Fashion Does Not a Goth Make
"Fashion does not a goth make. Fashion is something that's historically been a form of self-expression. It's an art form. It's the way that we express ourselves and it speaks to our personality with the way that we select clothes or the way that we design them or the way that we put them together in different ways... So no two people wearing the same outfits are going to look the same because we bring our own things to the table." -Angela Benedict, 90's Goth, in Honest Forest Ink Review - Do We REALLY Need Fashion To Be Goth?
I transcribed some of my favorite recent quotes by one of my favorite creators in the goth scene. Angela Benedict is a Youtuber that's been in the subculture since the 90's. Her wise perspective hails from the era she grew up in, and she's a wonderful resource for baby bats and seasoned goths alike.
"When I was a baby bat and I was new to the subculture, it was important to me to look like other people; I wanted to look like those I looked up to in the subculture. It wasn't necessarily me representing myself... and I was just looking at everyone else and I wanted to look like that." "And it wasn't even necessarily things that I would've chosen if I had the option; it was just so important to me that I look like everyone else: that I had those things. I just felt like I had to have them in order to be accepted because that is the hugest thing when you're new to the subculture."-Angela Benedict on her experiences growing up goth
These are two examples of what goths and alternative people dressed like in the 90's:
I also felt a lot of pressure, especially when I was first getting introduced to the subculture, to buy a bunch of clothes, wear dark makeup everyday (even if it was too sunny), and have the coolest accessories.
I started to get into goth music before the 2020 lockdown, so during quarantine I saw a bunch of people on Tiktok with full-scale, expensive outfits, custom corsets I couldn't afford with my teenage money, and advanced makeup techniques. I would try to style my clothes like them, and I even attempted a trad goth makeup tutorial made by It's Black Friday on Youtube; it went horribly.
Splatters of black eyeliner were smudged all over my face. It was dripping down my skin. Some of it got into my right eye by accident. Before this, I had NO experience with doing eyeliner and none of my friends were there to help me since we were all in lockdown.
I felt so terrible after about a month of buying clothes and trying out makeup; that I couldn't look like the influencers I saw on Youtube and Tiktok. These people were mature, cool, had amazing fashion sense, but I was still a teenager learning my way in the world, during COVID of all times.
I didn't have any money. I had no makeup skills and felt like I had to dress more femininely to fit in. (goth commercialism seems more targeted to AFAB and femme-aligned people.) I felt like nobody would accept or recognize me as goth if I didn't dress the part. I was mostly into the music and history of the subculture, while my peers were into the outfits and aesthetic. Being into aesthetics is certainly not a bad thing, but because of my position I felt like I didn't fit that standard.
"So if somebody tries to to come to you and say that fashion is the 'end all be all and if you don't look a certain way, then you're not part of the subculture; the feelings that I had about being inadequate and wanting to look like everybody else and having it be such a dire importance; nobody said it to me! Nobody told me 'you don't look goth enough' or 'you need to dress differently' or 'you need to have these things'. No one ever said that to me. That was a sort of limitation and an expectation that I placed on myself. But nowadays, to see other people saying it to each other, whether it be on places like Tiktok, what sucks about that is that they're kind've adopting the subculture just to be fashionable and express themselves physically, call themselves a goth, but be classist toward other goths because not everybody has the money to shell out for this stuff."-Angela Benedict discussing how the goth scene has evolved over time "Honestly the most incredible and interesting and and intricate outfits I've ever seen are the ones that DIYed and put together by bits and pieces that their grandparents gave them, they got at thrift stores, and they got at garage sales, that they DIYed at home and slapped together; those by far stood out the most. And that's because it is a true representative of who you are and yourself, and it shows."-Angela Benedict
Goth is non-conformist. You don't need expensive mass-produced clothes or to be a sewing expert to partake in goth fashion. All you need are accessible, affordable pieces and styling to call it 'your own.'
-Quotes articulated by Angela Benedict on Youtube in Honest Forest Ink Review - Do We REALLY Need Fashion To Be Goth? - YouTube, transcribed on tumblr by SORDID @literaryxbones
-The first three and the 5th pictures are of Angela Benedict.
-The fourth picture is of Goth Youtuber It's Black Friday.
-Other content is my own thoughts on Angela Benedict's quotes.