You’re a Goth, I’m a Goth, Everybody’s Goth.

I’ve gone through phases with my wardrobe. I went through the ‘i’m fat and only wear baggy clothes’ phase. I went through the ‘i really like this skirt and im going to buy it but never wear it cause i feel too ugly in it’ phase. Now i’m going through the ‘i’ve lost some weight and i’ll be damned if all these clothes are going to go to waste’ phase.

So yesterday I was out of clean pants and decided to wear a skirt i had bought years ago but never really wore, because I’m too self conscious.  It’s a bit big on me now, but I still like it, so I rolled it up a little bit until it fit.

I can’t wear skirts and dresses at the deli, so I put a pair of black leggings on underneath to meet the dress code. I can’t wear flats or open toed shoes at work, so I wore a pair of sneakers. I also wore my studded belt that’s now two sizes too big for me and hangs on my hips uselessly, but cute. I paired it with my royal blue Tokidoki t-shirt, since i’m obsessed with TK.

Nothing about my outfit is ‘gothic.’

I did not wake up saying “im a goth. im gonna dress gothy.”

I dressed in a skirt that I love that happens to be black with ruffles on it. Everything else was normal clothes I wear everday.

But for some reason, about 10 people needed to comment on it. I got:

- it must be halloween, cause you’re dressed like a ballerina

- a gothic ballerina

- you’re always dressing so gothic

- takes a lot of courage/balls to dress how you feel.

- it shows you’re a bold, outgoing person

- you really are a gothic princess

ETC.

 

Mostly people just laughed. I don’t get why though, it was just a skirt. I often get randomly called a Goth by people I work with though. I don’t think there’s anything at all odd about the way i dress. I usually just wear a band tshirt (mainly Alkaline Trio) and black jeans. My hair is blue or purple etc. But it’s just clothes. I’m not trying to be anything.

 

 

This is the wikipedia definition of Gothic Fashion. As much as I admire and adore Gothic and Punk fashion, I do not set out to copy or embrace it. I simply buy what I like, and I’m tired of being labeled by ignorant people.

Gothic fashion is a clothing style worn by members of the Goth subculture; a dark, sometimes morbid, eroticized fashion and style of dress.^[1] Typical Gothic fashion includes black dyed and crimped hair, bright lips and black clothes.^[1] Both male and female goths sometimes wear dark eyeliner and dark fingernails. Styles are often borrowed from the Punks, Victorians and Elizabethans. BDSM imagery and paraphernalia are also common.^[1] Some haute couture designers, particularly Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, have been associated with the goth aesthetic.

Cintra Wilson declares that “The origins of contemporary goth style are found in the Victorian cult of mourning.”^[2] Valerie Steele is an expert in the history of the style.^[2]

Goth fashion can be recognized by its stark black clothing (or hair or makeup),^[1] The style initially emerged alongside the early 1980s Gothic rock scene. Simon Reynolds identifies the usual appearance of

“

deathly pallor, backcombed or ratted black hair, ruffled Regency shirts, stovepipe hats, leather garments, spiked dog collars, the ensemble accessorized with religious, magical or macabre jewellery (bone earrings, rosaries, pentacles, ankhs, skulls), typically made from silver.[3]

”

Reynolds also notes “fishnet stockings, black leather thigh boots, [and] witchy eye make-up.”^[4]

Ted Polhemus described goth fashion as a

“

profusion of black velvets, lace, fishnets and leather tinged with scarlet or purple, accessorized with tightly laced corsets, gloves, precarious stilettos and silver jewelry depicting religious or occult themes.[5]

”

Researcher Maxim W. Furek noted,

“

Goth is a revolt against the slick fashions of the 1970’s disco era and a protest against the colorful pastels and extravagance of the 1980’s. Black hair, dark clothing and pale complexions provide the basic look of the Goth Dresser. One can paradoxically argue that the Goth look is one of deliberate overstatement as just a casual look at the heavy emphasis on dark flowing capes, ruffled cuffs, pale makeup and dyed hair demonstrate a modern- day version of late Victorian excess.[6]

”

Goth fashion is sometimes confused with heavy metal fashion.