What is the Goth Fashion Style?

The Goth fashion style is a distinctive and mysterious way of dressing with aesthetic roots in the ornaments of gothic architecture and literature, the Victorian, Elizabethan, and Medieval eras, and the post-punk subculture.

The Goth fashion style blends corsets, lace, velvet gowns, sturdy combat boots, leather pants, silver jewelry embellished with macabre symbols, dark lipstick and black eyeliners on pale foundation, black nails, and voluminous dyed black hair to confer an occult, ghostlike appearance.

What is the Origin of Goth Fashion Style?

The UK's post-punk music scene of the late '70s and early '80s, characterized by a dark, undead, androgynous aesthetic, is credited with the origins of the Goth Fashion style.

During those decades, the gothic dressing style was influenced and shaped by Punk's rebellious edge in combat boots, spiked wristbands, and chokers, Glam rock's voluminous and exotic hairstyles, and the New Romantic heavy makeup.

Although there's no specific moment recognized as the inception of Goth fashion style, the 1979 single "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by the band Bauhaus is cited as a catalyst.

The Goth fashion style also takes significant inspiration from the Victorian era of the 19th century and the dark, brooding imagery found in fiction books of the same period.

Victorians' fascination with death and supernatural events, as reflected in their mourning customs and specific attire, contributes to the format of Goth fashion style.

For example, a typical Victorian mourning attire for women consisted of a tight black bodice over a corset and a black frilled full skirt.

For men, black gloves, a dark suit, and a hat adorned with a black band, both outfits resembling the classic Goth fashion style.

Goth Fashion Style in the 80s

In the 80s, the Batcave club, an important gathering place for the Goth subculture in London's Soho district, was pivotal in popularizing the Gohtic fashion style.