If there is any band that can make a song to woo Elvira (Mistress of the Dark) that band would be Ghoultown. This campy video mesh’s Ghoultown’s hellbilly sound with Elvira’s spooktacular (and boob-a-licious) world to create an amazing video. The song is featured on Elvira’s Gravest Hits, a collection of Elvira’s TV and movie themes that can be downloaded off iTunes. Seeing as I’m a huge Ghoultown fan, I throughly enjoy watching these dark cowboys of the night crawl out of that vintage TV set into Elvira’s living room. A gal can only sigh in jealousy, as I wouldn’t mind having Count Lyle (singer) serenade me with his smooth voice, fist pumping action, and handsome physic. I’m in love with Ghoultown first and Elvira second!

- Meagan

Baltimore MD, July 30 to August 1 – Anyone who has entered the world of con-going knows that it can and should be an intense experience.  Otakon is a 3-day Japanese subculture convention with a 22,000 person attendance.  At any hour between 8 AM Friday to 3 PM Sunday there are 5-8 possible events one could attend, in addition to football-field-sized dealers’, artists’, and gaming floors open throughout, not to mention unofficial events, meetups, and photoshoots going on in and around the convention center.  Official entertainment includes raves, fashion shows, screenings, educational and humor panels, concerts, and burlesque acts.  The accommodations themselves were plush.  It took place in the Baltimore Convention Center, a beautiful, gargantuan tribute to glass-and-cement architecture with everything from rooftop gardens to a Starbucks, in addition to all those staples for hardcore con-goers: plenty of clean bathrooms, comfortable seating, free water available everywhere you go.  These are necessities because if you want to really get the experience of an affair of this magnitude, you have treat it like a marathon.  There’s not a single mile of this you can sit out.

h.Naoto booth at Otakon

h.Naoto’s 2010 collection . image source s-inc.com

And that doesn’t mean for a moment you can skip on style.  Especially at an event like Otakon, seeing and being seen is imperative. Dressing up, people-watching, and taking photos of the best-dressed is all part of the fun.  Adaptations of not just the Japanese looks, but all strains of subculture were on parade.  This year, the convention had brought in h.Naoto, the prolific Japanese designer of all sorts of dark and decayed wearables.  He made a number of appearances, one in which young designers brought in portfolios and samples for him to critique, one in which he gave a Q&A and short fashion show, and several at his booth in the dealer’s room, where one could purchase his wares.  At the Q&A, Mr. Naoto was asked about the relationship between his designs and street fashion.  He replied, via translator, that while he knew all about goth, punk, Lolita, etc. and appreciated all of them, he wasn’t interested in designing in any one of those genres, but in taking what he likes from each and what he see in his own mind and creating something completely new.  He emphasized that you needed creativity, to bring something new into the look.

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Kane & Unke’s 40S Military Jacket

image source metroparkusa.com

One of my favorite fashion stylings for men is the military aesthetic and the 40S Military Jacket by Kane & Unke is a great example.  Metropark has the exclusive on Kane & Unke’s contemporary collection, in other words, you have to go to Metropark to get this jacket!  My favorite parts of the design are the funnel collar and the multi pocket details which really gives the militaristic construction a contemporary feel.  Throw out that military surplus jacket and slip this baby on with some pinstriped trousers and a pair of Beatle boots for a night on the town.

The 40S Military Jacket is available online at www.metroparkusa.com.

- Meagan

We are excited to announce that Auxiliary will be attending Triton Festival happening in Brooklyn, NY over Labor Day (Sept 3-5) weekend!  Presented by Vampirefreaks, the highly popular goth/industrial social networking site, and Audiolust, long time NYC promotion group, Triton Festival has a great lineup including Icon of Coil, Apoptygma Berzerk, and Clan of Xymox and it all goes down in Coney Island (hence the name).

For more info visit, www.tritonfestival.com.

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photographer : Corrupt Image Data
fashions : Collective Chaos Design
model : Crash

Jennifer Link :
Latex is the material to turn to, to bring a larger than life and fetish, obviously, feel to any outfit.  My personal taste lean toward latex pieces that can be paired with other materials or have a classier feel to them.  But sometimes latex should just be what latex is best at; provocative, scandalous, and hot.  This Octopussy dress by Collective Chaos Design fits that bill perfectly.  Made from clear latex and emphasizing that it’s not providing covering where clothes normally do, it’s risqué and sexy but at the same time it’s just fun!  The graphic octopus design in purple and baby pink is just right for latex as the material’s nature allows for cut-out and layered shapes. The octopus is a great motif appealing to my interest in leviathans and Lovecraft. An all out there, suggestive latex dress like this is a must have for fetish parties or any more secluded, exclusive party. You could pair this dress with a cream colored latex thong and pasties if you’d rather keep you private parts, private. When opting for a dress like this, defiantly keep some of the class with a sophisticated hairstyle, like the asymmetrical soft curl look here.  For makeup keep it simple, clean, and classic, for example in this look the pink lips and elegantly defined brow do this well.  And look for a dress with a little tongue in cheek, this dress keeps it fun and doesn’t take its self too seriously.

