My Eclectic Fashion Icons

See this blog post for more context on my grander thoughts about my relationship to fashion, community, and personal style. This place is just vibes.

Note that most of the links on this page are to youtube, the social internet, fandom wikis, and other mildly unsavory places.

The Stitchess

A sustainable fashion youtuber who's often high femme personified, but in an indescribably queer and approachable way. She's one of the only creators I know of who is really committed to practical slow, sustainable, DIY fashion advice, including wardrobe-building, for a style that is so far out of the mainstream. At least that didn't stop posting after a year. She does have some very cute Ouji-inspired outfits and other stuff on the more masc side, and I share her love for pastels, black, punk, and her particular sensibilities for mixing the three, but the most helpful series she's put out, to me, has been her series on finding your style, identifying the non-boring "basics" you actually need for it, and then thrifting/modifying pieces to fill it in.

Rattus Rattus

A nonbinary doll-modder and fashion icon whose looks over the years have run basically the whole gamut of different Monster High doll styles. It's a lot of goth/punk and aesthetic grab bags, although at one point there were a lot of much more witchy crunchy boho elements as well. The way they layer & style things is a real inspiration, even if they're way comfier in skirts than I am (a running theme on this list).

Kathleen Illustrated

An upbeat fashion youtuber who wears bright colors, calls her style "clowncore", and is a die-hard thrifter for sustainability and uniqueness reasons. She means clowncore a little less literally than I do, but I do love her color sensibilities--she pairs things I never would've thought of--and it's just nice to have a voice in the sustainable fashion space shouting that you don't have to be boring and you should do what you want.

beepworld

I only recently discovered youtuber beepworld, and our aesthetics are very different with only the barest overlap in the fringes of whimsigoth, but every time I watch her layer a new piece I feel like my world is turning upside-down. She's one of very few fashion influencers giving practical advice about types of clothes and how to combine outfits that's really putting creativity into it. I wish I liked her video on less feminine outfits more, but they're so bland and muted in comparison. (The frog & toad-inspired outfit more or less through the end are still nice inspo, though. Love the one-dangly-earring-plus-one-stud combo, the button-up-and-shorts-with-blazer look, and the reminder that you can just wear a neckerchief and just become Fred Jones at any time.)

Andreas Fashion Galaxy

Andrea thrifts everything, provides fashion and outfit advice about types of garments rather than specific brands or pieces, and creatively styles all of her pieces. I love the layering, the belts, the monochromatic outfits in bold colors, the black, the shiny things, etc. I love her style and her attitude about fashion so much.

Morgan Donner

I will be honest here with you and admit that I mostly watch Morgan's videos because she's an extremely attractive woman. She's my type. Her craftswomanship is immaculate, and her boundless curiosity for learning about how to make clothes of all types heals my heart. I would wear the very silly pants. I love her sense for color and fashion and the way she approaches historical dress, and her smile is very pretty. Next question.

Dandy Wellington

Nobody else is out here doing it like Dandy. His vintage style pulls from old Harlem, and nearly all of his suit jackets, vests, and ties are boldly colored, none of them are matched sets, and he consistiently puts them together with some sort of witchcraft by balancing the tones and the contrast. I'm especially fond of the red (velour??) suit jacket + patterned vest combo. And then he gets to match the bowtie to the jacket (or, in one particularly Gomez Addams-y monochrome look, to the pop-of-purple pocket square).

Noris Danta Ford

Norris sews his own suits and tailored jackets, and isn't afraid to make them in fun colors or mismatched prints. It's all very slick. He does pattern reviews, and has a lot of good tips about both structure & style. I love his suits, I love his corduroy pants, I love the buttons he picks, and also this man is so much bolder than me about wearing white clothes. I have too much stain-trauma.

Nicole Rudolph

A vintage cobbler as well as a vintage seamstress with a special love for the 20s, and I wasn't nearly as personally inspired by her style as some other vintage handsewing influencers until she started making a replica of Gonzo's outfit from the Muppets Christmas Carol. Iconic behavior. I love every piece of it, and the colors are so delicious. She also has some great technique videos and has since started covering more menswear, including a video about historical gender nonconformity among AFAB people that I haven't watched yet.

Leena Norms

Leena only occasionally makes fashion videos, but she's got an eye for bold patterns and a similar color sense to me, and she's very loudly pushing back against fashion advice for women above 30 all the while focusing on sustainability. It's just a nice vibe.

Lizard Leigh

A nonbinary cosplayer who often goes very femme, but they design all of their own outfits based off of loose concepts, often incorporate elements of historical dress, and we love the same colors. All the red-and-black plaids, the dusty purples, the blue-and-green or blue-and-yellow combos. The clothes they wear in their day-to-day are way more t-shirt-heavy than me, but they are mostly slightly elevated by an all-over pattern or a front pocket.

Minji Lee

Another cosplay youtuber who has made basically a million corsets. It's not really in the historical dress realm, though, and I love the draping, the hats, the ruffling/ruching, the embroidery, the lace, and her various other textural sensibilities.

Be Queer, Make Stuff

Vintagebursche

One of the more interesting sewists of historical menswear that I've seen outside of Dandy Wellington, and I do like a lot of the suiting patterns he uses and the range of history he covers, but it still mostly doesn't call to me for daily wear.

Ash Tanya

Perhaps mostly a fashion philosopher, and a very thoughtful one at that, but I also consistently love her outfits and her specific takes on various 2020ish microaesthetics that have been popular in recent years. She unfortunately doesn't post much these days.

