Gothic fashion is a clothing style worn by members of the goth subculture. A dark, sometimes morbid, fashion and style of dress, typical gothic fashion includes black dyed hair and black clothes. Both male and female goths can wear dark eyeliner, dark nail polish and lipstick, and dramatic makeup. Styles are often borrowed from the Elizabethans and Victorians. BDSM imagery and paraphenalia are also common. Gothic fashion is sometimes confused with heavy metal fashion and emo fashion.
A goth woman at Kensal Green Cemetery open day, 2015
Girl dressed in a Victorian costume during the Whitby Gothic Weekend festival in 2013
A male and female goth couple
Goth model Sandi J.
Goth is a music-based subculture that began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. It was developed by fans of gothic rock, an offshoot of the post-punk music genre. Post-punk artists who presaged the gothic rock genre and helped develop and shape the subculture include Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, the Cure, and Joy Division.
A woman dressed in gothic style in the 1980s
Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees in 1980
Bauhaus—Live in concert, 3 February 2006
Lead singer and guitarist Robert Smith of the Cure