An Intro to Goth

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The Influence of the Gothic Subculture on Fashion and Pop Culture
Take a dive into the ‘dark aesthetic’

When someone thinks of the term goth, their minds automatically go to the recently mainstream popular character Wednesday Addams, Ozzy Osborne chomping away at a bat, or people who wear black and skulk around in graveyards.

Despite these associations, there is far more to the Goth subculture than meets the eye. There are several branches of the gothic subculture, each with its own distinct appearances, aesthetics, and associated music.

Brief history of the sub-culture

Gothic subculture, like many others, is based on the genre of music with the same name. Similar to punk and metal, gothic music falls under the overarching banner of rock music. The gothic movement started in the late 70s to early 80s in the UK. Like the punk subculture, followers of of the gothic subculture have a distinct style that sees fans predominantly wearing black clothes, chunky silver jewelry, and pale makeup that is accentuated with dark eyeshadows, and lipsticks.

The Goth subculture takes inspiration from moments throughout history, including Renaissance paintings, Victorian literature, cemeteries, and horror movies to name a few.

Goth and pop-culture

People in the goth subculture, are often curious about things that are deemed morbid. They aren’t afraid of things that are considered spooky and are willing to lend an ear to things that are misunderstood. This is reflected in the media they consume.

Notable books associated with the goth subculture are Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Oscar Wilde’s The Portrait of Dorian Gray, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein - just to name a few.

In the same way, some of the notable movies include The Crow, The Craft, Addams Family, The Munsters, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, anything by Tim Burton, and so on.

These examples are the extremely popular ones, and only the tip of the iceberg into understanding in the interest of those in the goth subculture.

Beliefs

Despite wearing religious paraphernalia, and being wrongly associated with Satanism, most people who are in the goth subculture do not associate with religion. However, there is an affinity to the architecture of churches and old European buildings that have soft space in their hearts.

If anything, most goths lean towards pagan practices, but this is per the individual and does not reflect on the mass in any way.

Fashion and aesthetics

Other than music, the most notable thing about goths is their fashion sense and aesthetics. It’s not just full black clothing, black lipstick, and chunky platform booths. There are several more sub-sectors within the goth subculture. Here you will find the likes of groups such as trad goths, mall goths, victorian goths, cyber goths, pastel goths and romantic goths - to name a few. Each of these sub-sectors has unique differences in the attire they wear, and how they accessorize.

That being said, it is important to not paint all goths with the same brush. for example, not every goth you see is going to have a facial piercing, tattoo, or body modification, and not all goths wear full black, and sometimes you will see a corporate goth in an office who tones down their aesthetic for the sale of professionalism.

Conclusion

The fashion and aesthetics of the gothic subculture are derived from the music genre of the same name.

This subculture has been around for over 40 years and has taken inspiration from not just music, but all forms of media like books, art, and movies - to create the rich and cultured subculture that it is today.