Posted by

Ask Amaranth

Ask Amaranth


Want to ask something?
Just post your comment on this page

Sophie Smith asked:

I often find that with certain styles in Gothic clothing, the sizes are always too small. Is it best if I look in charity shops and/or make my clothes myself?

Charity shops, DIY and customizing are definitely a great way to go if you have the skills and time to do so. But if (like me) you aren’t quite the dab hand with a needle, and have very little time to scour countless racks, then employing one of the fabulous clothing designers in our scene to make something for you is always an option – it’s nice to make use of the talent we have around us. However this can also be an expensive option. My advice would be to get yourself a great fitting corset as the basis of your outfit and then build on the rest around it. A corset will hold you correctly in all the places that matter the most. The tops and skirts need not be as well fitting as they can be held in place by the corset, and it’s always easier to find correct sizing in tops and skirts separately than it is to find the whole outfit. You can even use capelets, shrugs and wraps which are often free-size on top of the corset. If the corset is plain you can also decorate it with beading and brooches which can be changed according to the style and colours you are going for on any one day – making it a versatile item and worth the money.

Cherrie Albatraume asked:

do you wax off your eyebrows-or fill them in; i ask cause i want to know how long it would typically last before the next session to wax?

I pluck my eyebrows to achieve the desired result and since I have been doing them for so many years, they don’t really grow back. However I don’t pluck them off completely, but only from where they begin to arch, leaving the bottom half of the eyebrow fairly intact. This gives me the freedom of being able to style them pretty much exactly as I please without having to wake up in the morning eyebrowless!

Hellen asked:

1.At what age did you start to dress in a Gothic way (or how old were you when you first embraced the Gothic subculture?) What (or who) was your influence? 2. How long did it take for your hair to grow to the current lenght?

I got into the alternative scene around 16 listening more to industrial bands as there was no real exposure to goth in my high school and that was the closest I could get to what I realised I liked. It was only around 18 or 19 that I started becoming a full-fledged goth as I started going to the clubs and meeting more people. My elder sister dated a goth briefly and seeing him come to the house awakened a realisation in me that that was the path I was supposed to take. I don’t recall ever seeing a goth or knowing of their existence prior to this as it was really quite underground in South Africa. There was then an inspirational figurehead and him along with the fantastic beauty of the music, imagery and people in the Johannesburg club scene cemented my love affair with the culture.

I have been growing my hair pretty much all my life. The last time I cut it into a bob would have been when I was about ten. I trim it from time to time, but it never gets cut shorter than the middle of my back. It slows down growth when it reaches the base of my back and gets to a length where I can just about sit on it.