I have become, by way of accident, a tertiary fan of various works. I couldn't read more than the first half of A Game of Thrones, and have little to no interest in the television show, but I adore retellings of it - mostly about the quirky women who run the world - and the items inspired by it. Likewise, my love for apocalyptic matters is largely second or third removed, and often in the form of something I can wear.
Enter Genre.
The apocalypse is an often dark and gritty place, but sartorial glory can be found even there, and Genre is bringing that this time around.
First my hairstyle from Adoness is a rooster-comb of hair over a shaved base with patterns shorn in the length.I'm using the white hairbase tinted a soft gold and despite it not being my usual style at all, I rather like the effect; it feels a bit like I'm dragging out the Androgyny genre with my manliest look yet!
When I saw the clothing available for this round of Genre, I was powerfully reminded of the anime and manga series Trigun, and it's goofy main character Vash the Stampede - a humanoid natural disaster. Vash is one of those interesting, multifaceted characters who strides across stories and into the hearts and imaginations of those who encounter him. My trench coat might not be crimson, nor bullet-scarred, but it is a lovely offering from 14 FL OZ, fit to hold off the stinging sand in any post-apocalyptic wasteland and to impress even my enemies. It comes with a tank top, a pair of shorts and boots I'm not showing, but which are similarly well made. I love the design of this - the wide V at the top with the answering V to show off lets, boots, and whatever might be used as prosthesis in the hereafter. I'm wearing the jacket entirely without an invisible layer, though one is included, and I'd imagine it would work well over mesh as well as over the textured top and jeans I'm wearing in this picture - that makes it wonderfully useful in terms of outwear wear for a variety of looks - even ones out of the desert! Speaking of prosthetics, I simply couldn't resist the lure of a do-it-yourself stick leg made up of a bat and several extraneous weapons - or used to hold those weapons? - attached around the edges. This Death Row Designs special comes with a boot for the off leg, which I'm wearing here as well. It comes in two pieces and is modifiable, which means there's a lot of room for making it larger or smaller as needed. I find it incredibly charming - quirky and fun and dangerous.
With all of this flash and style showing up in my clothes and person, I needed truly over-the-top accessories. My eyes are decorated with two different effects - firstly a simple shadow from #adored which tints around the eyes, and then a facial tattoo lining under the eyes, from NOX. The latter has a lovely feathery effect over my cheeks. The combination is striking but subtle, and a little bit of color in an otherwise brown and tan presentation - a hope of things to come. A similar tint is in the gas mask from :{MV}:, though that is largely black. I like that it's little hints of hope hidden amongst an otherwise unremarkable look - that seems to fit well into both the post apocalyptic genre, and the western genres I'm referencing here. I finished the whole look off with a gold and black flask from Squishy Fluff, which seemed necessary since the end of the world would drive one to drink! It's editable, which is nice since I was able to resize the band to fit around my trench-coated arm. The final touch of verisimilitude were these dirty nails from A:S:S with a variety of hues to match anyone's skins. One can wash one's hands, but somehow a little cruft always seems to lurk beneath the nails!