Amanda Maryana

Amanda has similarly done fun takes on a lot of microaesthetics from like 2 years ago, although I particularly like her various academicwear outfits. I am just a sucker for a cleverly-coordinated coat, and the high necklines. Just a much more interesting take on a realm of fashion that's dominated by minimalism and beige. She can really do it all, though.

Ashton Daniel

My favorite punk style icon, and he makes a lot of his clothes/accessories himself. Their hair used to be cut a lot like mine, and they did a lot more styling than I ever do.

Kat Blaque

A longrunning goth icon who started out doing mostly DIY videos but got more famous for her social commentary. I love every single one of her outfits even if they're the opposite of what I personally want to wear. Maybe we could meet in the middle about black lipstick and the army green fur coat. And leather dusters.

Dorian Of Herbs and Altars

On the other end of some old-goth-turned-commentator spectrum, Dorian is far from an uncontroversial figure (so many tws for eating disorder and drug talk on that link and any content they've put anywhere else), but there is something so entrancing about his looks to me. They look like an alien half the time, with the wild contouring and bright eyeshadow that takes up half their face. They make neon goth knitwear, and have so many fun piercings, and sorta brute force their way into androgyny by being so over-the-top with their colors and patterns and unusual layering/garment construction/hair styling. I have intentionally not linked to his youtube account where aforementioned controversial opinions about drugs and goth culture live, because I have extremely mixed feelings about all of it and mostly don't watch his videos anymore, even if I think the outrage is a bit overblown.

Durnesque-Esque

A tumblr blogger with a signature "comfy executive goth" style, which works in the heat and has a lot of flowy black layers paired with black leather and lace details.

Yrurari

I'm infinitely inspired by Icelandic body horror knitter Yrurari's use of texture, bold colors, and 3D elements emblazoning otherwise-classic cabled sweaters in neutral colors.

Em & Sprout

An online store selling cutesy-spooky apparel that has apparently started carrying all cotton shirts since the last time I looked! Their graphic crossbody bags & backpacks are also super cute.

Morningwitch

The store that basically owns my soul with their all-cotton botanical print button-ups, sweaters, and cardigans with a slightly-slouchy masc-on-a-curvy-body fit.

Jasmin Knitmore

Beloved podcaster who's been knitting stylish modern garments in bold colors and matching them to her hair since before it was cool. I love all the rainbows she knits with, her shawl pattern choices, and her immaculate sense for matching yarn with statement buttons and beads. The OG maximalist in my heart. (And another very pretty lady.)

Kitt Rampant

A delightful handknitter and sewist whose style I adore, with their gorgeous dusty purples, not-quite-cropped short-sleeved handknits, and pastel rainbows.

Robot Meile

Fantastic layered black handknits

Joji Locatelli

Knitting pattern designer who's always killing it with the layered grays in her drapey cardigan photoshoots.

The Gothic Alice

Love their way of blending various other styles into goth looks, especially anything with stripey circus-y elements, and their vibrant blue hair.

Catinawitchhat

An icon who's kept a lot of the mori & strega shape/draping sensibilities even as their fashion has become a lot more autumnal and costumed. I love the way the lace-up pants add a bit of skin to break up all the black in this one, not to mention the mesh sleeves and cape.

Tiwesdaeg

Xe has a spooky grandma witch thing going on, with lots of lace & big sleeves & halloween sweaters & goth graphic tees modded in various ways. Turns out a stripey short short can be masc if you have a big enough beard.

Daniel Howell

Eternal sadboy gay goth inspo. Yes, including the goth clown. Especially including the basically i'm gay fit. The black and white patterns!! The jackets!! The TEXTURES!!

Arthur Rockwell

He once made a video about swim binders and another video about pants, but mostly I just like looking at the clothes he wears in videos because they're the very lower limit for how plain/casual an outfit can be and me still be willing to wear it. He's just a little more put together than a lot of other trans guys with a similar style. All his clothes fit him in the shoulders.

D'Angelo Wallace

King of layering.

Withcindy

Book youtuber who has lots of extremely fun button-ups, raglans, contrast hem shirts, cardigans, and once wore this extremely iconic wedding look before she was actually out to herself.

Taako Taaco

Fictional pastel man-in-dress who loves a high waist, coordinates his outfits with his umbrella, and has an improbably large wizard hat. I felt something deep in my bones the first time Justin McElroy went into detail with one of his outfits and I continue to be nourished by the way the fanartists draw his style.

Jack Black

Yeah, that guy.

Bray Wyatt

I loved every one of his ring looks. Rest in peace.

Stede Bonnet

From Our Flag Means Death

David Rose

From Schitt's Creek

The Doctor

From Doctor Who, in all of their various forms.

Gomez Addams

In all of his spooky, broad-shouldered, pinstriped, decadently velvet-draped iterations.

Crow Caller

They show up serving looks in every video, with thier black-and-white hair and ostentatious coats, capes, chokers, and literary goth vibes. Their jewelry, in particular, is always both ornate and androgynous-feeling, and I will never forget the split dyed hair + gold sunburst halo crown + cloak combo. Fallen angels have no gender.

Brendon Urie

Of Panic! At the Disco fame.

Eric Forman

From That 70's Show.

Stewart Letterkenny

Against my better judgment. Up to and including the gold jacket + top hat combo and the black high-top overalls with nothing underneath + bowler hat. And the rainbow clown shirt.