The other night, Miss Shari Gerstenberger of Charm School Vintage and I joined forces
to style an inspiration shoot for Exquisite Corpse, and to kick off a lookbook to guide
anyone seeking ideas on what to wear. As a young gothling (eee, back in the day!)
I had no access to expensive fetish-wear, and Hot Topic didn’t exist yet – everything
I wore had to be found secondhand, dyed, destroyed or re-purposed. Our intention
with this shoot was to show that you can find everything you need with a good vintage
resource, and some creativity! There’s no need to bother with cheaply-made, mass-produced
PVC wankery that has become the uniform for many, when you can put together a much more
original look with bits and pieces from days of yore. We used a few key staples from Shari’s
bounteous closet, to round things out – so this isn’t 100% vintage, but you get the idea!
The ever-marvelous Devaki Knowles took these gorgeous pictures – the full set can be viewed
at her Flickr. Many thanks to our gorgeous models, Blakesley King, Erin Free-man, Kathlee
Cleveland, and Drea DiPrete for working it out in the alley, and on the dancefloor tonight!

She falls into frame
with a professional pout
but the polaroids ignite
upon seeing their subject
and the aperture shuts –
too much exposure…
– Red Light, Siouxsie & the Banshees

Drea:
Vintage Hola, Gaucho! hat
Vintage black mesh bodysuit
Hand-embellished black bustier with red ribbon via Lovecraft Vintage
Black AA disco shorts
Black patent leather Chloe booties
Single army surplus fingerless biker glove
Grandma Sheena’s antique slave bracelet
Charm School Vintage handmade buffalo tooth + vintage gold chain necklace
Trail of Tears


Kathlee:
Bewitching black hat
Hand-dyed vintage red lace blouse
Fuck yeah F21 peplum skirt
Charm School Vintage handmade crystal, elk hide, and gold chain necklace
Model’s own tights and uh-mazing shoes
Lace on the face


Erin:
1930’s black satin gown as turban
Scheherazade choker
Charm School Vintage handmade antler, elk hide, + gold chain necklace
Red vintage dress hemmed into Issey Miyake-inspired bustier
Starry Skies vintage skirt
Model’s own legs and shoes
Trail of Tears


Blakesley:
Red Hat Society in-training vintage chapeau
Lonely crimson glove
Wild Wing Dove vintage dress
Dirty Librarian Chains Spider Bite necklace
Lace on the face
Model’s own tights + shoes


On all models:
ass
attitude!

Clothes + Accessories: Charm School Vintage
Styling: Shari + Angeliska
Makeup: Angeliska

The gossips!
These songs kept running through my head while we were working on this,
and provided the soundtrack and musical inspiration for the shoot – Enjoy!

Red Light – Siouxsie & the Banshees

Photographic – Depeche Mode

Girls on Film – Duran Duran