Outfit post: 90s goth

I dunno, you wait months for an outfit post and then I do two on the bounce. I'm not sure this qualifies as vintage, though some people seem to slap the v-word on 90s stuff nowadays, but it definitely is 1990s because that's when I bought this dress, from a stall on Snetterton Market.


Back in 2013 (I hadn't realised it was so long ago!) I took Mr Robot to see Meatloaf. I don't like Meatloaf, but he does, and it meant a lot to him that I did it. If that gig taught us anything, it's to see a band before they get old and a bit creaky. On Wednesday, Mr Robot took me to see one of my favourite bands of all time, The Fields of the Nephilim. He doesn't like them, but just as I thought Meatloaf put on a really great show and appreciated the experience of seeing him live, we hoped he'd get something from seeing the Neph live.

I've hung onto a few items of clothing from my younger days, including the tie-dyed T-shirt fabric dress I wore to see the Neph in 1990. In the 1990s 'one size fits all' was no joke; I was eight and a half stone and a (1990s) size 8 then, I'm thirteen and a half stone and a current size 18 now, and I could still get into the dress without looking utterly dreadful. It struck me as fitting that I should wear it to see the band again. I took some shots in my hotel room to share with you.

The dress has done pretty well to survive all this time. It seemed a lot shorter than I remembered – my husband pointed out that it didn't have quite as much 'front' to travel over 20 years ago – and I was jolly glad I wore my Big Knickers as London might otherwise have seen rather more Mim than it wanted to. Thank goodness for all those burlesque classes. I thought: 'What would Dulcie say? She'd say "OWN IT, MIM! HOLD YOUR HEAD UP AND MAKE THEM KNOW THEY SHOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR THE SHOW!"' So I held my head up and wore my rather short frock with pride.

The outfit was completed by fishnet tights,  black ankle boots – not the ones I wore back in the day, those were a slouchy suede pair and these are leather and more Victorian in style – and a black pure wool bustle jacket from The Dark Angel.

As for the show? It was amazing. I wasn't so taken with the support band, who seemed to be, bizarrely, under the influence of Bryan Adams, to the point where Mr Robot and I were able to sing 'Summer of 69' to the tune of the final song. But the Neph were fantastic. I danced like a nutjob, bounced my feet sore, and loved every minute of it. I've had the words to 'Last Exit For The Lost' running through my head ever since. Brilliant.

And now the dress needs to go back in its trunk for another 26 years...