How do you define goth style?

“The goths generally love mythology, the mysterious, the supernatural, culture, art, music, literature, film, fashion, philosophy, traditions, romanticism, and nature. Goths are lovers of nature and are fascinated by its diversity and complexity. Goths are generally against violence and hate and are for freedom of speech and religion. Goth music spans all music genres and is usually a darker version of those genres. There isn’t a colour code for goth fashion, and goths don’t always wear black – goth style could be anything mixed with darkness.”

Do you consider yourself a goth?

“Yes, I see myself as a goth. To be a goth is to be part of a culture that is essentially counter-culture – meaning every goth is a unique individual. As a theatre kid, I enjoy making people laugh while participating in comedy improvisations. One of my favourite musical theatre plays has got to be Beetlejuice. I especially enjoy the songs ‘Dead Mom’ and ‘Home’ from that musical.

Dark things inspire me and make me feel happy, but that doesn’t mean goths are evil. It just means we have a different perspective than others. It also doesn’t mean goths are unkind, violent, or lacking in humour; quite the opposite is true. I decided to go vegan in April 2019 immediately once I learned about the practice of animal cruelty in the animal agriculture industry, and I have been vegan ever since. It also means negating the purchase of clothes made from animals and other live products. Goths are lovers of nature and are fascinated by its diversity and complexity. Fungi, deep sea creatures, and insects stir my heart.

As a goth, I love to express myself through fashion, acting and performance, drawing, and sketching my ideas. Being goth to me is a symbol of strength and willpower to stand tall amid hell. Therefore, I feel a lot of empathy and compassion for anyone going through painful experiences.”

Do you dress in goth style 24/7?

“Yes, although the look may vary depending on the occasion, the style I dress in is essentially gothic. Most things I own have a black-and-white touch – from wall colours to my bedsheets. At the same time, my fashion style could also be interpreted as earthy and experimental. My style will constantly change and evolve, but it will remain gothic. I also intend to incorporate my Chinese Peranakan ancestry into my dressing to express my identity further.”

How do you interpret goth culture through your own style? 

“My Chinese zodiac animal is the metal snake. Inspired by metal snakes, I like to mimic the geometric pattern of the snake’s skin in my clothing, which forms the image of holes to me. I love to personalize my looks by cutting holes in my sleeves. Holes are circular – circles remind me of natural organisms such as atoms, cells, the earth, the moon, etc. Hence, I occasionally ponder about the size of our universe, how small we are, and how the universe seems infinite.

Black is a staple in all my outfit curations. To me, it symbolises infinity, pain, and the unknown. I’m also strongly influenced by the colours of nature, such as green, blue and brown. I love to add green to represent my love for greenery in my heart. The colour blue represents water in nature. Brown represents the earth, the wood, and the fungi in nature. My must-have fashion list includes elevated platforms, a set of hand and leg warmers, elf ears, and a bandana to complete the look.”

What do you love most about goth culture?

“Goth culture allows me to meet other inspiring misfits in Singapore. My love for goth culture was born out of a desire for self-expression and creativity. It is rooted in escaping societal norms that dictate an individual’s self-identity and values. I love how goths are often artistic or creative individuals.”

How has the goth style changed through the years?

“There are now many types of goth styles and goths wear anything from black to white to pastels. There is never any standard dress code for the goths, so we are free to experiment with thoughts, ideas, and styles. Above all, goth is gender-neutral and breaks typical and cliche gender norms.”

Who are some of your goth muses?

“My goth muses are Taboo, MLMA and Yeule. My Instagram feed is a huge source of inspiration and an excellent platform for discovering exciting people.”

With shows like Wednesday putting goth in the mainstream spotlight, what do you think will happen to goth’s status as a subculture?

“Shows like Wednesday, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Beetlejuice, amongst others, play a significant part in pushing the gothic subgenre into the mainstream. These shows prove the increase and confirmation of gothic stereotypes. Though these archetypes exist, I hope that won’t stop goths from being free to be who they are and experiment with their unique ways of expressing their darkness.”

How do you define goth style? 

“Goth style is influenced a lot by music and it draws inspiration from Victorian styles and Gothic literature amongst many others. There are different variations and interpretations of it. Although people inside this community wear black or darker colours, it is not restricted to any colour code as there are many subcategories inside the goth fashion.”

Do you consider yourself a goth?

“Yes, I do see myself as a part of the goth subculture. In my opinion, being goth is not about how someone dresses as I don’t think you need to dress a certain way to feel like you are a part of a movement. Above all, goth is a subculture that was born out of music, films and literature.”

