Well it's been a while...

So, shortly after my last post I finally got a job (I know, I know, it's about time), and a permanent job at that. Which meant that, hurrah, I finally have income and independence and all that malarkey, but alas it meant less free time. I actually have an excuse for not posting this time, so there!

But anyway, time to get back into the swing of things. As promised the exciting new posts about things you might actually want to read will be coming soon, including more Bloody Gorgeous and that long-delayed "Exercise for Goths" post, but for now, let's talk about shopping! Having a job means I have slightly more money and having money means I can spend it on shiny and exciting things, and naturally I treated myself to a few gothy goodies over the last few months, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on the results.

First up, Kate's Clothing. If you're darkly inclined and spend any amount of time on Google or Facebook, you've probably seen adverts for Kate's Clothing dotted around. They've got a reasonable range of familiar alternative brands (Demonia, Necessary Evil, Spin Doctor, Lipservice, TUK, Alchemy etc etc) generally for fairly reasonable prices (even offering to match prices found elsewhere) and UK shipping is free for orders over 30 quid. Not bad, especially considering they shipped my order within an hour of me placing it and it arrived two days later. I bought a skirt by Spin Doctor from them, and although I was very impressed with their service I wasn't quite as impressed by the skirt, I have to say. I have a few tops by Spin Doctor and they're stunning, but this skirt was a little disappointing: nice design, slightly cheap feeling fabric which creases really easily. Plus it runs up a bit short on me. Still, I'll definitely be buying more trinkets from Kate's again.

Next, Timeless Tends corsets, an American company that makes, unsurprisingly, corsets. Unlike most corset makers, they only make a handful of shapes but they make up for it in the sheer range of fabrics: silks, cottons, velvets, even denim and sequin designs. Their overbust designs feature adjustable lacing at the hips, which is a cute feature, and the fabrics are lovely. I went for this underbust. It's fairly well made for an off-the-rack job: waist tape, a good few layers of fabric, soft lining and well fitted boning. The ribbon lacing is a little slippery but it does make it easier to lace it yourself as it's easier to adjust. The colours are a little more... vibrant than in the picture, there's a lot more golds and reds than the muted blues and purples shown, but it's a very attractive brocade. It seems to be a little larger than my other corsets (which are supposedly to the same waist size) which is fine in that I can lace it completely shut but it wouldn't leave a lot of room for weight changes or tightlacing, so bear that in mind if you're looking to waist train. All in all, very reasonable for an off-the-shelf job; it's not a perfect fit but it's comfortable and the brocade is probably one of the prettiest fabrics I've ever had in my possession.

As for service, I can't fault it. Despite being shipped from the States, it arrived in just under a week and even came with a free calendar! I'll probably look to them next time I'm after a reasonably-priced corset... and I do like the look of their range of iridescent ones...

That's it for now (I'm feeling lazy...for a change). More is coming soon. Honest!