The Style Maven: the gothic revival

I wasn't a goth when I was a teenager but I did fancy one. I'm talking about a post-punk-subculture type of the late 1980s, by the way, rather than an invading Germanic chap from the fourth century. My one did his hair like Robert Smith's from The Cure, wore a tiny smudge of black eyeliner - swoon - and no socks with his Dr Martens (I think this was unique to him rather than any kind of prescribed goth opt-out) and, unlike most adolescent boys I knew, was clever and kind. Even so, ultimately, understandably, given his passionate stand for boys in black eyeliner, he wanted a similarly committed gothess on his arm, not someone who occasionally wore a long black skirt with small cowbells attached to its waist ribbon. Win some, lose some. Anyway, what would my mum have said?

READ: A Model Recommends - Gucci gothic makeup

I am still a girl who only flirts with the idea of the gothic. I do like the notion. I was always deeply envious of the Scottish Widow in the advert, swooping around in her hooded robe, and I am very taken with Frida Giannini's dark and brooding Gucci collection for this season. Giannini's woman is less Robert Smith groupie and more Pre-Raphaelite vision in velvet. Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey would do some serious sighing over all those 'something of the night' floor-length gowns.

IN PICTURES: Gothic chic

It's Hallowe'en this week, of course, so there is no more appropriate time to be swooping and spooking. But that's just it, isn't it? The gothic look always comes across a bit fancy dress. How do you pull it off if you're not on a catwalk or Angelina Jolie? The bad news is you probably don't unless you work in a nightclub or regularly attend the opera. If that is you, I jealously urge you to embrace the velvet and black lace and buy a cape immediately while you've got the excuse of it being on-trend. Don't start brandishing crosses, though. Much as I love a bit of Versace va-va-voom I find the ornate crucifixes emblazoned on its current collection too far on the side of Dracula's Van Helsing. If I'm honest, I will only be making a gesture towards gothic this season; a black skirt (no cowbells) and a smudge of black eyeliner, in memoriam.

From left: Suede boots, £350, by Kurt Geiger kurtgeiger.com , Polyester shirt, £38, by Topshop topshop.com , Crystal and brass earrings, £610, by Dolce & Gabbana (020 7659 9000)