Hi all

I know this is a potentially snarky thread, so please keep it polite - but when you see other Goths out and about- is there anything that makes you cringe? Anything that makes you think- 'no wonder Goths get a bad name'. (similar to pet peeves but restricted to apperance)

To start off- I find clashing styles jarring to my eyes- like a flowing medievel dress worn with a studded leather collar, gracious! (personally speaking)

Well, I used to always be amazed when I would be in a club with no air conditioning (such as the Kitchen Club in Miami when it was on Biscayne Blvd) and I would see girls in elaborate, layered Renaissance gowns who were literally about to pass out after roach-stomping furiously for an hour. The whole cyber-thing is not my gig, so to speak, but in this case the cyber-girls really had the right idea, with, ah, minimal garb. Common sense would seem to dictate that in indoors a sub-tropical climate in the summer with no air-conditioning, some allowances should be made; if nothing else, physical exertions should be kept to a minimum.
One thing that always makes me cringe is the mean-spirited cliquey nonsense in most Goth 'scenes'. I mean, one reason many people (including myself) are Goths is to get away from this sort of thing in the mainstream.

The Rob Halford look...... c'mon guys, leather police caps belong in gay strip clubs only.

Overweight bald guys wearing mesh shirts over bare chests.

Grease paint.... no exceptions!!!!

"nu metal" braids.

Similar to the above...... wearing skater clothes with gothic makeup.

I totally agree with the mismatched leather collar/medeval dress thing....

Guys with facial hair trying to look androgynous.

guys going shirtless in clubs.

I once saw a guy wearing a vampy Victorian frilly outfit with.....of all things..... a cowboy hat.

guys who don't shave every day wearing glam makeup...... with normal short hair..... with blue jeans.

A few more may come to mind

LostinDreaming, I tottaly agree with the dress thing but for another reason- they are gonna get stomped all over, drinks split down them and cigareete burns in them in a club! Oh no!
Also- the heat thing: I've seen guys doing the whole Crow/Spike thing and they never take thier leather trench coats off all night.. no matter how hot. Yuck.

Centurion, I agree with all those too.

Granted, i have never actually seen a goth around other than myslf, but i have seen plenty of emos, oddly enough. I seriously need to get out more, get over my fear of meeting new people face to face and go to our local Goth club some saturday night...

Can the emo dress make me cringe, it has on one or two outings...in fact i have only ever seen one emo that make me stop, stare, and almost drool. I do not much like the whole emo look, but that guy pulled it off to a T. He freakin should have been on a cover of some magazine he looked so good...call it a temporary loss of sanity, but the guy make me want to rethink my opinion of emo... at least for a moment.

Moving on to the real topic at hand...

Lack of care...

Something that would annoy me, however, is if they threw on their make up with a lack of care, or if their hair was so completely tangled that you wonder what might live inside it. I know my hair gets tangled some days, and if i do not brush it at least three times a day, it looks similuar to above, but if i go out, my hair is brushed...

People who do TOO much for their appearence in a negative way...

I am also not the biggest fan of 'spunky' colors and the 'let's put these things together to get a shock'. I am all for being your self but to dress so completely outragously that it looked as if you had to go through a ton of trouble just to put such a hidious wardrobe together is over my head. I like elegance. And although the outragous thing can looks amazing and take my breath away, i have seen many pictures where it just is not done right. It is called pacing, people. Let us not throw on everything just to be noticed. If you must be outragous, do it in a manner that will take my breath away on a sigh, not make me choke on it....

That is all i can think of for now...

EDIT : on more thing, on an oppisite note....

People who make a half-ass attempt...

I hate it when people half ass it. If you are going to wear an outfit, yet not bother with hair, make up, or (if needed) assorsories...

Universe Cringe-worthy Stuff
- Peopel who are obviously over-weight who wear no/little shirts, short skirts/shorts, and above all, NO BRA/GIRDLE

I honestly don't find most people's outfits cringeworthy, I mean, so long as they don't look at me like, "Ew. Look at what she is wearing" just because I'm not wearing uber goth wear.

No 'intent' in what someone is wearing, be it makeup or clothes. If they're just wearing it because that's how it hung on a mannequin at Hot Topic, and not because they themselves pieced it together, it's really obvious and looks like a costume. If they're drawing squiggles on their face with eyeliner (poorly, and could probably use a sharpener), with no originality or finesse, it looks like a costume.

Basically, if it looks like the wearer is uncomfortable in their outfit, it makes me cringe.

When I see the typical ICP kid wearing HUGE bondage pants and leather fingerless gloves while plodding along listening to their iPod. Half the time I want to grab said iPod and search it for Britney Spears songs, because no one could be that friggin stereotypical and mean it.

~spidey

You guys seem to have the right ideas.

Another thing, is when obvious losers (be it nerds or frat boys) only dress the part to pick up "Hawt Gawf Chicks". They 99% of the time do it half-assed, as if anything black will work, and it's painfully obvious they have NO CLUE what they're listening to.

