I guess I've never felt that sentiment from the people I know who dress in goth outfits. Their belief is that if you don't dress a certain way all the time (and this includes almost all black, all the time), you're not "goth," you don't fit into the lifestyle. Which I find ridiculous and close-minded. Goth, to me, is a state of mind, an appreciation for and romanticizing of dark things, of not quite fitting in, of being outside the 'norm.' It isn't a style of dress.

While I find goth outfits interesting, and I'll dress myself up that way when I'm going out to a goth club, I don't feel I need to look that way 24/7, wear all black all the time, to express myself, to express my darkness and have others identify with it. Sometimes the darkest things happen behind white picket fences, in suburban neighborhoods, and in the minds of seemingly 'average' looking people. If one's darkness is discounted simply because they don't wear black all the time, I think you're missing out on a lot of interesting, scary stuff.

IDK, I see wearing normal looking clothes as limiting myself to....well, looking normal. I want to look like Maleficent, Anna-Varney, Siouxsie Sioux, Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, Patricia Morrison, Wayne Hussey, Carl McCoy, Eva O. There's so much to choose from in the Dark category! There's literally no limit to it.

The Motorola CIO?

Or, to quote Sherlock Holmes: "It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." (from "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches," by Arthur Conan Doyle)

-- Nephele
Who has always found Sherlock Holmes to be rather gothic. And steampunk, too.

Start a thread! Start a thread!!

I do see my limits as being because of the goth subculture. It is a personal thing I have had sense childhood and IS my personality and is expressed as such in the way I view my clothing and how upset I become personally if every little thing doesn't match like I want it too. With or without Goth, I would still be this way. Limiting or not, it is my personality and as sad as it is, that is how I like it. I would hope my look as defined by my color scheme shows a bit of elegance and class- even if that class is freaky and morbid as hell.

My use of bright color is usually limited to nail polish. Light blue and light purple are two of my favorites, and look great with all black clothing.

I agree that goth style is interesting and definitely fun to wear, but I do find that wearing mostly black all the time is limiting, which was the point of my first post in this thread. I don't consider my personal style to be 'normal' or 'standard,' and don't consider my choice to avoid more 'costume-y' styles of dress (unless I'm going to a goth, fetish or glam club) to be limiting. My wardrobe is full of interesting, odd colors, patterns and prints and I like putting outfits together. But when I leave the house, I don't feel like I'm dressed in costume as a character or a member of a band. I feel like myself, which is exactly how I want to feel.

I don't mind bright colors but only as either accessories or as something meant to stand out from the rest. I don't think I've ever tried wearing more than 1 bright color at once since usually for me it's something like a bright red tank top with black pants, black shoes, and a black jacket. To wear a bottom that isn't a dark color is extremely unusual for me.

Depending on how bright we're talking, I try not to put a block bright (such as a plain bright top) with black (especially black shoes!) unless the colour is balanced with accessories, as I think it can look cheap. Indigo denim looks good with bright tops, or I use a bright colour to brighten a neutral outfit. I'm very cautious about mixing bright colours together, I tend to pair brights and neutrals together to avoid clashing colours.

Of course, all of this is based on 5 and a half years of working in mainstream fashion, so make of it what you will. I'd like to think the rules of fashion apply across subcultures.



~N

Clashing colors (on my person)...nothing scares me more.

I'm in a bit of a pinkish mood at the moment. I'm talking Emilie Autumn kind of pallettes. Fortunately, there is much light pink and vintage creams and coppers to go with in high street shops right now...:3

I wear colorful DMs with my dark attire. Just white & purple, right now. My black ones are knee-high and I don't like to go through all that lacing most of the time. My green ones are, sadly far too small to wear comfortably. When I first got them they were only a little tight.

I like to match bright colors with my black clothes for example I love the color bright red which is why I have shirts with both black and bright red.

I tend to wear mostly blacks and grays in winter, simply because my warmer clothes (and actually, the clothes that last the longest without showing wear) are those colors. My summer clothes tend to have a few more colors, olive, royal blue, purple, and some reds, but I always have something else black on my person. I don't like bright colors, not even jewel tones for the most part. Muted colors. The days I go without black are the days I feel...disguised. As someone not myself. It's visually more interesting to me to see a spot of color in all the black, and fewer people look at me and shout 'witch' (you have no idea how often this happens in the homecity).