Sizing Charts

Spiral Direct Womens Sizing Chart

Spiral Direct Men's/Unisex Sizing Chart

Ladies remember the unisex clothing is in mens' sizing, so check measurements carefully. It is likely you will need to buy a size smaller than you normal would for womens' clothing.

Punk Rave Tops Sizing Chart

Punk Rave Trousers & Skirts Sizing Chart

I would love to have a decent Gothic wardrobe but I'm on a budget (for the girls)

The key to a good wardrobe is making sure you choose items that go together - i.e. can be mixed & matched. A couple of pair of trousers, a few skirts, a small collection of tops, and a warm jacket or hoodie, which can all be mixed & matched, will give you a great wardrobe with quite a wide range of looks.

Two pair of trousers and two tops gives you 4 outfits. Add a skirt to that, and you have 6 outfits. Add another top, and that makes 9 outfits. With each item you add, your wardrobe grows exponentially. Build your wardrobe slowly, one or two items at a time. Pick up a few accessories whenever you have a little bit spare.

A good base wardrobe would be 2 pair of trousers and 3 skirts (or 3 pair of trousers and 2 skirts), and 4 or 5 tops. This gives you 20 to 25 different outfits! If you can afford it, get a decent jacket, coat or hoodie for wearing when you are outside. A complete collection such as this will come in at between $850 -  $1000. That may sound like a lot, but to put it in perspective, that's $16 - $20 a week (less than most people spend on coffee at cafes, or take-aways each week) over one year, for a complete wardrobe.

Once you add the accessories - longsleeve fishnet undertops, armwarmers & fingerless gloves, fishnet stockings/pantyhose, and over-the-knee & thigh-hi socks (all of which are reasonbly inexpensive), it can give you an almost endless variety of looks.

It is well worth getting some opaque pantyhose - a couple of black, and a few coloured ones that pick up the colours of the prints in your clothes (which you can pick up cheap at Wharehouse or K-Mart). They are great for wearing under fishnet stockings/pantyhose, over-the-knee socks, and the 'slashed' socks in winter, for added warmth and a splash of colour. Also worth getting are a couple of thin, plain, tight-fitting lonsleeve tops or thermal tops (again, you can pick up cheap at Wharehouse, K-mart, or secondhand shops), which you can wear under your shortsleeved/sleeveless tops in winter (they should match the colours of the pantyhose you choose). Layering makes your summer wardrobe suitable for winter wear, and will give you even more variety of looks.

Good Gothic clothes are difficult to get and expensive to import, so are going to be expensive wherever you buy them from, but if you care for them properly they will last for years. And with a variety of accessories, and layering to suit the weather, you can get a lot out of a small wardrobe.

Care of Clothing

The items you purchase here are high quality, and should last you a long time. But this will be dependant on how you care for them. Following are some important points on proper care.

• Whenever possible, HANDWASH garments.
• If you can't handwash, then wash garments on a GENTLE cycle. A gentle cycle is more than adequate to remove everyday wear dirt & light sweat from most fabric – even heavy weight fabrics. Standard & heavy cycles are for removing excessive or ingrained dirt from clothing worn for manual labour and outdoor pursuits, and have little to do with the type of fabric being washed and more to do with the type and amount of soiling being dealt with.
• ALWAYS wash printed garments inside out. This protects the print from being damage by the machine and buckles, studs, etc on other clothing.
• ALWAYS dry garments inside out. This protects the outside from fading, and protects the print from UV damage, which causes fading, hardening and cracking of the print.
• NEVER dry printed garments in a dryer. All prints contain plastic-like compounds that help them to adhere to the fabric. A dryer is too hot, and will damage the print, eventually causing it to harden and crack.
• ALWAYS do up zips and buttons, especially on trousers. The strong pulling force of the spin cycle will weaken unzipped zips, eventually causing them to break. This could mean the difference between your zippered item lasting a year or two, or lasting you a lifetime.
• ALWAYS remove bondage straps (they can then be put in the machine with the rest of the clothing separately) & chains before washing. Chains will damage other clothing, and bondage straps left attached will result in other clothing tangling with them and cause other clothing to tear.
• ALWAYS remove clip-on items (such as the sleeves on the Clip-on Mesh Glove tops), and items attached by straps or suspenders (sleeves, arm warmers, trouser legs, etc) before washing. The strong pulling force of the spin cycle will cause these items to tear from the garment at the base of the strap/clip.

Good quality Goth & Punk clothing takes a little extra time & effort to care for properly, but considering the prices you pay for these items, and the fact that most are limited edition and cannot be replace, it is well worth it. If cared for properly, your clothes will last long enough for your cute toddler of today to become the obnoxious teenager of tomorrow raiding your wardrobe because you still have cool clothes :)

Pre-Ordering

The last order For Spiral Direct was placed on 06/05/09

The last order for Punk Rave was placed on 12/06/09.

Keep your eyes on this page for next order date

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