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Elvis 1970s Sunglasses

image source shopelvis.com

This week’s item is in honor of the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death on August 16th.  We at Auxiliary take the King of Rock-n-Roll’s passing very seriously.

Luke is rockin’ the King’s look.

You can honor Elvis in your own way by rocking a pair of Elvis 1970s Sunglasses in either gold or silver. You can find these sunglasses and much more at www.shopelvis.com, which is the official Elvis and Graceland online store. You too can be TCB (Taking Care of Business) in these fine shades and perhaps do a little hip shake down the isle while you’re shopping, or karate chop your way through a crowd, then wiping the sweat from your brow with your cape.  No matter how you evoke the King, don’t get “All Shook Up” because, the King’s memory will never die!

Elvis 1970s Sunglasses are available at www.shopelvis.com.

- Meagan

Yeasayer’s new video directed by Andreas Nilsson for “Madder Red” is a bit bizarre. Oh Veronica why so sad? That thing is now in a better place.

(Just finished watching all three seasons of Veronica Mars on Netflix and now I can’t see Kristen Bell as anyone else.)

Enjoy.

- Mike

It’s hard to even think about anything else other than air conditioning and cool drinks in August, but with back-to-school items also comes seasonal Halloween items! Halloween is my most favorite time of the year, when I can casually go shop and  feast my eyes upon rows filled with spiders, ghosts, black cats, and skeletons. I actually stock up on my household decor, like dish towels, candles, wall art, and other various spooky ookiness. I’ve learned over the years to look for items early because all the really neat Halloween decorations sell out so quickly! Let my obsessive investigative skills help you score some sweet Halloween swag.

image source potterybarn.com

Pottery Barn is always a first stop on my shopping quest as they have the classiest glassware. I fell in love with all their items last year when we received the 2009  cocktail collection as a wedding gift. The Halloween Etched Recipe Cocktail Shaker is just perfect for entertaining all year long and the recipes on the shaker are to die for! Check out the skull and crossbones detailing around the edges of the recipe, absolutely perfect!

You can buy the Halloween Etched Recipe Cocktail Shaker at www.potterybarn.com

image source potterybarn.com

In addition to the Halloween Etched Cocktail Shaker, this set of four Etched Tombstone Double Old-Fashioned Tumblers by Pottery Barn are a perfect match. The etched phrases are a little cheesy, but the tombstone styling makes up for it! Along with the shaker, these items are too pretty to store in the cabinet. If you have a bar, these could double as cheeky home decor.

You can buy the Etched Tombstone Double Old-Fashioned Tumblers at www.potterybarn.com

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Spragwerks’ Butcher Stick Pin

image source spragwerks.com

Spragwerks is the brain child of Rich Sandomeno and he is one of my favorite jewelry designers. His designs are solid, the craftsmanship is tip top and the style of Spragwerks is post-industrial meets the macabre. The Butcher Stick Pin really caught my eye as a versatile piece that can be worn by either sexes. I can see this pin accenting a gents fedora, adoring a ladies fascinator hat, or decorating the lapels of a dinner jacket. All of Rich’s pieces are handmade and as he says, “One of my strongest beliefs is that fads come and go but style last forever.” Spoken like a true craftsmen! Spragwerks does your wardrobe good.

The Butcher Stick Pin is available at www.spragwerks.com.

- Meagan

Mankind Is Obsolete – Manic Recession

release date : August 10, 2010
released by : self release
info : 17 tracks . www.mkio.com
genre : industrial rock/electro industrial
reviewed by : Mike Kieffer

Mankind Is Obsolete is one of my favorite industrial rock bands and I was quite nervous when I found this remix album was getting released. I don’t want to hear the organic drums replaced with a crappy 4-4 club beat, or tight guitar riffs being hacked to bits and re-looped with bad cuts. As you can tell I have been disappointed in previous attempts by other bands. So will MKIO be successful in pleasing me? Well let’s start from the beginning, Manic Recession is a 17 track remix album of the 2007 release Trapped Inside in which 9 of the 11 original tracks get treatment and there is also one original song and a cover song.  Starting things off is a remix of “Awake” by Mindcube, it is an average attempt that has hints of DnB but really I was just waiting for it to drop hard DJ Hidden style and it didn’t. The second track “Silent Killer” by Steven Rober Meyers Jr. pulled me back on board. This is a solid remix turning the track into a somewhat dance floor friendly or at least provides a beat for the DJ to mix in and out of. One of my favorite tracks was “Troubled Dreams” remixed by The Lunarium, which pretty much abandons the original except for the vocals, and even then they digitalized Natasha Cox’s voice and clipped and chopped it up and added tones of echo.

Overall I found some of the remixes to be good, some ok, and some bad. I still suggest picking this up if you are a fan, but if you are just going to jump into MKIO for the first time get the real album, it is way better and really is that a bad thing?

recommended tracks : Troubled Dreams (Remixed by The Lunarium, Outland 1101 Mix)
overall 6 . music 6 . lyrics 9 . recording quality 6

Catch Mankind Is Obsolete on tour in the US starting August 12th with Android Lust.