Silent Moon Photoshoot at Grove Street CemeteryOne of the long standing wardrobe goals I started building for myself in 2024 was specifically a black, white and medium blue/dark blue gothic/punk style capsule wardrobe. I was inspired by the Japanese gothic EGL brand Moi Meme Moitie, whose designs are primarily in white, black, and a deep klein blue, (lovingly referred to as Moitie blue by EGL fashion enthusiasts). You can purchase Moitie items from anywhere in the world using Wunderwelt Fleur. Silent Moon is the name of a specific design that Moi Meme Moitie has released several times over the years. It primarily has come out as an OP (one piece dress), but there is an earlier release of a JSK and a skirt that exists. There are also matching over the knee socks and accessories for this print. The dress is made of a crepe fabric suitable for all seasons. It is short sleeve, has full shirring in the bust and waist, elasticized cuffs. and is fully lined. The print on the bottom portion of the dress is mainly a series of different gothic cathedrals with crosses at the peak of every roof, with trees and birds flying in the background and a full moon surrounded by clouds in the sky. A lot of people in my fashion community happen to own a version of this dress, so I decided to make a meeting in November 2024 where anyone who owned this dress was to meet up at Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, CT wearing it. If they didn't have the dress, they could wear any combination of black, white, or dark blue, but I preferred they make it gothic or classic style as we were meeting at a cemetery. As I am partial to planning events that include some form of education, art, and history, of course Grove Street Cemetery was on the top of my list to have a Gothic photoshoot at. Grove Street Cemetery, which opened as a burial ground in 1796, is the oldest cemetery in the nation designed as a "city of the dead", with named avenues and cross streets. It is a National Historic Landmark, and is the first chartered burial ground in the United States and the first to be arranged in family lots. Within the cemetery are the markers or plots of most early residents of New Haven, including Eli Whitney, Noah Webster, Walter Camp, Roger Sherman, fourteen Yale presidents, and hundreds of other faculty members, alumni, and campus luminaries. The cemetery serves as resting place for many historically important figures, and a number of its tombstones date back to the 1600's. In addition to a collection of specimen trees, the entrance has an architecturally prominent Egyptian Revival Gateway facing High Street. Clearly the cemetery has something for everyone! Even if you don't know anything about history, you can enjoy the many varieties of trees and bushes that were cultivated there. As soon as you get past the gateway, there are folks jogging as well as other folks walking their well behaved canines around the place. It's a cemetery...but also a public respite from the hustle and bustle of Grove St and the surrounding city streets in that area. And despite all of the historical figures and extensive family plots within, people are still being buried there today! Leo's favorite brand is Moi Meme Moitie and they have been collecting pieces from it for years. Leo is wearing the black version of the Silent Moon OP with a white printed design. They also have the matching Silent Moon Over the Knee Socks as well as the printed satchel bag. They are wearing two different cross necklaces, I believe both of them are also from Moi Meme Moitie. The large one is actually silver with blue jewels. Leo wore a white princess sleeve stand collar blouse from Atelier Pierrot underneath their dress (as it was starting to get a little cooler outside). Gothic matte black heels and a black fascinator completed their look. They went the extra mile and put on some very gothic makeup with a pale complexion, dark blue eyes and deep brownish red lipstick. When I saw that Wunderwelt had a used version of the white version of Silent Moon with the blue print, I had to have it. It was also less expensive, because there is supposedly a stain somewhere (that I've never found) than it would be if I had purchased it brand new. I paired it with a three-quarter princess sleeve stand collar blouse from the Chinese Indie brand Yilia. Yilia makes basic colored blouses in almost every collar/sleeve type/ length you might need to complete an outfit, and I highly recommend them if you're just starting out. I've used this same blouse across all EGL styles now (between sweet, classic, and gothic). The white of the blouse is somehow more of warm white compared to the cool white of the dress, so despite also mixing additional blue and black into my coordinate, I had to mix different whites. I added a rectangular headdress from Atelier Pierrot that happens to be made of both cool and warm white ribbons and lace. To repeat the blue, I am wearing a pair of over the knee ribbon socks also from Moi Meme Moitie. I custom ordered white lace gloves with blue crossing ribbons on Etsy, because I knew the sleeves on the blouse that I owned were not actually long sleeve. Now you can't see this in this particular photo, but I had to take out the blue ribbon waist tie from the dress. It was...not long enough for me to tie it around my waist. Instead I swapped it out completely and added a black waist belt I got in a different set. To repeat the black again, I am wearing a rosary inspired choker that is black and silver as well as the Bondora~Cross Punk High Platform Shoes in black that also have silver cross charms that hang from them. Like Leo, I also used complexion makeup that was paler than my actual skin, and did a darker look around my eyes with a dark reddish purple lipstick. Barbara went full classic victorian goth all in black for her coordinate. She is wearing a long sleeve victorian style blouse that she paired with a high waisted long skirt. Her accessories include a necklace of pearls, a cameo necklace, a spider pin with a pearl detail, silver bracelets and rings, a big black mourning hat with a veil hanging down in the front, and of course exquisitely applied makeup. Her ankle brace matches the look well, but the New Balance sneakers are definitely a functional/safety choice. We always encourage safety in footwear, especially at meetings that require a lot of walking! When two or more people wear the same dress at a meeting, it is considered a form of twinning. I just absolutely love how Leo and I are contrasting versions of one another. I have just about as much black in my coordinate as they have in white in theirs. In some photos you will also see me wearing a prince style black coat with silver buttons. It was getting a bit cold as it was November. Luckily Kaitlyn, Leo's friend who also came to the meet dressed in alt gothic fashion was extremely generous in holding our accessories and helping us take photos during our visit. I put some of the photos in black and white because I thought the lighting added a hint of a story and good memories. All in all it was a gorgeous day and we really lucked out on the weather. Traffic and parking around the cemetery was a bit stressful as Yale had a very large event at their athletic center up the street, so most of Grove Street was filled up. Technically we could have parked in the cemetery itself, but I wasn't sure how many people were going to go and there are only so many drivable "streets" within the cemetery as most of them are actually just walking paths.
It was so much fun to just dress up for a specific theme in a specific location. I might do something like this annually, but pick different historical cemeteries throughout the state. You can certainly depend on anywhere in New England to have a good old cemetery, but Grove Street Cemetery is certainly unique due to its 425+ and counting years of interred residents!
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DanielleI love EGL and alternative fashion and modeling. I am taking two of my favorite hobbies and making them into a story for you to read about. Archives
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