Born in the '80s, the Goth movement is a relatively young but powerful sub-culture.

Rooted
in the attitude of "breaking the mold", Gothic culture stands for challenging societal norms
and throwing out all ideas of organization, order, and expectation.

Although there are many amazing elements of the Gothic sub-culture that feed off of each
other. Gothic fashion has a beautiful mystery to it, the haunting, verging on morbid, dark
tones and the inspiring mix of Victorian and Punk stylistic influences.

WHAT EXACTLY IS GOTHIC FASHION?

As most sub-cultures begin, Goth culture can really be traced to the music scene and the
introduction of Goth Rock during the Post-Punk era in England. Goth Rock was dark and
disturbing, yet somehow ethereal, and really played on people's desire for individuality and
revolution. As this genre started to gain traction, it moved further and further away from the
Post-Punk scene and enjoyed its own devoted following, allowing the movement to catch fire
not only in England but all over the world.

Bauhaus, the widely considered first Goth Rock group

It didn't take long for Goth culture to expand beyond music and into all of the other facets of
sub-culture, and quickly became a movement including art, films, and fashion. The
underlying tones of the Gothic subculture are its dark aesthetic, mixed with influences from
the 1800's, and never lacking in mystery and complexity.

These tones can be seen clearly in all of the elements that make Gothic fashion what it is. The
Gothic aesthetic revolves around dark clothing, hair, and makeup, starkly contrasted by the
paleness of skin, and materials and fashion staples reminiscent of the Victorian age. The
major elements in Gothic women's fashion: corsets, dresses, and skirts.

Gothic Dress is a stark black or dark style of clothing worn by the members of the Goth subculture.
Gothic fashion clothing, which is considered by many as a protest against the extravagance, can be
described as a profusion of dark velvets, fishnets, lace, tight corsets, gloves and leather shaded with
scarlet. Gothic clothing also features Dark make up such as black lips, dark eyeliner, dark finger-nails
and black dyed hair.

The Gothic time dress is usually divided into two periods, Early Gothic
period (1200-1350) and Late Gothic period (1350-1450). The outfits
in the Early Gothic period were more sophisticated, graceful and
simpler in cut than the Romanesque period. Sleeves used to be tight
and the forearms were given more importance. Minimal trimmings on
the Gothic clothing were also a feature of the Early Gothic period. The
Gothic dresses were usually longer and the necklines were deep. Styles
changed quickly during the Late Gothic period. The period moved
from the earlier flowing draperies that metamorphosed, into fabrics
that kept on becoming more and stiffer with the passage of time.
During the 15th century, the extremes were mostly in the upper
silhouette. Crisp pleats, tight belts, padded doublets, leg-o-mutton
sleeves were also some of the important features of the Gothic clothing
in the Late Gothic period.

In the Early Gothic period, men wore hair at a sensible length

often in a bob to the jaw line with a bang across the forehead. Men
often bleached their hair as blond hair was popular. Few men
wore beards. In the Late Gothic period, men wore hair bobbed
with neatly curled ends. Young girls in both periods wore their
hair loose, flowing upon their shoulders. But after marriage, they
used to confine their hair in a bun at the nape. They also used to
wear many types of hair pieces, such as wimple and gorget, to
cover it.

Gothic corset is an important piece of Gothic dress. It shapes the

body of a girl like an hourglass. It was very popular during the
Victorian and medieval ages. Even today, Gothic corset is widely
popular as even today, hourglass shape of a girl's is considered as
aesthetic and flattering. At the outset, a Gothic corset was very
uncomfortable to wear. It is only with the passage of time that the
garment became more soft and convenient to wear.

Gothic outfits like fishnets are summer temperature friendly.