Do you dress in goth style 24/7?

“I do like to portray myself in the gothic style on most occasions! Exploring and expressing myself in the goth subculture makes me feel at ease.”

How do you interpret goth culture through your own style? 

“I take inspiration from different subcategories inside the culture such as traditional goth, romantic goth, cyber goth, gothic lolita and many more. I love to combine elements from each of these subcategories, which allows me to style myself better. I would like to think I stick closely to the style codes within the movement.”

What do you love most about goth culture?

“I love it that everyone in this subculture is very welcoming and free-minded. In this subculture, you are free to express yourself and enjoy who you are without feeling the pressure of being someone you are not.”

How has goth style changed through the years? 

“I think goth fashion is always evolving, thus the subculture has many fashion subcategories. Every new generation draws on different influences, from the Japanese-leaning gothic lolita to the cyber goth, which is inspired by rave culture.”

Who are some of your goth muses?

“Siouxsie Sioux and Mana from Malice Mizer for sure!”

With shows like Wednesday putting goth in the mainstream spotlight, what do you think will happen to goth’s status as a subculture?

“I don’t think the goth subculture is mainstream yet as people are still wary of it. Not all shows or movies that portray the goth subculture is a 100 per cent accurate.  At the end of the day, the goth movement is still something people are suspicious of; they might just want to experiment with it but not accept the whole subculture. One thing is for sure though – the goth subculture will continue to grow with every new generation.”

How do you define goth style? 

“The goth sensibility is quite hard to define, I think it all comes down to the feeling. What I can put into words would be a morbid defiant beauty.”

Do you see yourself as a goth?

“I see myself belonging in the vein of haute goth and mall goth, although I think it’s kind of counterintuitive to categorise myself in a certain style.”

Do you dress in goth style 24/7?

“I typically would only dress how I really want to – cue lace dresses, corsets, harnesses, and veils (mostly at raves and parties). In a lot of my everyday life I tone it down to more of a mall goth style, I do need at least a bit of goth every day, or I would feel very strange.”

How do you interpret goth culture through your own style? 

“I don’t really stick to certain subcultures because I think it is a waste to not explore everything. I think the silhouette is a major factor when I dress. I love to stick to the form of a tight bodice and exaggerated lower body, whether that is with a big lacy skirt or giant cargo pants.

A lot of my wardrobe is made up of ‘traditional’ gothic pieces, but when it comes to pairing and contrasting, I like to play. I think because of that and the way I sometimes don’t wear pieces as they were intended to, I end up with some outfits that seem goth, just not quite.

This is just for me, and I view the world in a very abstract way, but I see my goth style as disgusting, and that’s a happy word for me. A lot of my style is music- and art-based – as it was when the culture erupted a century ago – so as music and art change, I would change along with it.”

What do you love most about goth culture?

“To me, it is a perfect embrace of the macabre and romanticism of everyday life. I think the lifestyle is very transformative and all-consuming, and when you love it deeply, it can’t help but show up in many aspects of your life. It’s an extremely pleasing way of expressing yourself, especially with fellow goths who share my same sentiments.”

How has goth style changed through the years? 

“I think it has morphed into something almost entirely different from how it all started out, it feels like a living breathing thing to me. There are so many new subcultures now within goth, and most of the newest ones are very far from traditional goth. Maybe it is because we are trying to move further from the constraints and constructs of classical society, and moving into an age of uncategorisable expressionism.”

Who are some of your goth muses?

“I love cinema, and a lot of my style came from screen vamps like Monica Belluci and Sadie Frost’s characters in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I also am obsessed with dystopian body horror, I like to dress as if I live in a Cronenbergian world. Goth, rock and punk music also plays a huge part, I tend to dress accordingly to the music I immerse myself in, most of which are darkly melodic.”

With shows like Wednesday putting goth in the mainstream spotlight, what do you think will happen to goth’s status as a subculture?

“I think that it will continue to become more diluted in the sense that ‘extreme’ goth styles will be split into even smaller sub-categories. I think it’s cool but I sometimes find myself not being able to shake a level of cynicism when people just start labelling everything even remotely dark as ‘goth’.

Part of me wants goths to be more widely accepted so that I wouldn’t be as anxious wearing corsets on public transport but ultimately I think the reason why I love it so much is the very nature of how the presence of goths in any space immediately provokes. I enjoy the glares.”

How do you define goth style?

“Being a music-based subculture makes goth hard to define. Even when it comes to goth fashion, there is a huge variety of subsets like trad, cyber, et cetera – that uniqueness and how different it is for each individual is the best thing about goth style  in my opinion.