In fact, I had this happen before. This one fellow, who seemed like he was rather geeky, was trying to get me to go over and sit with him when a couple friends and I were at the Goth night in the city together, and I guess he had been there, and we were all on smoke break at the same time. Dude, no, I'm here with my friends, not interested in talking to you. >_<

wow. Better them than me, I hate to just stand in a place as hot as that environment sounds. Did anyone ever faint or have heat stroke from that?

I have seen maybe 2 or 3 other goths, but many poser emos. A lot of emo trends make me cringe...it's more like a shudder of wondering disgust, actually...

I don't like those little hair bow clips. They look exactly like the ones given to newborn babies. it's just kind of pathetic looking.

I don't like when people buy things that are supposed to look home-made, like jackets with fake maker writing all over them, and bags with badly sewn, fraying appliques.

Ballet flats really kill me. I can't stand watching people kind of shuffle trip along in them, with their feet sliding out of the backs, it just looks so blistery and uncomfortable. And you can tell they have money for real shoes, because they always wear really expensive pac-sun clothes and things, you can tell they wear flats only for fashion, it's like nails on a blackboard. They slip through the rain, walking like their feet are hurting them just so they can look 'emo enough'. argh.

Skinny jeans annoy me too, to a lesser extent. It's intolerable seeing fattish girls wearing skinny jeans and then complaining about their muffin top. Why don't they just wear something that fits instead of cramming themselves into something that lowers their self esteem? Also, I have been treated too many times to the dubious pleasure of seeing some tight jeaned girl pulling her jeans out of the crack of her ass when she thinks there's no one standing behind her. It's a facepalm moment. Trust me on this one.

This isn't really a fashion thing, but I don't like it when people try to stand around looking so sad and distant when really they're happy or just ordinary people. many girls where I live who were as bubbly and vacant as you would expect from trend following junior high kids are now 'sad' and vacant to look emo. it's pathetic.

That was a bit of a rant, but there it is....things that make me cringe. Cheers.

I would have to say, as with any style of clothing, people who are larger in size trying to wear skimpy stuff. Spandex is a privilege...not a right! So is fishnet, super short skirts, skinny jeans, etc. People need to find clothing that is flattering to the figure they have. If you are slim and toned...more power to you showing off your hard work! Otherwise...I don't like looking at my own fat/cellulite, what makes other people think I want to look at theirs! If your significant other likes that sort of thing in the bedroom, more power to them...leave it in the bedroom!

Facial hair and eyeliner. Please, no. NO.
Also, men with said facial hair and eyeliner wearing mesh tops. Men with long hair with Industrial influenced attire. Seriously, combat boots, a military uniform, white out contacts and drawn on eyebrows with long Dimmu hair makes me want to punch things. Bonus points if it's screaming blonde.

uhhh.. large women (who are obviously large) in rubber/pvc ANYTHING with no attempt to cover anything. I mean, sure, be proud of your body (although I personally wouldn't), but please do not think that everybody else has to. Let's stop right here and give you a coat.

Also, girls who wear those tubey dread falls that are neon colors and have brown hair. LET ME TELL YOU. BROWN + NEON = UGLY. I find the only thing that goes good with neon is: black... and more neon. Not even white, usually, unless it's accompanied by black.
So stop with the hunter green and bright neon yellow! ugly!

and finally.. poorly drawn designs (usually with eyeliner) in the corners of people's eyes or on their face! ugh! No, a circuit board does not belong on the side of your face! You don't even seem to know what one looks like!

Poorly applied makeup that gets sweated off half way through a night of dancing. There's a reason that those bathrooms have mirrors!

People who complain about Goths wearing fangs and contacts. We're quite aware of the fact we're not really 'vampires' so please piss the fuck off!

Norms who stand around the club to 'watch the freaks' while they're wearing their khakis and polos. Get lost!

Seeing back fat(it happens on both skinny and fat girls) because someone is too damned vain to buy the right size corset! Either buy the right size or lace that sucker tighter! If there's too much space for a modesty panel, you're wearing the wrong size. I'm not even going to start on those girls who all look like they're wearing the same cheap 'corset'. Unless you're imitating a chorus line, it's not cute to wear the same exact outfit as 3 other people with just a different colored top.

Hairfalls worn on the side of the head instead of the top like they're supposed to be. If you really want a headache at the end of the night, wear them on the side.

I hate seeing people wear cheap Hallowe'en costumes to a club. It's worse if it's not Hallowe'en.

Have you ever seen those "goths" who like neon colors in their wardrobes? I've seen a person or two hanging at a mall wearing something like a bright neon orange t-shirt, multiple neon colors dyed in their hair (with a base color of black), neon color eye shadow, neon nail polish, purple neon pants, and shoes with neon shoelaces. Now there is black straps and jewelry and such thrown about their person to "goth it up" but this wardrobe is awful! Do they think they're cool or spunky or shocking?

NO!

They are an eyesore, an headache, and a possible seizure threat.