Gothic is not only a medieval architectural trend. Since the 80s, it has also been a separate subculture, which arose thanks to the musical direction of the same name. Followers of the subculture are famous for their love of gloomy topics: death, darkness, vampires, and so on. This often scares the average layman, but in vain: the gothic subculture is full of its own unique beauty. What are the long-haired Goth guys in 19th century costumes! Let's see how the men of this movement look and dress.
The birth of Gothic
The beginning of the existence of goth as a subculture is considered to be 1979, when the Bauhaus group released the single Bela Lugosi's Dead, dedicated to the actor Bela Lugosi, who played the role of Dracula. This track was played during the opening minutes of the 1983 vampire movie The Hunger. In the same first shots of the film, Bauhaus lead singer Peter Murphy appeared in the imagewhich we would now call gothic - with lined eyes and a spectacular hairdo. At the same time, Joy Division, Southern Death Cult, Sex Gang Children, Specimen, and others with a similar sound emerged.
Gothic direction in music developed in a punk environment. And the followers of the subculture themselves adopted a lot from punks - love for black, piercings, chain jewelry. True, the Goths dressed much more elegantly than the punks. Gradually, Gothic branched into several directions - both in music and in clothing style. There were such musical directions as gothic rock, death rock, darkwave, gothic metal, gothic ambient. Separately from them, more dynamic and sharp styles of EBM, industrial, dark electro developed. In the east, a separate style has formed called visual kei.
Now representatives of the gothic direction rather went underground, but the culture continues to live. There are major gothic festivals around the world. In Germany, these are Wave Gothic Treffen in Leipzig and M'era Luna in Hildesheim. In the USA - Convergence, which is organized in different cities. In Poland - Castle Party, held right in the medieval fortress of Bolkow. In Finland - Lumous, held in the city of Tampere (by the way, it is considered the northernmost gothic festival). In Britain - Whitby Gothic Weekend, considered one of the most prestigious gothic festivals. It is held in the city of Whitby due to the fact that it is mentioned in the novel Dracula. Also, representatives of the Gothic culture have their own holiday - World Ready Day, which is celebrated on 22May since 2010.
Victorian Goths
As the name suggests, the Victorian Goths draw their inspiration from the images of this era. Goth guys imitate the aristocrats of the 19th century: a three-piece suit (coat, trousers, vest), a top hat, perhaps a cane - of course, all in dark colors. Ideally, the skin of the face should be pale, characterizing its owner as a frequent visitor to decadent salons. Lots of people let their hair down (goth guys with long curls are not uncommon at all).
Any representative of the Gothic subculture is a rare aesthete and strives for sophistication and elegance in everything, and even more so for an admirer of the Victorian era. If you meet a goth guy dressed in a tailcoat, then you should know that this is a real gentleman who knows the rules of etiquette thoroughly. And if he is not familiar with etiquette, then at least he will behave courteously, as befits the image. Most often, the interests of such people are also straight from the 19th century - poetry evenings, visits to the opera and theater, receptions and balls. Yes, yes, balls - many gothic communities organize events of this kind from time to time.
Vampire Goths
Why do many goths like the image of a vampire so much? They are attracted by the deliberate detachment of these creatures, their love of darkness and nightlife, and finally, elegance - remember, have you ever seen a sleazy vampire in at least one movie?
Vampire Goth style is very close to the Victorian way of dressing - at least sometimes they evencan be confused. The inspiration is the images of Count Dracula, the vampire Lestat from the work of Anne Rice, as well as the famous role-playing and computer game Vampire the Masquerade, which has become a cult for many. The favorite combination here is black with red, which is more typical for girls: a black dress and red lipstick are included in the standard set of a vamp lady. Often there is a love for red wine and a slight irony towards ordinary people.
Steampunk Goths
Steampunk is a fantasy about "What if the internal combustion engine was never invented?". Steampunk reality implies that all inventions are based on steam energy, clockwork and other bizarre technologies. Steampunk is often played up in literary works, computer games, and also in clothing style. It is based on the heyday of the steam engine - the same Victorian era. However, unlike the Victorian Goths, who try to keep the historicity in their images, for the Steampunk Goths, the showiness of their outfit is more important.
Steampunk images that goth guys can play with are actually quite a few: an airplane pilot with goggles on his head, a crazy inventor whose costume is decorated with gears. Frequent accessories - a top hat, a watch on a chain and even pince-nez.
Cybergoths
Gothic flirts not only with the past, but also with the future. Unlike previous offshoots, the Cybergoths look like aliens from a high-tech era. Their costumes can be made of latex,include bright neon elements. The hairstyle often contains dreadlocks made of bright kanekalon or cyberlocks - plastic tubes woven into the hair. The music that cybergoths listen to is also different from gothic rock and other genres. These are fast dance tracks, close to the industrial direction.
