At Luisaviaroma, we fashion bloggers didn’t merely dress up in designer clothing. We also lent our names to a good cause.

Each blogger adopted one of 20 Steiff pug dogs, customized by famous couture designers. These toys will be sold, and all proceeds donated to Unicef to support disadvantaged children.

That’s why we all got a Luisaviaroma t-shirt with a pug puppy, dressed like Marie Antoinette!

Designers such as Balmain, Emilio Pucci, Mary Katrantzou, and David Koma dressed the dogs in high fashion. I adopted the Worth Couture pug. She’s got a Gothic Lolita flair, don’t you think?

This design house is a fitting choice. Charles Frederick Worth is considered the father of haute couture, and his elegant designs were the toast of 19th century Paris. I’d wear his long trailing skirts and corsets in a heartbeat.

Seba chose the Versace dog on the right. Aren’t they a fashionable pair? We’re honored to be part of the “Pug Dogs For Happy Kids” initiative, and glad to continue our charity work.

Here’s a closeup of my look from Day 2 of the Styling Lab. MAC Makeup once again delivered. Silver on the inside corners of my eyes, and bottom eyelashes with extensions for greater length.

And I love my hair by Aveda: tumbling curls, pinned to the side. Soon, I’ll post more photos from our outfits at Luisa.

Have you heard of Worth Couture Paris? Are you inspired by the fashions of previous centuries?

PS: thank you to Vogue India for featuring me in a magazine article (above).

Album of the Day: Children of Bodom – Relentless, Reckless Forever

Luisaviaroma’s Firenze4Ever extravaganza brings together your favorite fashion bloggers: a mix of nationalities, personalities and styles. I suppose I carried the banner for Japanese street / Gothic aesthetics. So I did theatrical, flamboyant makeup: loud and proud!

Each blogger gets to take part in a high-fashion styling lab. Shall I walk you through the steps?

1) Get your face painted by MAC. I showed my makeup artist photos on my iPhone, so he knew what I was going for. And he did a marvelous job.

Fabio put a layer of white under my eyes to enlarge them, then added careful eyeliner definition and top/bottom layers of fake eyelashes. Brown shading added a Sleepy Hollow effect. My blue lips turned me undead, while the bright fuchsia blush raised me back to life.

2) Pick out your three outfits. We got to wear anything we wanted from Luisaviaroma’s latest collections. I picked cute / rock / Goth styles: lace and leather and metal.

I’m wearing a faux leopard fur jacket by Banana Fish, and a t-shirt gifted by Solobuio (the visual factory of Rome-based music video director, Carlo Roberti. We worked on something together… can you guess what it is?)

3) Take part in an interview for Fashion TV. I spoke about my styling choices, and my experiences in Florence thus far.

4) Have your hair styled. Aveda twisted and pinned my hair on top, and added scrunchy bedhead waves.

5) Choose your accessories. An orange clutch, and a cute boy (Sebastiano, of course).

6) Pose, pose, pose. We stormed the streets of Florence with our photographer.

I’m afraid I don’t recall the brands of my clothing (the info was left out of my files by accident). But the boots are unmistakably Camilla Skovgaard – one black, and one white!

A close-up on Seba’s boots. We have many more modeling photos to share: I did SIX looks in total, so stay tuned!

You can preview my styling lab photos on the Luisaviaroma website. Thanks to AOL / My Daily and Style.it for featuring me. More press and TV clips soon.

I leave you with my “Meet the Fashion Bloggers: La Carmina” video, where I talk about Visual Kei bands, and the joys of big eyelashes. Please give it a view and a YouTube Like.

Do you like my first look from Luisaviaroma? What do you think of the MAC makeup? Funny how many found it extreme, but in the subculture, it’s a day in the life…

Album of the Day: The Cure – Disintegration (Remastered)

I’m a nail art addict. If you’ve been following my blog or Twitter, you’ll know that I love to create my own DIY designs.

But there’s only so much you can do at home. For special occasions, I head to Bling Nails in Vancouver, Canada. Here’s a step-by-step look at my fingernail transformation. (Bone hair clip and heart necklace gifted from SassynPunk.)

