online stores which carry their labels, this will ensure that your purchases are authentic.

Online stores are great places to shop for your designer girl’s clothing and babies clothing, as garments are often a little cheaper than in bricks and mortar boutiques. Online stores have less overheads and running costs, this enables the online boutique owner to pass on some of these savings to their customers. So remember, when you purchase designer girl’s clothing and babies clothing you are paying a little more, but in the long run it is better value for money than cheaper brands as the clothing will last a lot longer.


How to Get Started Making Silver and Gold Jewelry for Profit or Fun.



 

Jewelry making has long been an art form passed on from father to son, all the way back to ancient times; people have adorned themselves in Silver, Gold, and Gemstone Jewelry,

African tribes, the Native American Indian tribes and numerous ethnic tribes have used Bone carved pendants, Animal Ivory, Bird feathers and Seashells, to fashion accessories to use as jewelry.

Today we give our Jewelry titles ,such as Ethnic Jewelry ,Tribal Jewelry ,Antique Jewelry, Fashion Jewelry and so on .In this article we are going to Talk about Designer Hand made jewelry ,How to make it either for fun or for those really keen students how to do it and make money from your hobby .

Right lets get going .You have two options to start with, you can either buy raw silver from your local distributor, or find a Jewelry Manufacture that will supply you with the materials, there is a choice between 925 or 985 in the grade of silver you buy, I prefer to work in Fine silver 985, but you may find this a little difficult to buy. For the purpose of this article we are going to choose the second option and buy our material from a reputable Jewelry Manufacture and we are going to start with making a simple Sterling silver 925 pendant with a Turquoise cabochon Gemstone.

The majority of tools needed can be purchased form a good hardware store and some of the more hard to find items you will be able to get from either a Silver Jewelry Manufacture or Supplier.

Your heat source can be either a gas bottle with extension hose and flame adjusting nozzle or as we use in our workshop a petrol bellows and hose set with adjustable nozzle, its important witch ever set you buy that you can regulate the flame and heat .Next comes the hand tools you will need a small brass hammer, tweezers about 7inches long, small tin snips, brass block 4inches by 4inches and 1inch thick ,rags,2part epoxy, battery acid, fine grade file , a flexible shaft grinder and a ceramic base to heat your silver on ,here is a handy tip a house brick and unglazed roof tile work just great. That should be enough for you to get started.

Step1 is to cut a strip of silver slightly wider then the thickness of the turquoise and long enough to wrap around the diameter of the gemstone, and carefully cut it so as the 2 ends meet tightly around the gemstone.

Step2, take your solder and place a small amount of flux on the two joins, heat the silver strip till red, apply the solder carefully, and it’s joined. If you haven’t done any soldering before try a few practice runs first, you will be able to use that silver later on.

Step3, take your sterling silver band and place it on a flat piece of silver plate, check that the turquoise still fits, then as in step 2 apply flux and solder the band to the plate.

Step4, remove the excess silver with your tin snips and sand off any rough edges.

Step5,decide on a shape for your bail and cut it out of silver accordingly, bend into shape .now solder that to the pendant ,and while hot dip the whole pendant into a small jar of acid ,rinse in a jar of clear water and dry.

Step6, Place your turquoise into you silver and carefully trim away any surplus silver. Once your happy with the fit you can sand the silver again with fine grade emery paper, give a small amount of epoxy to the inside of the pendant and insert the turquoise stone .Now take a spoon and using the back work it around the pendant to give a snug fit with the silver and allow to dry.

Step7, Using your flexi grinder insert a polishing cloth disc, add some silver polish and buff the silver to the required finish.

The principles above are applied to all silver work; no it’s up to the imagination of the jewelry designer and skillfulness of the jeweler.


Costume Jewelry Makes You Look Rich and Fashionable



ewelry, also known as cheap jewelry and costume jewelry, is a low-cost alternative to expensive jewelry. Every woman wants a fine collection of bracelets, necklaces, pendants and ear-rings, and most have some exquisite pieces of genuine jewelry, but a wide collection of real gold and diamonds is not affordable for most.

This is where cheap jewelry comes into play. While it is true that, at the lower end of the market, much fashion jewelry is of low quality and is rightly called ‘junk jewelry’, it is also possible to get some beautiful cheap jewelry that can make you look rich and fashionable. These fashion jewelry (cheap jewelry) might not be pure gold, but will be gold plated, and will be much more affordable than luxurious jewelry.

Cheap jewelry originally became popular in the thirties when it was used as a low-cost fashion accessory for specific outfits. Cheap jewelry was an immediate hit and has been hugely popular ever since. Often, cheap jewelry is made from cheaper materials such as plastic, glass, base metals, and synthetic or non-precious stones. Although some of the more expensive cheap jewelry will use gold plating, semi-precious stones or something else, and the jewelry are still very cheap.

These cheap jewelry can even make people think they are the real luxury jewelry. Nowadays more and more people choose cheap jewelry for the sake of cheapness and cost-effectiveness. Now that cheap jewelry can function as luxuries and much cheaper, then people have no reason not to choose cheap jewelry.