Saturday, January 29, 2011

On Main Stream Goth:

I just saw a video on ‘How to Dress Goth.’ This was not on a Goth blog for other Goths. It was on American Consumer News.

Showing you how to buy new clothing and give them a Goth flare.

No thrift store finds. No ‘Do it yourself.’ No buying from Goth shops.

I struggled about adding the link. Did I really want to add to their hit totals and make them feel that they were in the right.

Goth is about being different not main stream.

Yes, it is nice to find more Goth stuff around, but at such a point that everyone is doing it? I think not.

I’ll still be true to myself and make a lot of my clothing, revamp thrift store finds, and/or doing without.

The day I start to buy my Goth wear at the local department store I’ll know that true Goth is dead.

Edit:

Hi Readers,

I too have bought some of my Goth wear in a department store. I meant not buying it 'only' in a department store.

Thanks for letting me clear that up.

Hugs, Lady Euphoria

4 comments:

Mouse said...

Wow. I got less than 2 minutes into the video because I just couldn't stand the fact that she had NO CLUE what the heck she was talking about... not to mention that I wouldn't be caught DEAD in anything she had on those racks.
Its always clearly obvious when you see someone who bought their entire outfit off the rack somewhere (see:
"Hot Topic Goths")because it totally lacks any personality or character.

Amy Asphodel said...

"How to be stylin' in Goth"?! Dear God, someone pass me a bucket. As soon as I read that in the video description I knew I was in for a real 'treat'.

I do buy some of my stuff in mainstream stores, but always mix and match with hand-made and custom-designed pieces.

Anonymous said...

Department store gothwear--guilty! I bought a wallet and a studded belt at Walmart, and a grommetted shirt at the Bon-Ton. And I buy a lot of basics at the Bon-Ton. Oh, yes. And my lace skirt came from Charlotte Russe (a gift--and on a huge sale, or it wouldn't be in my closet). While I adore thrifting as much as many goths, I'm learning to realize that I have to get a little more creative, as even thrifiting is difficult where I live. I completely concur with the mainstream bumbling, though--that goth is just a fashion, and a fashion that anyone can do (well). My own mother went on about how she accepts my goth "style", but not my undershave. I'm just going to file this one under "The Mainstream Still Doesn't Get It", and see what lots of pins, patches and Walmart or Amazon craft finds can do for me and my unfortunately sometimes thrifted, sometimes not--wardrobe. Not really much one can do, except glare on the one hand and clean up the spoils on the other!

Anonymous said...

Okay, going to comment on the video, now. Um...oh my goth they just mentioned Camden Town!!! Damn tourists will be all over that place now! Oh well, maybe it will keep the drug dealers from pestering those goth and alternatives who aren't interested in their next high? Okay, go tthat out of my system. First, while the general idea of Victorian Gothic fashion (though it really seemed more Neo-Victorian to me--as most proper Victorians probably didn't wear sheer sleeves; they did, however, wear short sleeved ball dresses that bared the collar bone)--but as any goth who's done their homework knows--there's more to dressing goth than just throwing on some ruffles, frills, and a studded belt, or the traditional all black. Yup, sorry mainstream--but the more you try to exploit it, the less you will get it. As for my own self, I will buy my clothes in whatever store I am. If that means grabbing a shirt at the Bon-Ton, a skirt from Goodwill, a jacket from another thrift store, grommet tape from Walmart, and jewelry from the Internet--I will do it. Because it doesn't matter where your clothes come from--it's how you put them together. And that, in my opinion is the little detail the mainstream will never get. Okay, enough of my banter! But no matter how "stylish" a mainstremaer might be, no matter how confidently the "look" is pulled off, there will probably always be a little bit of something...missing. So in a strange way, the more the mainstream tries to exploit us, the safer we may actually be, fashion-wise. Okay, I'm not sure if that made much sense... But goth style isn't about hopping over to your nearest department store and grabbing the latest tend; I don't think even visiting alternative shops involves much in the way of "trends", at least, not to the degree of mainstream fashion. Okay, I'm going to go write a blog post on this, now. Apologies for turning the comment into a book!