Laced Up: 18 Iconic Corsets from Film & Television
From Scarlett O'Hara to Xena, these are the underpinnings that stepped beyond the screen and into fashion history
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Few garments have worked harder in film than the humble corset.
For more than a century, costume designers have used it to communicate everything from power and ambition to romance, rebellion and utter ruin. A single tightening lace can signal the expectations placed upon a young woman. A structured bodice can transform a queen into a monarch of the ages, a vampire into a legend or a showgirl into an icon. Long before a character speaks, the corset often tells us exactly who they are.
Some became inseparable from the stories themselves. Scarlett O'Hara's lacing scene in Gone with the Wind remains one of the most famous moments in Hollywood history while Satine's ruby corset came to define an entire era of fashion when donned by Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge.
From gothic heroines and doomed aristocrats to pirates, vampires and queens, these are a few of our favourites.
Dressed for Downpour: Dark Feminine Rain Gear Designed for Stormy Weather
Patent trench coats, cathedral umbrellas and storm boots prove that bad weather has never stood in the way of style for the darkly inclined
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
The sky has been grey since breakfast as rainwater slides down storefront windows while someone in an office tower quietly regrets wearing suede. Sidewalks shine like wet pavement in a classic film noir. Most would agree it’s positively miserable outside. How delightful. It’s finally time to wear the good coat ;).
From patent trenches to skull-handled umbrellas and studded rain boots built to weather the storm, these pieces make a rain day something to look forward to.
Goth Girl Summer Flats: Soft Shoes with Sharp Edge
Ballet flats, sandals and sneakers for people unwilling to let one heatwave ruin the entire outfit
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Every summer, a very specific fashion crisis begins unfolding across the gothic community. The boots suddenly feel ambitious when facing oppressive humidity. Platforms become a logistical challenge. Heels pin you to grass. Eventually, we begin being a little more open to hearing … shudder… practical solutions.
We’ve curated a selection of positively ominous looking footwear that is comfortable to wear; from ballet flats to sandals and sneakers, every pair is capable of surviving both the farmer’s market and a cemetery wander, aesthetic intact.
Southern Gothic Style Guide: The Romance of Ruin
Old-world femininity, rural Americana and the enduring appeal of beautiful decay
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
This is an aesthetic born from heat. Not the pleasant warmth of a garden party, but the kind that settles over a landscape and simmers low all summer. The kind that curls wallpaper at the edges, slows conversations to a drawl and turns every family secret into something that increasingly impossible to ignore. It emerged from the literary traditions of the American South, where writers like William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor explored the uneasy relationship between beauty and decline, pairing grand houses with crumbling foundations, religious devotion with human frailty and nostalgia with the lingering consequences of history.
Its fashion followed suit.
Southern Gothic style borrows from a world shaped by memory. Antique lace dresses and skirts collect mud as they skim the surface of puddles. Pearl earrings share space with rosaries and crosses. Victorian mourning references mingle with workwear, faded cotton, corsetry and garments that look as though they have been passed from one generation to the next. Nothing feels untouched by time. The appeal lies in the evidence of a life already lived. Every accessory, an artifact.
What separates Southern Gothic from traditional gothic aesthetic is its relationship with the recent past. It is less concerned with overt darkness than the stories embedded in the land beneath its feet. The palette reflects this sensibility, favouring cream, tobacco, oxblood, dusty white, faded rose and swamp green over stark black monochrome. The mood feels suspended somewhere between church on Sunday and a thunderstorm gathering on the horizon.
At its heart, Southern Gothic is a style language built around beautiful decay. It finds romance in weathered architecture, dignity in imperfection and meaning in things that have endured. The result is a wardrobe that feels deeply human: emotional and inseparable from the histories that shaped it.
In the height of summer, when the air hangs heavy and every landscape seems touched by memory, there is no better time to revisit it.
Gothic Glamour for the Riviera: A Sun-Proof, Noir-Luxe Fashion Edit
Late-night glamour inspired by 2026’s most iconic red carpet looks
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Gothic couture has been creeping across red carpets this year from the Oscars to the Grammy’s, the Met Gala and a host of premieres including Wuthering Heights, Devil Wears Prada 2, Euphoria Season 3 and more.
Seen in Chappell Roan and Anok Yai’s veils, in the way lace sits on Zoë Kravitz, in Jenna Ortega’s cutouts and the line of a slit on Mikey Madison, and in Margot Robbie’s leather mini alongside the feathered drama carried by Lady Gaga and Demi Moore; these haunting looks leave us inspired as we start shaping what we’ll wear to summer celebrations.
As your calendar fills with summer weddings, family get-togethers, rooftop parties and late-night celebrations, we’ve broken down three ways to pull gothic red carpet glamour into your looks this season.
The Dark Directory: 27 Gothic Brands We Love for World Goth Day
The exceptionally-talented designers shaping the subculture from within
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Iykyk. The gothic pieces that hit the mark tend to come from the same place we do, made in small runs by designers who already share our references, so subtle nods (or devoted homages) land on the first pass. They’re not studying the subculture by hovering above it; they’re inside it, responding as it shifts, letting that proximity shape what comes next.
It’s evident in their work. Whether we're stepping inside haunted legend with Cursed, proudly sporting etymology from Shoppe of Stuff, shimmering in Rituel de Fille Formulations or haunting hallways in Blackwood Castle, we love these brands because they build pieces that feel unmistakably ours.
Spooky Swim Style Guide: What We’re Wearing to the Water This Summer
Five ways to approach swim when black still makes the most sense
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Sunshine and unrelenting heat tends to come with certain expectations. Bright colours. Less fabric. A general sense that you’re meant to look like you’re enjoying yourself. And that’s one option.
For those eagerly awaiting an alternate, we’ve got you. Whether you’re poolside, at the beach, or by the lake, consider this a set of styled suggestions designed to seamlessly supplement a dark feminine wardrobe.
Into Neverwhere with Sammitery
From punk beginnings to circus-coded silhouettes, Samantha Lubrano conjures her own brand of NYC-born gothic style
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
For goth girlies, Sammitery has become a social media staple, with viral DIY videos that move fast, make sense and translate to real life. From fashion to home decor, her no-bullshit approach is a breath of fresh air in a landscape overflowing with all things unrealistic and heavily filtered.
Last July, Sam transitioned from DIY icon to card-carrying fashion designer with the launch of the debut collection of her new line, Neverwhere. We step inside her studio to talk through where it started, how it evolved and what it looks like to build something from the inside out. And yes, she spills her eyeliner secrets ;).