Amidst the 70s nostalgia so prevalent this season, the drama and decadence of the Victorian era has made a welcome return. From the mutton sleeved dresses and laser cut lace at Louis Vuitton’s Fall 2015 collection, to the lace up boots and pie crust collars at Altuzarra, the mood was prim with a gothic - and slightly demented - attitude.
It's a feeling that's not so foreign to New Zealand's preference for wearing black and the dark poetics born from the depths of the South, specifically the gothic roots of Dunedin's early settlers from England. Favourite literary characters are being re-visited in the new Victorian televsion drama Penny Dreadful from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray, with its main female protaganist Eva Green's formidable role as Vanessa Ives making heads turn. Christina Ricci's performance as the title character in The Chronicles of Lizzie Borden is another standout character whose Victorian garb in the show highlights a gothic mood that resonates with fashion's current obsession with all things heirloom inspired.
Fom top left clockwise:
1. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, $16, from Unity Books
2. Vintage 18ct gold 61.3ct smokey quartz brooch, $6620, from Walker & Hall
3. Penhaligon's Blenheim bouquet Eau de Toilette, $269 for 100ml, from World
4. Meadowlark 9 ct yellow gold necklace $14,299
5. Victorian fashion illustration, dated 1896
6. Eva Green in Penny Dreadful
7. Altuzzara Fall 2015
8. Dries van Noten Fall 2016
9. Givenchy Fall 2015
10. Church's mink strap leather shoes, $750, from Scotties
11. Jennifer Behr Swarovski crystal and silk tulle embellished headband, about $2700, from Net-a-porter.com
12. Moochi pencil skirt, $260,
