What would I do without MPB to read in the morning?

http://malepatternboldness.blogspot.com/2010/11/good-goth-rise-of-fashion-subculture.html

What would I do without MPB to read in the morning?
1. I would probably not smile until morning tea time
2. Slightly more work would be achieved
3. My own blog would not be so interesting

So what do I think about fashion subcultures? Well, those that have read this blog, might think I am "in to" vintage clothing, home sewing and op shopping. My parents and sister might think that I was a bit gothic when I was a student, a bit grungey perhaps. Now they only see me in jeans and a tee shirt in the weekends. It is so easy to pull on denim and a retro Disney Bambi tee shirt from Jay Jays or KMART. My dear H and dear D see me in all sorts: big skirts and vivienne westwood tee shirt; Lichfield Polyester shirtdress, cropped trousers and shirts and flannelette pajama pants and sloppy tee shirts. My colleagues only see the work clothes - not the pajamas!!! LOL.

I love the look of Sex Pistol Punk. The safety pins and chicken bone tee shirts, the ripped clothes, the spiked hair. I never had the confidence to wear it. Recently, I have experimented with creating a more industrial look, mainly based on black trousers and slogan tee shirts, of which I have far, far too many. But I did not have the accessories to make it all work.

The funereal gothic culture really tempted me when I was in my 20s, and I had a boyfriend who was dark and sombre. He wore red tab Levis and Doc Martins. He introduced me to opshopping. I remember I had a long black dress and skirt, and several black tops. When I went home during the varsity holidays my mother commented that my clothes looked like a flock of crows on the washing line, flapping in the sharp easterly breeze.

In my late 20s I seemed to have style chaos, I bought things I liked, but nothing gelled together.
My boyfriend at the time, a sloppy leather jacket wearing hippy type, whose wardrobe only included black jeans and shirts/tee shirts. We went to the pub a lot, we played competition darts and watched horse racing. I look back and wonder how the &^%& I made it through that time. His ex-girlfriend was part of our "crowd of friends" and she was always well dressed (good salary meant that she shopped in the top stores only) and well made up, nice hair. I felt neutral to invisible beside her. Someone trying to boost my confidence said she looked tawdry. I think in hindsight that was unfair. She was/is a confident dresser. I saw her recently in a lovely Trelise Cooper skirt and ruffle shirt (she openly admitted it was a Trademe bargain) and she looked like she had found her style groove.

I wonder, have I found my style groove? I read Trinny and Susannah's "What not to wear", then I read Trinny and Susannah's "Who do I want to be today", then I read Isaac Mizrahi. Now I find myself covetting vintage homemade things, buttons and haberdashery, thinking about sewing projects and the like. I feel panicky in department stores, and repulsed in designer stores. Disgusted by the composition of modern clothes, the fabric and the prices.

And so here I am.