Corporate Goths
Corporate goths are those who began to play by the rules of the system, becoming a full-fledged representative of society, but still retain their favorite style. They may also be called "Goths on Fridays." Their everyday clothes do not go beyond the generally accepted framework, but individual details give out in such guys and girls ready. Perhaps they wear exclusively black with silver jewelry or buy accessories with bats and skulls. Most likely, the music they listen to is not popular either.
Gotabilly
What if Elvis Presley was a goth? This subculture plays on a mixture of rockabilly, pin-up style of the 50s and gothic. For the guys, that means wearing a short leather motorcycle jacket, the obligatory slicked-back hairstyle, and sunglasses. Often they have large old-school tattoos. Of course, everything will be in dark colors and within the framework of the Gothic theme. By the way, girls who love the gotabilly style are repelled by the images of Dita Von Teese (Marlin Manson's ex-wife).
Old School Goths
The old-school Goths are the ones who are most capable of shocking ordinary people on the street. In the 80s, when the Gothic direction was just being formed and had not yet completely broken away frompunk culture, goths looked like black punks. They also had dark mohawks with shaved temples, and careless hairstyles sticking out in all directions. Hence also - a large number of punctures on the face, jewelry with chains, long spikes and rivets, leather jackets and torn clothes.
Features of worldview
It's a big mistake to think that the Goths only do what they think about death. Yes, they are close to dark aesthetics, but the main word in this combination is precisely aesthetics. The Goths greatly appreciate beauty in all its incarnations - in art, literature, the appearance of a person, after all. They, as a rule, have a pronounced individuality, are deeply interested in rare trends in art and fashion. No matter how strange the goth guys in the photo may seem to you, they are not romantic. They can charm not only with their unusual appearance, but also with their delicate taste and broad outlook.
Mature representatives of the Gothic culture do not have to shock you with their appearance in everyday situations - they will choose a casual look, but not without grace. But at themed parties or festivals, they are ready to "break away" properly in everything that concerns the costume. In fact, the creation of a beautiful and spectacular costume is quite expensive - you need beautiful fabrics, high-quality accessories, and sometimes rare details. Goths do not like to look like they dressed in the nearest market. Wearing a black hoodie with the logo of your favorite band is peculiar only to schoolchildren.
Goth boys - models: photos
Actually now amonggoth subculture is not as popular among young people as it was 10-15 years ago. All the Goths of that time either grew up a long time ago and changed their style, or still remain faithful to their favorite images. Unlike our country, abroad you can even meet ready ones over 45 years old. Among the younger generation there are also representatives of the Gothic, who found themselves in this cultural layer.
Handsome goth guys can often be androgynous in appearance - you can't tell from the first time whether it's a boy or a girl. It is very funny in social networks to watch the reaction of commentators who scatter in compliments in front of the “lady”, and then discover the truth. As a result, not a girl turns out to be a model, but a goth guy.
There is also another type, whose representatives do not seek to diminish their masculinity, but rather behave emphatically elegantly, like nineteenth-century aristocrats. They dress stylishly, elegantly and expensively, always look good and have a very wide range of interests. A chic black suit, tie, shirt, cufflinks, a ring and, of course, perfume - a fan of the Gothic style tries to look brand new. Maybe in another way: a long black raincoat to the floor, rough shoes, leather trousers. You can't mistake such a guy for a girl - he looks very masculine, using the image of a sort of modern demon.
Do goth boys do make-up? The photos in the selections on the Gothic theme show that the answer to this question ismaybe yes and no. Few of them wear make-up in everyday life. But it is applied to a festival or a party. Goth men can not only line their eyes, but also paint their nails black. Paleness can also be artificially added. A frequent element of the image is multi-colored lenses (white, red, yellow), as well as sclera - lenses that cover the entire white of the eye.
By the way, the opinion that all Goths dye their hair black is also a common misconception. Yes, many people love black, but they prefer to dress in it, and hair can be of any shade. Look at the photo below: goth guys love to use the image of the Witcher or the elven prince. Quite an interesting image, isn't it?
Goth boys: art
Gothic art is like illustrations for sad fairy tales and dark stories. Heroes are drawn with underlined and refined facial features, more often in a mysterious and unfriendly environment.
Such images are often very symbolic and full of signs. Popular elements of gothic art are associated with the theme of darkness, death and vampirism: skull, bat, raven, black cat, bones, crosses, blood, fangs, claws.
Colors for gothic art are muted - often it is an abundance of black, various shades of dark gray, wine red, dark blue and so on. Bright"cheerful" colors can only be used in an ironic way.
