Halloween: were you a sexy cat?

My favourite Halloween outfits.

This Halloween I attended a few parties, excited to see the weird and wonderful outfits that the world would come up with. Forgetting that neither party were a particularly artsey crowd like previously attended Halloweens, this excitement proved to be somewhat premature. Black & sexy was the call of the evening. One party, the majority of girls wore a little black dress with ears and at the other, almost every girl wore a black catsuits or corsets with ears. This menagerie was what I half expected, but nevertheless, I was disappointed. Today I would like to give a visual shout out to the outfits that didn’t disappoint in their imaginative scope and suggestion.

An aristocrat beheaded in the french revolution.

I particularly loved her outfit that not only looked visually beautiful with her sparkly bruises, but also told a story. 

A metally tortured ballerina. 

She told me she had spent weeks getting her outfit together and the imaginative effort to create this fabulous Black Swan costume was not in vain. The belle of the ball. 

1920s Downton Abbey style. 

While I strictly was only at the pre-dinner of this party - the beautiful outfits are the most glamorous I saw that evening. 1920s Headpieces brought from House of Beth!

By Rosalind Kendal

Sexy Halloween

Halloween – what is acceptable?

It feels like a questions as old as the inception of Hallow’s eve itself – is it acceptable to use Halloween to dress up in slutty/sexually provactive costumes and what is too much?

On a night based on ghoulish inhibition, those pesky evil creatures transgressing the boundaries of reality, we should expect nothing less than a night full of transgressions, at least in costume. Brilliantly parodied in Mean Girls, we all know the drill, how can you dress as sexy as possible? I’ve heard many a plaintive whine. And this is indeed an opportunity. What for, you decide!

The first time I remember seriously venturing on this Halloween ‘sexy more than scary’ business, I was sixteen and found the shortest red dress as possible in classy Camden Market. In fact, it was more of a red t-shirt with pleats and I paired it with red horns and boots. I had fully entered the traditional Halloween visual currency. The next year someone gave me a French maid’s outfit and I flounced around, naïve to a large extent of the pornographic connotations.

Adolescent halloween outfits

Pet, who is currently working in marketing at House of Beth, describes her first sexy Halloween venture. She was 17 and dressed as a lumberjack with hot pants, a gingham plaid top low buttoned with a bra showing.

“Would you dress like that now?”

“No, never in a million years” she quickly replies.

“Why do you think you did dress like that?”

“Because it felt sexy. I didn’t feel slutty, I felt sexy. That is the difference.”

Indeed, that does make all the difference. While clearly there is a link between adolescence and using Halloween to dress as provocatively as possible, the intention of the dresser is sometimes more interesting than the what they end up with.

The key to Halloween, whether sexually provocative or not, is to dress with imagination. So even if you are dressing as a ‘sexy witch’ or a ‘sexy cat’ this Halloween, I urge you to let your imagination run wild on how to achieve this phenomenon. Meanwhile I like to think I have left my adolescent Halloween outfits behind in my latest creations. I have been a dead venetian courtesan and Mrs Havisham and this year – Bess the black-eyed daughter from the ‘Highwayman.’

So if you do create anything particularly fabulous, tweet us some pictures! We’d love to see @house_of_beth

Rosalind Kendal

Halloween at House of Beth

"It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark!

Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart!

You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it,

You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes...You're Paralysed!"

Malene Birger dress UK 8-10 £80.00

It was only fitting to start this Horror/Halloween inspired blog with some of the most zombified lyrics of all time! Yes tis the season to be spooky! The nights have suddenly gotten longer, there's a chill wind in the air so it's only right you look glamorously ghoulish too...This is where House of Beth can help:

While the Little Black Dress is a staple part of every girls wardrobe, it's true to say that the elegantly dark colours take on an added significance at this time of year. It's gothic, black is the colour of giant cast iron cauldrons! It's the colour of bats and witches cats too! You too can look suitably scary in this Malene Birger Dress available online.  