Fishnets can be worn on arms, legs or even as shirts and jumpers.
Cotton bloomers, lace-trimmed long skirt and flowing gauzy skirts are some of those parts of Gothic
clothing that are very comfy to wear in the summer. Men wear shirts with ruffles, buckles and lacing that
look just like pirate shirts. In summer, male Goths wear light natural fiber shirts and short black trousers,
accessorized with wide-brimmed hats, black umbrellas and silver ornaments. Gothic clothing is
incomplete without Gothic boots. Female Goths usually wear dark black boots with high heels, while
Gothic men wear dark black flatted boots, which are usually heavy. However, one can also come across
Goths wearing bloody-red boots.

Gothic movement; origins, influences and

foundations
 Well established for decades, Gothicism remains for the common mortals a
mysterious current, dark or even satanic, which mixes clothing style and musical
tastes. For the neophyte, gothics are inevitably fans of Marilyn Manson, clothe
themselves in black, are obsessed with death and occult rituals and are somewhat
strange and dismal beings.

History, origins and influences

Before the arrival of Gothicism in the 1960s and early '70s, some influential groups
from various musical backgrounds prepared the ground for the trend to emerge as a
mainstream. Among others, we're talking about Velvet Underground, which added a
dark side to their hippie-style music, David Bowie, a peculiar pre-punk and Alice
Cooper, which brought a very theatrical and dark side to his rock style.

The societal framework of the time, with the sexual revolution, the hippie movement
and the emergence of anti-capitalist and anti-bourgeois protest movements, paved
the way to the arrival of refractory and counter-cultural currents. The table was set to
see appearing movements such as punk, metal and gothic.

Following closely the emergence of the punk movement, the gothic current appeared
in the mid 70’s in the United Kingdom. This movement, essentially counter-cultural,
first referred to the musical style of its followers: the new black and theatrical punk
combined with psychedelia brought by groups such as Bauhaus, Virgin Prunes, Joy
Division and Siouxsie. The latter, in addition to incorporating a dark and melancholic
connotation to their punk music, add psychedelic elements inspired by the works of
The Doors and Velvet Underground. Combined, these two factors gave rise to what
the music press will call "monochrome punk" or "cold wave", since the term gothic
was not yet adopted, although some journalists have already used this adjective.

It is really with the opening of the London nightclub "Batcave" that the movement
took all its magnitude. Indeed, since then, the movement is permanently anchored in
the list of musical currents and now allows itself to sub-categorize by the sartorial
and musical choices of the groups that are part of it. Too soon, probably, because
this rapid sub-categorization will cause a dilution of the movement before it is strong
enough to bear the consequences. The group The Cure, for example, will bring a
pop connotation to the movement, which will make them forget their gothic trends.

The return of the gothic movement will arrive in Germany, a few years later, in the
80s, with the arrival of groups bringing a religious and philosophical connotation to
the trend. Gothicism will then resume their natural subcategorization, now better
supported, incorporating metal, industrial, medieval and fantastic styles. In the
2000s, for example, the groups Nine Inch Nails and Rammstein brought their
industrial touch while Marilyn Manson integrates the gothic scene firmly, becoming in
a way the icon of the movement for this decade and bringing out the gothic
movement not only as a musical style but as a well-defined fashion category. Gothic
does not only refer to a musical style, it is now an adjective used to designate the
followers of these groups, who display a style of clothing and an ideology of their
own.
This sub-categorization is now taking on an important dimension, becoming a full-
fledged urban culture, including more than a hundred different clothing styles such
as cyber goth, glam goth, traditional goth and Victorian goth, to name only a few.

Religion, political impact and criticism

As can be seen, despite popular belief, Gothicism did not arise from any particular
affiliation with anti-religion or satanism. It is only with the evolution of the movement
that this aspect integrated the culture, as black metal did in the metal current. Many
styles of gothics are characterized by agnosticism and atheism, while others preach
satanism, anti-Christ and occultism. It is therefore reductive to believe that gothic
refers only to Satan's diabolism and idolization. In short, some gothics preach the
devil, others criticize the established religions and others advocate atheism. Religion
or anti-religion is therefore not an inclusive or exclusive criterion of the movement.

