Saturday, March 6th was alternative fashion’s night of nights – the annual Circa Nocturna fashion showcase. Lovers of unconventional couture (unhampered by the apocalyptic weather) filled the Fitzroy Town Hall with unique style, and eagerly awaited this year’s contributions from the sartorially gifted. Whilst Circa Nocturna presents itself as fashion showcase to serve all alternative subcultures, it was apparent from the majority of the crowd that the appeal of the labels on display lay firmly in the goth scene.
The show was opened by a lacklustre emcée (with a repertoire that included the kind of jokes told by Uncle Barry once he’s had a few) who left the audience cold and eager to proceed, with custom clothing and corsetry label Lyris Design up first. Day wear label, Darling James, was one of the highlights of the first half, with a vintage nautical collection updated with flirty short hemlines. Designer Claire Mueller presented ‘50s silhouettes and a cute rigging print to great success. Lowana O’Shea’s Vanyanis was the other stand-out label of the first bracket, with a collection of historically-inspired ensembles for belles and their beaus, with looks spanning the years from the 1800s to the 1950s.
Opening the second half of the show was crowd favourite, Dolly Q. Designer Danielle Carson presented the most cohesive collection of the evening, inspired by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I. It’s hard to imagine that a combination of bright jewel tones, gold accents, tartans and cheetah print could even work, let alone have the awe-inspiring effect presented by Dolly Q’s AW collection. The garments were finely finished and all details, from the tiny (gold crown embellishments) to the obvious (the most incredible hair and make-up styling of the show) served only to add to the sheer sartorial genius of Dolly Q. The final eye-catching label of the evening was Kate Musina’s Pur Pur. The collection presented was a little bit Blade Runner, a little bit fetish and very military inspired, with a palette made of red and black with steel detailing and a lot of PVC.
The crowd rushed straight from the catwalk into Carnival Nocturna, the late-night market in the Fitzroy Town Hall Reading Room, which presented a series of stalls which gave the designers an opportunity to talk about their work and even sell a few pieces to their newly gained fans. With everyone from the casual observer to the most haute of couture fans finding something that appealed, 2010 is set to be a great year for alternative fashion in Melbourne.

Written by Jess Fogarty