I read somewhere that you should never wear more then 2 bright colors with your outfit, because it subtracts from the overall 'gothiness'. I don't have that many dark clothes in general (it sucks being poor), I usually have to wear bright clothes because I lack the more common, darker articles of clothing. Are there any good ways to mix dark and bright colors?

Yep. In a washing machine in the hope that the dye'll bleed out of your dark colours and stain the bright ones!!

Hahahaha! "You know you're goth if..." you wash your clothes like Minnie!

-- Nephele

Just start buying every new article of clothing in black or another dark or jewel toned hue. Before you realize it you'll look around and wonder where that one white shirt you used to have 'just in case' went only to realize that you must've thrown it out a decade ago.

Thrift stores and outlet malls are excellent places to shop for the Goth on a budget.

Do you see the colors I am wearing in my avatar?

I hear if you mix three bright colors you will spiral out of control and emerge in a parallel universe known only as Rainbow Land.

I'm doomed!

I always wear only one color with my black (if i wear color at all). It is not because I don't like color, just that I am very much a perfectionist when it comes to my appearance. I like everything to match. So when I dress, I always do a color scheme if I decide to wear a color. If an article does not match (to my liking) a color scheme I want, I either do not wear it or pick a color scheme that revolves around the article I want to wear.

I am so picky about this, that I cannot even wear the same color in different hues (dark green/light green for example). It has to be the same hue or very damn close to it. I was like this even as a child. I remember once I was in the second grade and it was our first real week of dressing up (where everyday was a different theme). One such day was mis-match day.

So yeah... that Friday was non-matching clothes day. I freaked out. I tried like hell to miss that day because I thought it was mandatory (while my grandma thought it would be good for me). So she forced me to wear non-matching clothes and I literally cried all day at school (or near tears anyway).

I was very distraught and half out of my mind because of it. I didn't care that everyone else was not matching with me. I held myself in such a way (and still do) that to be my best I feel I must look my best and in my opinion, I look best when I match. I am very obsessive about this in my clothing. The most horrible part of this story: The only thing that was actually non-matching were my socks that no one could even see.

Yes, I am THAT bad about it, even to this day.

It is not about how other people precieve me, I don't really care about that- it is simply how I precieve myself. I HAVE to match or I refuse to be seen. This will even go so far of that material I wear (velvet, silk, lace, etc...). It simply HAS to match.

The only time I wear more than one color (black isn't included) is when I wear earth tones. Earth tones are my one and only exception. Normally I will wear simply forest green and dark brown and call it a day.

I am always very aware of what colors I think go well with other colors, and how they'd look on me. I don't know why I am like this.

If you think about it- it is extremely limiting. How sad I am.

Normally I only wear one colour as it tends to clash, and I wear them BRIGHT. But I don't have an issue with going crazy when I'm in a Harajuku/Decora sorta mood :3

I could swear I was reading about me minus the mis-match day.

Also that I don't wear brown. I just can't stand that color unless it's burgondy(sp?) which I see as a dark red instead of a red brown. I also hate yellow and orange. Another is that the colors I wear are only dark shades except for blue(I just love the color too much); They just appeal to me more.

Every once in a while I'll do the all black look, but I don't want to be too cliche and it's a bit limiting(ironic coming from me who also is picky about clothes). Overall, I just love how black emphasizes(sp?) color without being a pain to keep clean like white. I loved the color even before I became interested in goth.

So, I'm thinking no steampunk, then?

Definitely. Never got steampunk anyway; it's too similar to romantic/victorian goth. In other words: goth for rich DIY people. I have no problem with it though in case that might have sounded offensive.

Ooops - yes, sorry; that was something if a leading question.

I guess this is why I can't take the goth look seriously. If I can't wear what I want to wear, which includes lots of wonderful colors - yes, including brown - I don't feel like myself and I'm not happy. I like wearing black and I look good in it, but I like a lot of other colors, too: mustard yellow, ochre, olive green, burgundy, aubergine, taupe, teal, sea green, forest green, navy, purple... there's lots of great colors and patterns out there, and I like to express myself with what I wear. ...Not to imply that those of you who stick to a strictly goth look aren't expressing yourself with what you wear, but I'd get mighty bored with a one-color palette. Why limit yourself? There's lots of womderful, odd, interesting colors out there. Come out and play.

My wardrobe is divided into three distinct and separate sections: Black and Red; Black and Purple; and Black and White. I will occasionally mix the purple and white if I'm having a VK day, but apart from that it's a case of building my outfit from the matching underwear up. Red is my elegant colour and purple and white are my fun colours.

Who says you can't wear what you want to wear? Goths wear whatever they want to wear, go wherever they want to go, eat whatever they want to eat, drink whatever they want to drink, live however they want to live.

Back to the question of the OP, regarding any good ways to mix dark and bright colors (loved some of the funny answers, here!)... I'd say just experiment and see what works best for you.

If you want to express yourself with a dark aesthetic and you really don't have that many dark clothes in your wardrobe, for a start you could probably buy some inexpensive black leggings, or a black skirt, and mix those with your wardrobe.

For me, I wear almost entirely black -- because I like it. But if the mood strikes me, I'll add a dash of color. I have this sheer, bright emerald green, long beaded wrap thing that I wear for special occasions, over black leggings and a tight-fighting, black exercise top. With black heels, it's my favorite "on the town" outfit. (I believe black tends to make accompanying colors stand out dramatically.)

-- Nephele