No way dude, the shirt makes you look Euro-trash. Partially obscured scowly face is nice though.
Well Meatloaf’s ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ came out in 1977 and that was described as Gothic at the time.
I’d say the Goth is a term that predates New Wave but perhaps not punk.
Patti Page was Goth even if she didn’t use the modern notion of Goth clothing.
Gothic starts out somewhat earliers than any of this, in terms of an attitude and atmosphere, rather than the style of building.
Gothic has certainly been used to describe certain Victorian literature but much more recently the Hammer House of Horror film were noted for being Gothic.
It’s one of those “you know it when you see it” deals. To illustrate, consider a friend of mine from high school. He never wore makeup or annything with obvious labels on it. His hair was its natural color, and worn in a nondescript style. For school, he wore a white dress shirt with a conservative necktie, and black, khaki, or dark blue dress pants, as per dress code. But the moment he walked into a room, people would refer to him as the Prince of Darkness or the like. I don’t know exactly what he is, but whatever it is, he’s the real thing.
One mustn’t forget the influence of Theda Bara.
I blame Dark Shadows
EMO
Short form of “emotional music.” Emo refers to the group of now-trendy soft-rockers defined by crying, wearing girls shirts on guys, black retro square framed glasses of the '50s, an urge to look up at the stars, and an over lack of the profoundness they think they own. It is sometimes hard to distinguish and Emokid from an Indiemusic Snob but both will usually be found in a downtown coffee shop. Emokids, as they call themselves, are often seen wearing adopted punk styles of earlier generations. The mall is too cool for such kids so they buy all their clothes from thrift stores like Goodwill. Emo music is characterized by acoustic guitars, wailing voices on the verge of crying, and lyrics such as “My dying foot withers, cold flowers upon the blood stained brother, white crack up his nose, urine in your soup, why don’t you love me anymore.” Any artist who claims to be Emo is, by default, prententious or atleast full of themselves because all music is created with emotions and no one can use “more emotions” to make their music. Emotion is qualitive, not quantative, meaning you can only measure the depth of emotion used and not the actual amount present. Origins of Emo music can be placed at the hands of kids with a bloated sense of self-worth who accidently listened to an indie rock singer-songwriter and decided that this music was the epitomey of music to cry to.
Resources: http://www.dashboardconfessional.com/
The emo “scene” actually developed out of the hardcore scene in the mid-'80s-ish.
I always thought that Mark Bolan, of T Rex fame, had the Goth look. The cover from this 1972 album shows a very Goth looking Bolan.
Heh, that picture is only called “American Gothic” because the arch in the window is a Gothic arch.
Well, I would tend to say goth is people that go to goth clubs, but then again, I’m sitting here in a floral shirt and jean shorts, listening to Dashboard and looking at my calendar seeing the next time that I can seek off into the dark and seedy looking world of goth clubs. I have to say I feel rather wonderful while I’m at them and wish I could go every week. And several others that I know who frequent the same clubs as I do when jeans and T-shirts and listen to everything from Bach to Disney to the song “Chirst Fuck,” a near anthem at the goth club I frequent, but no one at the club would dare question their gothness. Then again, I’m in college and labels like “Emo chick” or “goth” fit some much better in high school.
Intresting Side Note: The kids at school think I’m Goth and a Satan worshiper now because I like Marilyn Manson. Others think I’m EMO because I like Weezer.
I’ve often thought that the Goth look resembles a monochromatic version of the old Glam look, and I think there are some connections between the two subcultures. It would probably be fair to say that Glam fed into Goth.
Since this is GQ and we’re fighting ignorance I’ll have to grant that you’re distinction is valid and worth making. I myself actually never used the word “goth” on the website. I titled the photoshoot “glam” rather than “goth”. I think your “Euro-trash” might be even better.
:smack: That’s what I get for sharing! Suffering poster’s remorse. Nah, seriously, I’m flattered you were so inclined to investigate the rest of ther site. I’m shaking with pride (at least I hope it’s pride!).
Are you sure you mean '50s and '60s pop singer Patti Page, and not '70s art-punk rocker Patti Smith?
(Or maybe you mean model Bettie Page?)
Thanks ZebraShaSha. It all makes sense now.
The goth subculture evolved from punk around 1980.
The goth look evolved into more white makeup and black, purple, lace thoughout the eighties.
Goth music started with UK Decay, Southern Death Cult, Theatre of Hate and of course Bauhaus and Warsaw. I think Abbo from UK Decay first used the term in an interview in 1981.
This site, says that gothic “was coined by the band manager of Joy Division, Anthony H. Wilson, who described the band as ‘Gothic compared with the pop mainstream’. The term stuck, and as punk eventually died, Goth survived and became its own subculture.”
I used to listen to goth music in the mid-eighties and we called it goth then - usually takes about 5 years for anything to get to Australia. Anyway, by then it was more Sisters of Mercy, Jesus and Mary Chain and Swans and Birthday Party. The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees I consider more new wave and not goth.
Goth subculture obviously has a big focus on the morbid, a direct reaction against the shit that was coming out of the media and western governments at the time. It utilised morbid, dark themes from other cultures around the world throughout history - mocking the face of death.
Fucking edward scissorhands.
A very dangerous proposition indeed, especially if he’s into foreplay.
Nonsense. ALL “Goths” are “posers,” just like pretty much any other teenaged role. (Yes, I know adults do this stuff too. Some people don’t grow up as fast as others.) B-boys, metalheads, goths, punks, skaters - there’s nothing “real” about any of it. The entire point is posing. We’re talking about popular music and clothing, fergodsakes.