Did you know there’s a huge variety of pro products and techniques? I avoid acrylic nails because they have to be filed off, and weaken the nail’s surface. I like Bio Sculpture Gel: it’s free of harmful chemicals, and keeps the underlying nail healthy.

Bio Sculpture Gel doesn’t chip off like regular polish, so your manicure is perfect for a month or more. To remove it, return to the salon and soak your hands in a special solution.

Purple skull sweater: Candy Stripper, from Closet Child Tokyo.

My nail technician (also wearing Bio Sculpture Gel) preps my nails and cuticles. She paints half of the nail purple, and the other half sparkly. I put my hands under a UV light for a few minutes, to set it.

Next, she carefully arranges gems on the nail, securing them with glue. A top coat for shine, and I’m done.

The process takes about an hour, and I ask a lot of questions along the way (I’m so curious about nail art techniques, and learn something new each time!)

A month later, my nails are still in A+ condition. You can see the growth at the bottom, but there’s no chipping and the glossiness remains. Yah-tah-tah.

Have you ever gotten your nails done at a salon? Did you try fun designs, or long-lasting products like acrylics? How did you feel about the experience?

PS: I’m currently traveling around Italy (Modena with DNR, Rome, Florence for Luisaviaroma) — I invite you to keep track of my updates via Twitter.

Album of the Day: Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral

It’s the holidays, and I’m in Goth Martha Stewart mode! Let me share some easy ways to add a touch of Sin to your home decor.

The poster in the middle is a drawing of Seba and me, by Alice and the Cat (remember her Tokyo exhibit that we hosted)?

When I’m in Japan, I collect Goth and Jrock flyers. Stick them up, and your bland wall has turned cyber-glam.

You can achieve the same effect without flying to Japan. Simply print your favorite J-Goth photos in color, and arrange the prints on your wall.

I need to get rid of my boring bedsheets. But there’s nothing remotely pirate-punk in department stores.

Fortunately, I found an online shop that caters to us spooky kids. Sin In Linen stocks dark, flirty home goods. Help me decide between the above shower curtains: Rococo, skulls, black glitter!

My cat, Basil Farrow, votes for animal print sheets.

I prefer the skull pillows. But there’s something for every subculture; the Bedding includes pin-up girls, tattoos and spiderwebs.

The sheet sets are a good deal. My favorites are Raven’s Dream and Voodoo Bones.

How cute (and deadly) are these kitchen aprons? There are matching gloves and towels too.

Sin In Linen is a small woman-owned and operated business, so I feel good about supporting them. The Holiday gift guide has more ideas for darkly decorating your home.

Did you find these alternative / Gothic home decoration hints helpful? Will you be redecorating over the holidays? Please feel free to share your own tips in the comments!

Album of the Day: Blonde Redhead – 23

Uh oh. Today’s post contains… sexy, spiked platform shoes!

But first, a small Christmas favor. Do you pirates shop on Amazon.com? If so, would you kindly buy via this link (so I get commission?) There’s absolutely no extra costs to you. Simply click-click to access Amazon, and purchase anything from the site. Thanks!

I don’t usually shop in Lumine East Shinjuku, the department store next to station. Most of the boutiques are mori / forest / hippie style.

But there’s rockin’ exception: GladNews.

Leopard print fuzzy coats! Spiky sneakers! Punk platforms with skyscraper heels! I think they give Jeffrey Campbell a run for his money.

There’s clothes for both guys and dolls. Tons of skull and animal prints, and metal chains.

Faux fur is wild in Tokyo right now. I love my Banana Fish cheetah fuzz-jacket (that I wore on NHK TV).

It pays off to visit an atypical shopping location. I’m glad I stumbled across GladNews.

Nearby, in the underground Shinjuku Subnade, is Algonquins. The brand also has a punk-rocker flavor.

Got tons of holiday shopping to do? Don’t despair. It’s easier than ever to find cute Gothic clothes and Japanese cosmetics online. Below are my picks; click the photos, or search for yourself on Amazon USA or UK.

Did you get some gift ideas from this post? What is on your Christmas wishlist?

Album of the Day: Dir en Grey – Dum Spiro Spero (Congrats to Megan and Sumer, winners of the ticket and poster giveaway!)