The structured dress has pointed shoulders which give it's wearer an unparalleled silhouette. The perfect outfit for that more sophisticated Halloween night party, all you need to really do is find a pretty mask and some zombie killer heels!  

Vintage black knitted top UK 12 £22.00

Cobwebs are everywhere around about this time of year, if you do happen to be outside obscenely early in the morning you will be able to see them covered in dewdrops. They look amazing as the light hits them so it's no surprise that fashion takes it's inspiration from nature. This pretty floral style in black provides an instant gothic feel. Recreate this with the Vintage Black Knitted Top on the House of Beth website! Worn with a delicate lingerie style vest top underneath this top gives a real added elegance to any outfit you choose to wear on the big day. It's just as at home with a pair of jeans as it is with a long gothic style skirt! The best thing to wear at the club on All Hallows Eve!

Vintage Cropped fur coat at £55.00

Want to add a really thrilling twist to your Halloween Trick or Treating outfit?

Why not go retro as a fashionable 1920's lady? And we have just the thing to keep you warm while you are out collecting all those bags of treats. The cropped vintage fur coat with three-quarter length sleeve is in great vintage condition and will look the bomb with any party frock! As much as 50% of proceeds from many of the sales at House of Beth go to the Red Light Campaign which works tirelessly against human trafficking!

We at House of Beth wish you a safe, enjoyable and most of all stylish Halloween!

By Hema x

Wedding dresses: colours, ethics and will you wear it again?

White wedding dresses under-whelm me. There I have said it. Almost every time I see one, I feel that I have already seen that same style in a guilty pleasure rom-com or a magazine; the ‘wow’ factor is diminished. Even more under-whelming to me is the fact that you wear a dress only one day of your life, and it may be your most expensive clothing purchase as well as your most beautiful. There seems to be a glamorous wastefulness that is encouraged in the ritual of purchasing your beloved bridal gown that exists as a ‘one dress stand’. Although mothers’ may hand down their dresses to their daughters, judging by the amount of bridal shops and magazines, the majority seek a new one out. Renting is a good option, but I still wonder about the labour behind the label of any rented or purchased dress as well as the general politics behind the white corset and flouncey skirt, the bridal livery.

First of all, the white dress: No one even wore white dresses until Queen Victoria, the matriarch of repressive sexuality, made it fashionable. I actually think this colour is what holds people back from wearing their wedding dresses casually to their garden parties. Once it is white, it identifies the woman as a bride, and she is only a bride at her wedding. Therefore the dress becomes a costume slut, only good for one thing, and out of place for everything else (apart from maybe a Halloween corpse bride). Of course you need to look like the centre of everyone’s attention, but I am unconvinced that white is the only way that can distinguish you from the crowd, especially as half of the crowd wore or will wear white too. But it isn’t just a crowd issue, it’s a political issue. White on your wedding day, as everyone knows but doesn’t always care, traditionally means pure virgin land for the groom to plough where none has gone before. If you don’t mind the history of the colour or the idea of spending so much time, money and effort on a dress you aren’t likely to wear again, let’s move on to point two: the labour behind the label.

This year I am going to be a bridesmaid for my housemate from university’s wedding. Her name is Katy and we have always had good-natured debates, agreeing more often than not. For a fresh approach, I took her to an Indian & ethical bridal wear shop, just to try on a couple of dresses that were a bit unconventional for a Greek Cypriote. These dresses were fabulous and the shop inspired her to start thinking about making her own dress. Alas, as a busy PHD student finding a cure for asthma, with a wedding only a few months away, this romantic idea seemed more of an idea than a reality. I asked her a few questions about finding an ethical wedding dress for her special day, whether white was an important colour and would she want a dress she could wear again.

So, Katy! Was buying an ethical wedding dress important at all to you?

Yes it is important to me. My yaya (grandma) took me to Organics to buy my wedding dress, and the dresses are made on site!

Did you want a white wedding dress?

Yes, I like the tradition of it!

Even though the tradition is a virgin being ploughed by a groom?

