2008 Woodie Awards
Creative Clothing Becomes the New Black
Ipso Facto is a common ground for artists & writers who embrace individuality in their clothing and lifestyle.
Jessica Chen
Issue date: 9/6/06 Section: Local
For students who enjoy creating their own look, Ipso Facto, found at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Chapman Ave. gives an artistic license. A look inside reveals a captivating world of incense, candles, black leather, corsets and fishnet stockings.
As you enter the hole-in-the-wall gothic lair, black and red flood the room, contrasted by the illuminating neon hair dye.
Danceable industrial music surrounds the shoppers while posters of The Cure, Beetlejuice, Faith and Muse, Edward Scissorhands stand in the racks. In this dark realm lurk Tim Burton creations, dragon lamps, and statues of fairies and gargoyles.
Accessories hang along the wall, including a plethora of thick studded belts with iron star buckles. Gauntlets and spikes, elaborate medieval-style chokers gleam in the glass cases and decorate the wall.
Downtown Fullerton is a hub for artists, and Ipso Facto combines multiple facets of artistry: fashion, art, poetry, music and culture. Its offbeat music collection is mainly underground and imported. Likewise, the clothing appeals to all types: from the death rockers to the elegant Victorian Goths.
This renaissance show takes in the thinkers, the religious and anti-religious, writers and musicians to express their individuality and artistic self through these unique medieval fashions.
Opened in 1989 by Terri Kennedy, Ipso Facto served as a local art gallery, poetry reading and band venue.
It was also one of the earliest body piercing parlors, but discontinued piercings in 1999, when a flurry of merchandise poured into the store. Kennedy comments on the store's variety and individualism.
Its unique name, "Ipso Facto" means by the fact itself or by the very nature of the deed. While Ipso Facto markets through word-of-mouth, it continually draws in a flux of people by hosting occasional live bands, such as Audra, Voltaire, Mors Syphilitica and Lovespirals.
After the Columbine tragedy and the black-wearing style of the "The Trenchcoat Mafia," a number of negative stereotypes have been tied the Goth culture, according to information on the website www.religioustolerance.com. These include associations with "Satanism violence, white supremacy and intolerance."
"People mistaken Goths as people who wear black all the time and get piercings, like Marilyn Manson," Kennedy said.
However, Goth is indefinable: it means different things to different people. The culture is unique by nature, and as creative as those who wear it.
As you enter the hole-in-the-wall gothic lair, black and red flood the room, contrasted by the illuminating neon hair dye.
Danceable industrial music surrounds the shoppers while posters of The Cure, Beetlejuice, Faith and Muse, Edward Scissorhands stand in the racks. In this dark realm lurk Tim Burton creations, dragon lamps, and statues of fairies and gargoyles.
Accessories hang along the wall, including a plethora of thick studded belts with iron star buckles. Gauntlets and spikes, elaborate medieval-style chokers gleam in the glass cases and decorate the wall.
Downtown Fullerton is a hub for artists, and Ipso Facto combines multiple facets of artistry: fashion, art, poetry, music and culture. Its offbeat music collection is mainly underground and imported. Likewise, the clothing appeals to all types: from the death rockers to the elegant Victorian Goths.
This renaissance show takes in the thinkers, the religious and anti-religious, writers and musicians to express their individuality and artistic self through these unique medieval fashions.
Opened in 1989 by Terri Kennedy, Ipso Facto served as a local art gallery, poetry reading and band venue.
It was also one of the earliest body piercing parlors, but discontinued piercings in 1999, when a flurry of merchandise poured into the store. Kennedy comments on the store's variety and individualism.
Its unique name, "Ipso Facto" means by the fact itself or by the very nature of the deed. While Ipso Facto markets through word-of-mouth, it continually draws in a flux of people by hosting occasional live bands, such as Audra, Voltaire, Mors Syphilitica and Lovespirals.
After the Columbine tragedy and the black-wearing style of the "The Trenchcoat Mafia," a number of negative stereotypes have been tied the Goth culture, according to information on the website www.religioustolerance.com. These include associations with "Satanism violence, white supremacy and intolerance."
"People mistaken Goths as people who wear black all the time and get piercings, like Marilyn Manson," Kennedy said.
However, Goth is indefinable: it means different things to different people. The culture is unique by nature, and as creative as those who wear it.
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