Gothic and Alternative Fashion

Darkwave, deathrock, EBM - three names that often come up together, but they stand for completely different sounds, aesthetics, and ways of dressing. If you're already part of this scene or just starting to find your way around it, you...

Gothic rock is one of those genres everyone has heard of, but few people can actually describe in concrete terms. Where does it come from, what does it sound like, and why does its influence show up not just in...

Flea markets, basement clubs and cassette tapes recorded by a friend. That was how goth started in 1990s Poland, and it was a world away from what was happening in the West at the same time. Goth reached Poland along...

Bauhaus released "Bela Lugosi's Dead" in 1979 and something shifted. Not just in music, but in the way people started dressing. Four decades later, goth is a completely different world, though some things have stayed exactly the same. 80s goth...

Black in goth culture is one of those topics where everyone has an opinion, but few people know the full story. Where did it come from, what does it actually mean, and is it even a hard rule? Goths wear...

The word "gothic" shows up everywhere: in descriptions of cathedrals, horror novels, band names, and outfits. But where does it actually come from, and how did one word end up describing so many different things? The name "gothic" comes from...

London, 1982, a basement on Meard Street in Soho. This is where something started that changed the way people thought about alternative fashion for decades to come. The Batcave club was not just a spot on the map - it...

Punk, black, Bauhaus and English clubs in the 80s. Where did goth subculture actually come from, and what kept it alive in so many different forms? Goth subculture grew out of post-punk in the late 70s and early 80s in...

Gothic, punk, grunge, dark academia - at first glance they all look pretty similar: black, leather, a certain distance from the mainstream. But when you're standing in front of your wardrobe or browsing an online shop, the differences suddenly get...

A wardrobe full of clothes and nothing to actually wear. It's the classic trap when building a new style from scratch: you buy things that look great in photos, but once they're home, they don't work together or with anything...

Goths are vampires, Satanists, or rebellious teenagers who'll grow out of it in a few years. You still hear that kind of thing today, even though the goth subculture has existed for over four decades and is far more varied...

The pentagram is a satanic symbol. The ankh is just an Egyptian-themed accessory. The gothic cross is, well, a cross. How many times have you heard these oversimplifications, knowing full well that each of these signs carries something far more...

Black lids, a sharp liner, a deep lipstick. Sounds like a description of a bold everyday look, but gothic makeup is more than just a collection of dark products. The difference is in how those elements work together and what...

Before goth became something you could recognize by cuts and fabrics, it was first and foremost a sound. Specific sounds drew specific people, and those people started dressing in ways that expressed something of that sound. It was not a...

Batcave, a London club from the early 1980s, is one of those places that changed the way people thought about getting dressed. Not because anyone laid down rules there, but because people started combining music, fabrics, and cuts into something...

Gothic fashion has been around for decades, and there are still plenty of misconceptions floating around: that it's all black, that it requires a full face of makeup, that you can't wear it every day. Time to set the record...