Gothic fashion and trends date back to the Victorian Era and still goes on today with the help of Gothic fashion designers and enthusiasts. The Gothic look is a display of the dark and mysterious representation of one’s pseudo-personality. Dark to black clothes, pale complexion, black or grey to white hair and black lips are the staple traits of the style.
There are a lot of types of Gothic looks and groupings, but don’t confuse them with “emo” and heavy metal fashion. Those are completely different and very far from the elegance of true Gothic fashion. Here are the most prominent categories to choose from.
Romantic
This version involves tailored jackets made of velvet, laces, fascinator and top hats, symbolic items and trinkets - mostly of occult reference. Wearing fish nets and long flowing dresses with matching jet black straight hair are for ladies. The attitude mostly carries this fashion statement.
Cyber Goth
These are freakishly bright to neon and very close to punk but could still be distinguished by the amount of black and Gothic items on their style. Even the hair style and colour can deviate a lot from the traditional, having streaks of bright green to orange looking like post-apocalyptic anarchists.
Victorian
The Victorian Goth is most intricate Gothic style of all the others. It can vary with the inclusion of every Gothic style except for punk and cyber. The fashion consists of velvet, leather and all sorts of uses of netting. This style is most commonly coupled with steam punk goggles and other accessories of the same nature; steam punk Goth styles are sometimes called neo-Victorian.
But why go with black and darkness?
Going black for Goths is like drinking water. It’s the staple and only unchangeable colour in their palette. The question is so old and still has no proper answer. For every Goth culture and sub-culture, there are always different answers and even the location of a culture affects the variation.
Same goes with the year the Gothic crowd thrives. In the 1970’s to 80’s the majority of reaction was a protest to loud colours in the disco party era. These are the people who are not fans of lively hippie discos or just fascinated by the Gothic culture and cannot be swayed towards the mainstream.
Maybe it’s the mystery within the fashion itself. As black represents darkness like how the night covers everything with a dark blanket; maybe that’s how people cover up what’s inside. But either way, we can never fully understand the symbolism of black, darkness and the connection of the occult to the style unless we lived during the upsurge of Gothic fashion.
Is it for everyone?
The answer is yes and no. Gothic style can be achieved by nearly anyone as long as they have the right mindset for it. Being Gothic is motivated by embracing new stuff, that’s why the wardrobe is full of conspicuously peculiar items. You can get your Gothic jewellery supplies Perth or any shop that sells them if you don’t have any.
The ‘no’ part is if your short on budget or you have the feeling it just won’t work out for you. Some Gothic items, particularly if you try steam punk and romantic, can get really out of your budget. Remember that being Gothic is being proud and embracing the strange style it offers so don’t be afraid to mix and match.
