Stereotypically Gawth!: Dressing down!

Aaah, greetings everyone! I figured I’d pry myself away from my cosplay workings for Katsucon to pop an update up! The convention is just around the corner and I have SO much to do before then, so hopefully everything goes smoothly (and the fumes of jewelry and prop making won’t make me pass out)! Hopefully my camera will behave and I’ll have some convention footage to share with my con report.

But! That’s weeks away! For today, I’ve decided to post another Stereotypically Gawth update. I had actually meant to do so yesterday, but… that didn’t happen…. And sadly, I don’t have a particularly good  reason for it. For today’s topic, I decided to tackle a stereotype that isn’t just believed outside of the goth community, but is also believed by some goths, particularly new goths who are trying to develop their personal style while not having a ‘complete‘ and working wardrobe. I, myself, have been guilty of this “belief” and while I’m conscious to the idea that it’s not true, a little voice still squeaks about it in the back of my mind from time to time. What is this belief? The idea idea that Goths look gothy everyday, all day, and don’t have a single piece of normal, simple, everyday clothing, makeup, or hair.

I know, I know, silly. But of course, the thought isn’t without cause. Searching tumblr for images of goths and you come across dandy men in their darkest finery and beauty madams in layers of velvet and chiffon. Makeup so ornate and sharp, one would swear it was applied over the course of hours with the world’s steadiest pair of hands. Corsets, waistcoats, perfectly torn fishnets, platform boots, hair teased to gravity defying heights, and interesting jewelry to pull it all together. And if you dress this way most days, it’s not particularly surprising people will wonder what is going on when one day you step into the room with little more than a pair of plain black jeans, t-shirt, and a clear face that may or may not have eyebrows. It can be all the more daunting when running into a decadently dressed goth while in a tee and slacks. Sometimes there is a warning feeling in the back of one’s mind saying ‘how can you call yourself a goth? You don’t look like one!” And such self-defeating thoughts can really run someone, particularly the young and new, away from the community due to the feeling of not fitting in simply because they can’t keep “the look” going 24/7.

Truth of the matter is, the look is just one part of being goth, and an optional one at that. Sure, it’s more convincing if you’re covered in black with goth band tees, but I find the most important parts of being goth is appreciating (and liking some of) the music, respecting the community, and sharing the (for lack of better words -please take rather lightly) “mindset” or “common values.” Some people can't wear spooky clothing everyday, or at all. Some people prefer brighter colors. Some people want to have a day off from restricting corsets and hairspray showers. And some people simply do not want to go through the hassle; fashion just isn’t their forte or interest. It is perfectly alright to not doll up and is sometimes harmful to do so when you don’t want to. When you have to fuss with clothing on a bad or low day, that mood can grow even more sour.

Fashion, just like with most other parts of your identity, is for the person to decide on their own. And if that person decided to wear ‘normal’ clothes for a day, week, month, year, forever, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the person isn’t a goth, it doesn’t make it as though that person went through a goth phase, or that the person is abandoning goth to pursue some other lifestyle. That person is just choosing to not dress in “goth attire.” A person can wear sweet lolita all year round and still be a goth in all other important aspects of life (music, community, and ‘mindset’).

Sometimes a career gets in the way of expressing one’s goth nature on the outside. But being in a business suit or office outfit doesn’t stop a person from being goth. That person just isn’t shouting his or her gothdom to the world in a visual way.

This stereotype ties very closely to my next stereotype discussion, Goths can only like goth things, that I should hopefully have for next week. Until then, I’d love to hear your opinions on looking (or not looking) goth while being one.

Until next time, dream big!