Well, the thing is, it’s more than that. Maybe that is how it started, but it’s now a symbol of being married.

But your dress is Ivory. Ivory isn’t quite white?

Ivory is just a more flattering version of white. Whether it’s got virgin connotations or whatever, it doesn’t really matter. It’s like looking outside and seeing the pretty snow on the grass. I really like the idea of wearing a white dress and I think it suits me as well! And it’s very Greek.

Do you think you may ever wear your dress casually to a garden party or the opera? Can you get away with it, or is it definitely a wedding dress?

No, it’s definitely a wedding dress. I think I might put it on, on anniversaries. I definitely wouldn’t sell it. Some people sell their wedding dresses but I would keep mine. I think it is a sentimental thing more than anything, like keeping your birthday cards. I know it’s expensive, but…. I think getting married is essentially special, and actually the dress is it’s own party. And back in the day the villagers used to kill the calf that was a year’s worth of wages. It’s traditional to make an effort!

Thanks Katy!

So whether you decide to wear white or another equally exciting colour, I think it’s important to make sure that your dress, which is worthy of a party in itself, is an ethical purchase, like my good friend Katy has done. Here are a couple of ethical wedding dress retailers House of Beth recommends:

1. http://www.tammam.co.uk/

2. http://www.wholly-jo.co.uk/

By Rosalind Kendal

The Head Piece and the Headdress

Friday afternoon, and I am fighting the temptation to leap into the outdoors and perform some sort of pagan sun dance, celebratating the hot sun that we are ephemerally blessed with. If I were to discard the co-ordination of House of Beth’s wardrobe for my blazingly beautiful sun mistress however, I would need a head-piece (as well as rather good excuse to give to Talia.)

Yes, a head-piece or a headdress is a historical necessity for any form of worship. From the tribal to the Pope today, they all don their hair in preparation for celebration and worship with feathers, jewels and gold.

And as we, the secular masses, prepare to celebrate the summer and worship the sun, do we too don ourselves with a head-pieces? Well, I suppose we wear sun-hats, but as glamorous as they can be, they lack a sparkle that speaks to the sunshine, for they are far too practical to be considered true crowns. For the head-piece, the perfect head-piece, should act as pure adornment, for our own personal jubilee.

Recently flower crowns have been a massive festival must, a wave to the flower power of the ’60s and your inner fairy-princess. You can purchase them from £3 to £75, from Spitalfield stalls to tiny vintage boutiques. New in for the festival look, are the Native-American inspired feather warrior crowns, which is a fun alternative to flowers, albeit a heavy one.

If you don’t fancy the ‘Hiawatha meets the 21^st century look’, House of Beth has provided you with it’s own range of affordable head-dresses, that differ from both the flower power 60s’ and the feather fun. These headdresses are mirrored with our collection of clothes we are releasing this summer that draw upon the cultural event of the year – the Olympics. To me, Olympics says ancient Greece, rather than panting around in sweats, and as Talia’s all time favourite poet was an ancient Greek poet who sang bravely and magnificently on love, we decided to base our ‘look’ and thus head-pieces this season on Sappho.

Wile Weaving Daughter

Sappho embodies the sensual woman, who is beautiful because she expresses her love and vulnerability, fearlessly. She is renowned poetically by sages, through out the ages, for this. And today we too, pay tribute to her love poetry by our collection’s headdresses that celebrate this poetic beauty. When wearing these headdresses, they will transform an ordinary outfit of a simple white dress and sandals into the Sappho goddess, celebrating your own beauty and worshiping life, love and death. They make you feel at once beautiful and strong, like the ancient Greek poetess herself, with gold and pearls.

On this note, I will put on my own headdress and give my skin to the sunlight so I may cleanse the winter away.

Love

S x

N: B Our Ancient Greece inspired head dresses are made for us by the endlessly talented Justine Silverstone, who takes a few jewels and creates the personality of the woman who inspires our collection. Luckily for you, although they look far from high street, they are high street prices, for House of Beth pledges to always offer high range apparel at mid-range prices.