You may find it hard to believe, but I actually adore The Sisters Of Mercy, and growing up Siouxsie Sioux was a heroine of mine. I adored the Goth sub-culture; anything black and dramatic was seriously appealing to me. I never dressed especially gothically though, nor did I dye my hair black (until I was in my thirties, and immediately regretted it!) but I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Bauhaus and Dead Can Dance.

In Second Life there are many stores where you can find Goth couture, and one of the best is Corvus.

Corvus sells excellent dresses, skirts, tops, jackets and all sorts of Gothic/Emo/Heavy Rock wear, each item lovingly adorned with massive dollops of awkwardness and dread.  Each item is lovingly created by  Lori Stanton before being placed out for sale at either her in-world store or via her Marketplace listing.

There are some great designs on show; dramatic imagery and statements adorn tees and frocks with equal disdain. The palette in store is predominately black, grey, red and occasionally white, but you’ll be hard pressed to find many other colours. There’s not a pastel in sight, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in my book..

Prices are pretty darn exceptional too, especially for mesh.  I don’t usually purchase many items featuring prints, preferring to wear plain, but some of these are too good to resist.  I was quickly drawn to the ‘Anger’ dress, pictured below,  which was an absolute bargain at L$50.

The off-the-shoulder styling of the black mini-dress at L$80, seen below, makes it a great wardrobe staple.  It’s  a real statement piece, despite the bargain price tag, and proves that it’s easy to make a really classic, elegant look on a budget.

There are some great freebies in store too. Seeing as it’s my lucky number I couldn’t resist the ‘13’ Dress which cost absolutely bugger all, yet looks brilliant in the graveyard shot at the top of this post. On the marketplace, I also found this freebie Witchy Tank, perfect for ‘Witchy Wednesday’.

There are a variety of slogan tattoos available in-store, as well as more novel items such as bullet holes and neck scars. I really rate the make-ups too, including some interesting  variations of my favourite cat eyeliner , as well as some heavy facial shading and inscriptions.  There are skins available as well.  I didn’t demo these but they look pretty impressive; think pale and interesting, with dramatic, penciled brows and swoops of eyeliner making them the ultimate in Goth Chic.

This is the kind of store that Angelina Jolie would have felt very at home in circa her Oscar win, but you don’t have to be 100% Gothic to wear these designs. There are many items amongst the asymmetric and roll-neck dresses, crop sweaters and tees that work just as well on non-scene avatars. It’s definitely one of those stores that you have to experience for yourself.

But be warned, it’s certainly not a shop for the faint of heart. This store is totally Zodiac Mindwarp-ed onto a different level to the regular stores you’ll usually find featured on Kittywitchin’, but it’s really worth a visit.

Great mesh pieces, great prices and great Gothic design..what more could you ask for? (Well, seeing as you’re asking, some white foundation, a Brocade jacket and some bat-earrings wouldn’t go amiss…)