Since its emergence, the gothic movement has often made the news. Inevitably, this
atypical dark trend has been assigned responsibilities for acts of extreme violence.
For example, the 1999 killing at Colombine, perpetrated by two young followers of
gothic music, soon put the movement into the spotlight, blaming it for its evil and
satanic tendencies that influenced the two murderers to act like they did that day.

Aesthetics and gothic fashion

Much more than a musical trend, gothic, as we know, is now a style of clothing in its
own right. This current refers to both belonging to the musical stream, to a marked
counter-culture and to a demand for refinement and elegance while challenging the
so-called ''conventional'' aestheticism advocated by the media and the popular trend.

The media image of aestheticism caricatures the body, disfigures it and reduces it to
the idea of the perfect body, thin, sexy and typical. For gothic, the body is accepted
as it is and becomes the subject of an artistic research of its own. It creates a divide
with what society projects in mass and places the body and the image as a work of
art, by make-up, hairstyle, clothes and jewels highlighting it.

Among the aesthetic constants of the movement, we observe a very marked use of
black colour, silver metal and leather. There is a lot of fishnet, torn or hole-type
textiles, where the skin is unveiled and enhanced. Tattoos, piercings, chains and
nails are often part of the style. All these predominant characteristics tend to mark a
melancholy and romantic image, where the body is highlighted and where the
elements tend towards the anti-conformism, the rejection of the image of the perfect
body, the strong personality and the unique aspect of the ideology.

Conclusion
Over time, the gothic movement broadens its horizons and expands its aesthetic
codes by tapping into the various cultural contributions that emerge.

It remains difficult to clearly establish the beacons and constraints of the trend
without falling into caricature and reduction since each gothic displays his own
musical tastes and advocates individual creativity to establish his image. Even some
clearly gothic artists reject the label, finding it narrow and reductive, because of the
criticism and description that the music press made of it over the years.

The global movement, however, can be described as a desire for uniqueness, a

rejection of established social conventions, and an interest in a counter-cultural and
unconventional ideology, romantic and theatrical, though dismal. Gothic seeks to
peacefully provoke by their look in order to advocate freedom to be and to think, far
from stereotypes and social pressures deemed too conformist.

Gothicism is a counter-culture movement that appeared between the late 1970s and
the early 1980s, after the punk and post-punk musical movements. Gothic fashion is
only one element of the Gothic movement.

The predominant use of black color, whether in clothing or makeup. The chains, the
leather, the nails and rivets, the piercings and the fishnet are also used in a
preponderant way. The jewels are rather silver than gold, the clothes are often torn
or unstructured and the shoes take a predominant place in the overall outfit. Also, in
general, all Gothic adopt a form of artistic research in their aesthetics, which is
against the stereotypes of the perfect body and look according to society. It can be
said that all Goths have a desire to stand out in a society considered too conformist.

Several judgments and interpretations are affixed by the mass towards the followers
of the Gothic fashion. Indeed, people tend to associate Gothic with metal music,
Satanism, occultism, fascism, death, macabre, violence, witchcraft, mysticism and
unbridled sexual practices such as sado-masochism and fetishism. Although this
may be true for some individuals, it would be reductive to believe that all Gothics are
fervent of all these elements. Some of the existing Gothic types.

Cyber Goth
Combined with the typical use of black, Cyber Goths incorporate elements of bright,
neon and fluorescent colors to their look. The style and accessories are inspired by a
futuristic aestheticism. We often find colorful synthetic dreadlocks hairstyles dotted
with all kinds of funky items. Cyber Goths love platform shoes and boots,
accessories such as medical-style gas masks, vintage aviator-style goggles and they
display a very extravagant make-up. Cyber Goths are somehow the most esthetically
remote from the general Gothic movement. They also get apart with their musical
choices since they are particularly fond of techno and dance music.

Image source: Pinterest.

