#praying tumblr doesnt mess up the way i laid out these images

[letterturner]

this post is just me going on a long tangent for an aesthetic im nostalgic for and a bunch of examples of it so click keep reading at your own discretion cause long post ahead

so what im talking is this sort of mid 2000s to like around 2011 neo-victorian aesthetic that also utilized a sort of gothic-circus meets cabaret style. the essence of the 2000s is there even if its not initially visible from the surface because its important to this aesthetic. i think some motifs for this are typical gothic elements like graves and crosses but also things like stripes, butterflies, ragdolls, playing cards, checker patterns, hearts (both whole and broken), chess, circus imagery, roses and rabbits. aesthetics like emo, gothic lolita, circus, goth, mall goth and even steampunk to a small degree are kinda like the cousins to this.

some artists that i think visualized this are mizna wada,

yoh

and gekidan inu curry

plus a whole bunch of others like hanamushi and dollcreep

i'd say the music genres associated with this style would be dark cabaret and baroque pop. the most popular examples would probably be panic! at the disco's first and third albums

but you also have other acts like emilie autumn

rasputina,

the dresden dolls,

and there were quite a few vocaloid song/mvs that also fit like dark wood circus, trick and treat and the riddle solver who can't solve riddles. plus i feel like a large amount of songs by kikou also match this sort of vibe

clothing wise i feel like thick stripes were really popular, especially as striped stockings. other things like victorian boots, fingerless gloves and corsets as well. i cant name just one specific clothing style but i def feel like gothic lolita and the neo victorian look really embodies this.

video games also were kinda influenced by this aesthetic but i dont think it was nearly as prominent. i think the path and alice: madness returns are probably the closest to what im talking abt

but interestly enough i think the kind of games that utilized this style the most were flash point and click games like gretel & hansel

and speaking of alice: madness returns it really does seem alice in wonderland and alice in wonderland inspired themes with a darker more gothic-y look became really popular (which think i also plays into the popularity of the neo victorian influence). this is why i think things associated with alice in wonderland like roses, rabbits and playing cards became such popular imagery with this aesthetic. i find it kinda funny when people say the 2010 version of alice in wonderland wasnt good because the color palette was "too dark/gloomy/whatever" cause it really was appealing to the aesthetics of the time which is why it did so well when it came out

for movies of this aesthetic i know tim burton is probably gonna be the most associated with this which is fair but i credit a lot of it to the costume designer for most of his movies, colleen atwood (who fittingly designed the costumes for 2010 alice in wonderland)

and even toy wise this aesthetic was visible with dolls like bleeding edge goth

living dead dolls too (and once again the alice in wonderland theme is present)

and while the style of pullip dolls is generally lighter they also produced a few dolls like this (*cough* alice in wonderland inspired yet agaain *cough*)

and last but not least,,VAMPLETS I LOVE THEM SO MUCH; i wish the original vamplets site was still up but i digress.

there are plenty of more examples like ruby gloom, black butler, the music video for fashion monster, trinity blood, shiki and monster high