Do you consider yourself a goth?

“I don’t exactly go by the label ‘goth’. I feel like I have a lot more about the culture and music – but I am definitely mesmerised by it!”

Do you dress in goth style 24/7?

“Kind of but it’s more dressed down when i’m home for sure!”

How do you interpret goth culture through your own style? 

“I don’t really stick to style codes per se but i am inspired by yamikawaii fashion (think an anti-kawaii aesthetic that’s dark) and have a soft spot for Victorian and romantic goth fashion. I do stick strictly to a black-red-white colour scheme, not only in my appearance, but kind of everything – I would love to live in a black and red filter.”

What do you love most about goth culture?

“I was initially drawn by grotesque Victorian gothic art and that pulled me towards the alternative music scene. I’ve grown to like dark wave, industrial techno and psytrance, which brought me many friendships in the goth community. I love how open-minded and avid everyone is! I even met one of my lecturers at a goth party recently and found out he has been a goth for decades – how cool is that?”

How has the goth style changed through the years?

“Honestly, i’m not so sure myself but there are definitely growing goth subcultures and also unions of sorts between different niches which is exciting to see.”

Who are some of your goth muses?

“Music wise, I love Joy Division but my heart will always be with everything horror and gore. I’ve been drawn to ghost stories and gouging-eyeballs-blood-spilling visuals ever since I was a little child. Junji Ito, Tim Burton and Charles Baudelaire are some of my gothic-esque loves, inspiring my art till today.”

With shows like Wednesday putting goth in the mainstream spotlight, what do you think will happen to goth’s status as a subculture?

“I think it’s cool and fun how people get to explore their interests in different subcultures – no gatekeeping here. It also helps with increasing the demand in goth fashion rather than just during Halloween –  it’s a win-win to me.”

How do you define goth style?

“There’re many subsets to goth style – steampunk, cyber goth and death-rock (yes, with the hawk hair) are some that come to mind immediately. And although they’re different in their own ways, they all evolved from trad goth. So there’s no real way to define goth unless you can be more specific I suppose.”

Do you consider yourself a goth?

“I really love the subculture and the music, so yes, I’d consider myself a goth.”

Do you dress in goth style 24/7?

“No, I just wear a lot of black. Sometimes I want to feel cute and I’ll dress up in more colours and try different pieces too. It’s more fun that way.”

How do you interpret goth culture through your own style? 

“I think I dress comfortably more than anything so I’m just mainly always in either black or purple. Some pieces like corsets and fishnets already give the look an alternative vibe and I’m starting to like statement pieces that help elevate my style. I don’t think I dress goth at all, unless it’s a special occasion. I delve into batcave, Victorian and mall goth styles mainly.”

What do you love most about goth culture?

“I really delved into post-punk and darkwave and fell in love with the music hard. I think that’s when I decided that I wanted to find out more about this subculture. I like that it has helped me find myself and a way for me to express myself. I recently met some old-time goths in Singapore and it’s been so fun listening to them talk about what the (small) scene was like back then. Follow @gothculturesingapore on Instagram!

How has the goth style changed through the years?

“I see a lot of “goth” clothing pieces are starting to become mass-produced. And with online shopping, these pieces have become so much more accessible. Even I am guilty of this. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the style is getting repeated in the same way, which goes against what the subculture is supposed to represent – individuality. Back then, goths had to either alter their clothes or buy from solely goth stores, which were usually really expensive. I hope that the tradition of DIY-ing clothing continues or buying from sustainable stores becomes more normalised.”

Who are some of your goth muses?

“I don’t have any in particular but growing up watching NCIS and seeing Abby, the tech goth, really resonated with me. Movies like Crimson Peak, Suspiria, and of course, Tim Burton films all also have a special place in my heart. I also try to incorporate horror films in both my art and style, even though it might not be necessarily goth. Some I follow on Instagram are – @ghoulspice, @poserfreak, @jewelsharee.”

With shows like Wednesday putting goth in the mainstream spotlight, what do you think will happen to goth’s status as a subculture?

“My guess is that people who already lean toward alternative styles will eventually get curious about the goth subculture and start exploring. I think it’s just as important that they enjoy the process of discovering this subculture than either sticking to it or labelling themselves – some might enjoy goth music but not want to claim it and it’s fine. It’s definitely been more acceptable these past few years with the Internet being more accessible to everyone around the world. I’m sure a lot of people will dip into it and figure that it’s not for them, it doesn’t make them a poser. I haven’t been goth my entire life and I don’t think it’s fair to expect anyone else to be.”