Emo Goth
Although Emo and Goth are two different styles, Emo fashion is a direct derivative of
Gothic fashion, which is why we approach it here. Both come from a punk influence.
The main characteristics of Emo are black or bright color hair with long bangs, dark
nail polish, eyeliner and interest marked for melancholy, skulls, bats, riveted
accessories, Converse type shoes and piercings.
Image source: Pinterest

Geek Goth
Geek Goths are Gothic individuals that are fanatic of video games, cosplay, science
fiction and comic books. Aside from the frequent wearing of glasses, the Geek Goths
are not easy to identify since they wear clothes from all gothic types and carry few
accessories. This genre refers to the mix of gothic and geek interests rather than the
clothing style itself.
Image source: Pinterest

Gothabilly
Style originating from the mix of 50s Rockabilly and Gothic trend. There is a marked
use of retro clothing and accessories, tattoos, pencil skirts, A-line dresses, striped or
polka dot patterns, loops, square fringes, bright red lipstick and leather jackets.
Image source: Pinterest

Fetish Goth
Leather, PVC, tattoos, piercings, corsets, stilettos and BDSM accessories are an
integral part of this style. We can find several types of fetish goth according to the
object of their individual obsession. Sexuality is much more part of their aesthetics
than for other types of goths. Among their favorite accessories are chains, whips and
hangers.
Image source: VampireFreaks.com

Hippy Goth
Followers of this style advocate respect for the environment and wildlife,
vegetarianism, a bohemian and libertarian lifestyle, ecology, environmental activism,
world peace, freedom of expression, mythology and magic. On the aesthetic side,
they mix, as we can imagine, the characteristics of goth and hippy movements by
loose clothing, headbands, round smoked glasses, velvet and hats.
Image source: Pinterest

Lolita Goth
Born and popularized in Japan, this trend is a mix of Victorian Goth and Romantic
Goth that is made for a younger audience. It is inspired by Lolita fashion adding a
dark touch to it to make it a Gothic style. Lolita Goths often have large umbrellas,
dolls and stuffed animals, puffed dresses and tights.
Image source: Exclusivegeek

Rivethead
Also known as Industrial Goth, this style is largely inspired by the punk movement,
even though most fans of this style tend to avoid being labeled as Gothics. It
integrates trench coats, ripped jeans, straps, leather, Dr. Martens style boots, big
buckle belts, heavy use of monochrome black, studs, rivets, chains, with a certain
military aspect.
Image source: Pinterest

Romantic Goth
This type is advocated by partisans of themes related to love, death and everything
in between. They are fond of accessories with red or black roses, cemeteries, full
moons and skulls. They are dreamers and emotional people. In addition to the
typical black color, they also incorporate red wine and purple colors to their outfit.
Women wear elegant dresses, lace gloves, veils and smoky-eyes makeup. Romantic
Goths usually show calm, taciturn and creative personalities.
Image source: Mariaamanda

Steampunk Goth
A blend of Cyber Goth and Victorian Goth, Steampunk Gothism refers to a genre
sporting a sort of Victorian science fiction. It shows a lot of creativity and uses a lot of
accessories often created from scratch. Bronze and copper colors, corsets, aviator
style sunglasses, hats, suspenders, gloves, bracelets and dresses or trousers are
used.
Image source: Pinterest

Traditional Goth
Also called Trad Goth. The followers of this style were the first of the movement and
continue, despite themselves, to be the representatives of the current as such.
Dressed in black, they advocate clothing made of nets, leather coats, trench coats,
chains, skulls, long frizzy black hair and substantial makeup. They often incorporate
items inspired by punk culture and adapt them in their own way.
Source: Pinterest

Vampire Goth
Easy to spot, the Vampire Goth is obviously a style inspired by vampirism. They
show pale skin, black capes, smoked glasses during their daytime outings and
advocate accessories representing skulls and bats. They love vampire literature and
cinema such as Anne Rice's books and Dracula's movies.
Image source: Pinterest

Victorian Goth
The long dresses of the Victorian era and all that surrounds this period, such as the
manners of high society, luxury, the ritual of tea, theater and literature, are
advocated here. It features jewelry representing class and distinction, ball gown, long
hair and a sober and classic makeup.