Goth: Embrace the Macabre

Remember back in the early 2000’s, when everyone was like emo and punk rock? Or maybe that was just me. Look my love for Fall Out Boy runs deep. In my soul. That’s not what I’m here to talk about though. What I am here to talk about is the origin, the mother of Emo and Punk fashion. Goth. Goth fashion has a beautiful and deep culture that created an abundance of subcultures.

example of a more modern goth attire for masc.

Goth just like its aesthetic attire has a very dark origin. Dating back to the 1800s, when the mortality rates were extremely high … for reasons I’m sure we can all guess. Now with that there are going to naturally be a whole lot more funerals. We all know the expected attire for funerals, and let's keep that in mind. With funerals occurring so frequently to the point that basically you can go to a funeral on Monday and have another four to attend Wednesday and Thursday, you're going to wear a lot of black. Like a lot. So much black. All variations of black, and grays were included too. This can be kind of a downer. So people would start adding deep colors into their wardrobes, such as deep purples, blues, reds and sometimes greens. This was somewhat helpful in bringing some “light” into such dark and unprecedented times.

Just as Gothic attire was experimented with during the 1800s, the same type of innovation would continue throughout the years. Everything from music, film and economic downturns would play its part in the various subcultures that were created from Victorian Goth. These subcultures also brought around a large boost in popularity in the dark and macabre nature of the aesthetic. A personal favorite of mine, well I have a few favorites, but what brought it to my attention at a young age was none other than the 19030’s cult classic The Addams Family. The satirical spin, and direct antithesis of the Suburban Nuclear Family trope, was nothing but a pure and unapologetic embrace of all things spooky and macabre. Very Goth if you ask me. The entire wardrobe of the Addams Family was correlated back to Victorian Gothic inspirations, and did so very successfully. So successfully in fact that Morticia addams was truly a feminine Gothic icon. How many times did I dress up as Morticia for Halloween… is an embarrassing amount honestly. It goes to show the influence though. And from here Goth subcultures have only grown and expanded.

an example of a more modern gothic femme attire

As Gothic style grew in popularity and prevalence it began to dig its roots in fashion culture and branch into a variety of subcultures. Each new branch subculture brought about new realms of innovation and its own distinctive style. Like I mentioned previously the Goth style started seeing inspirations from music, film, art and literature, and every new genre brought about its own creative individuality. Although iits often misunderstood and misrepresented, Goth has truly become something that is vibrant, diverse and constantly evolving. Some of the more popular subcultures include; CyberGoth, Industrial Goth, Traditional Goth, Patel Goth and Gothic Lolita. The beauty here is that no matter what subgenre of Goth you lean more towards, there is absolutely a place for you. There are so many different subgenres outside of the few I listed above, and I will gladly go into all of them at a later date. For now lats just take a look at the variety that Goth has to offer.

Traditional Goth: a dark, romantic, and Victorian aesthetic rooted in 19th century gothic literature’

Industrial Goth: gothic and industrial music fused together by influence of electronic,. futuristic and dystopian aesthetics.

Deathrock Goth: punk and goth rock combined by the influence of horror and a more aggressive attitude.

Cyber Goth: goth meets cyberpunk, heavily influenced by technologic, futuristic and rave culture aesthetics.

Romantic Goth: mysterious, sensual and gothic, leaning into the more Victorian history and strong use of velvet, lace and literature themed.

Pastel Goth: soft kawaii pastels, adds a more colorful twist on the typical darkness of goth.

Hippie Goth: dark heavy nature, and religious themes with occult symbolism.

Vampire Goth: extremely similar to Romantic Goth, with more macabre incorporated with the aim of recreating more vampire like features through makeup and accessories.

Bubble Goth; pioneered by Kerli Koiv, blends beauty and creepy, playing with both light and dark elements.

Gothic Lolita: made popular by Japanese muscian Mana, characterized by darker clothing and makeup still within the classic Lolita trope.

Granted these few subgenres dont completely encompass all the different aesthetics and fashion movements that Goth has inspired, but it is a good start. Goth is truly the mother of alternative fashion in so many ways, and theres still so much room for innovation. At its core, Goth is still all about embracing the creepy, scary, downturns, rebellious, supernatural and overall macabre of life. There’s so much that can still be done with it, and theres still so many other aesthetics that stem from Goth but have become its own culture within a culture. Knowing the origin of alternative aesthetics can be extremely helpful in helping those that are interested in exploring a more non-conformative appearance. Hopefully this has helped to some extent. Take what I’ve presented here and do some deeper dives of your own. You may surprise yourself with your own creativity.

Thanks for joining us, and we’ll talk again soon!