I was reading the Your Style thread and a lot of people said things like "I dress casual everyday" or "I don't dress up everyday"
So I was just wondering where you draw the line between every-day-goth and club-goth (seeing as I don't go to clubs I wouldn't know) Like how much make-up would be too much and is wearing platform boots to the grocery store a bit strange, even if they are comfortable.

Sorry if this is here already, I couldn't find it.

I'll find any excuse to dress up.

Personally, I dress how I feel, when the occasion calls for it.

Of course, I have rather sensitive skin, and putting on makeup EVERY day will just not work, especially in the summer heat. Of course, going to work is a piercings-out, dress shirt affair.

However, I think there's a huge difference between fashion/club goths who merely dress in goth fashion for the fun, social, attention-drawing aspect of it, and wear the clothing like a costume; and people who simply ARE goth 24/7, KNOW they are goth, have a genuine love/interest in the ideology, music, art, and general lifestyle, and thus don't feel like dressing up is really "dressing up". They wear what they wear as a reflection of who they are already.

Kind of continuing what centurion seemed to be saying...

... for me, my style never goes into "club gear" unless I'm, you know, going to a club. It's been that way since I started going to clubs in the late 80's. PVC skirts just aren't right for work, ya know? Unless, of course, you happen to work at the mall or something.

As to what's too far for "everyday", that's also going to depend largely upon what your day entails. If it only entails hanging out and going no where, why bother at all? If it entails going to a corporate office, well, I'm sure they have dress codes of some kind. My office is fairly casual, but I can't wear short skirts or anything particularly low-cut. Apart from that, it's up to me. I find it impractical, though, to slather on Souxie-style eyeliner as I'm rushing around to get ready for work at 7:30 every morning. Somehow, when I was in highschool, I was able to wake up at 5:30 just so I could spend all that time on my hair and makeup. But now I'm old and cantakerous, I'd rather sleep in.

For *me*, too far for "everyday" wear is probably layers upon layers of fishnet and spikes just to go buy groceries. No one cares what you look like at the supermarket.

Agreed. With pretty much all the above.

Practicality, suitability and comfort are much more important than style.
If you're a student, then go crazy, as long as its suitable (within your dress code, won't interfere with class). Because if you're wearing long lace sleeves and using bunsen burners in Science class, you're asking for trouble. But if you have a job, with a dress code, platform "baby stompers" aren't worth losing your job for.

If you're not sure of your outfit and whether it's "too much" or not, ask yourself a couple questions.:
- Where am I going today?
- Am I comfortable?
- Is any part of my outfit going to be hazardous? (Flammable? Stilettos in Rain? Etc.)
- Does this conform to my location's dress code?

Anything else you can think of to consider, consider it. Because last thing you want is to walk into a school or workplace with ridiculous amounts of make-up and spikes, and racy tops/skirts, just to have the principal/boss drag you into the office and lecture you about "The Dress Code".

I'm in school yup yup
As far as I know the dress code is pretty lenient...
So I shall have some fun with it

It depends on where I'm going. If I'm just going to the grocery store- dark shirt and jeans with a couple of spikes or chains for a slight darker edge. At my old job, I toned it down to casual dark cloths with dark yet elegant jewelry . I had to wear my hair natural to too. If I'm going to the mall/where ever to hang out with friends- I go all out in my goth cloths. If I have to go to a special occasion that requires having to dress up in very formal/professional cloths- My lacy(sp?)victorian dress all the way.

At work I wear a black shirt and suit but when I dress casual I pretty much wear jeans and a novelty t-shirt of some sort. If I'm going out somewhere, specifically an alternative-friendly place, I'll put on a bit of eyeliner.

This probably makes me sound highly boring. I just find it convenient.

- trag

I dress the same year round. Long black pants or plaid mini-skirt or capris with a t-shirt, long sleeved jacket, over the knee socks, boots just under the knee, zombie-esque make-up [I tend to rub at my eyes alot] and black nail polish.

I admit ... sometimes I have to dress according to occasions .... lets take my job for instance. If I wore what I wanted to for work ... I'd have no job anymore. Bunch of losers *shakes fist angrily in the air* I work in an office for crying out loud, no outisde contact .... what customers are going to bloody well see meh ... geeeesh!!! And for that I must be accommodating .... grrrrrrrr!!!

But as I said ... I dress up or less depending on the occasion, but try never to lose who I am!

Working in an office still requires you to look professional, even if your role doesn't require face-to-face contact with your clients. A lot of office wear is goth friendly, so you can still be 'who you are' whilst still impressing your boss. A lot of offices allow you to be fairly casual, as long as it is appropriate. Big stompy boots, for example, are not.


My job requires me to wear current stock, as I work in retail. If I'm not at work, I don't see the point in dressing up if I'm not going anywhere. Even if I am going out, I'll still only wear something basic (usually the stock from where I work, considering I get 50% discount), because I don't see any reason to get dressed up. The only time I'll even consider wearing club gear or anything of the like, is if I'm going to a club, and you wont find me in a goth club very often.

My platform boots are my most comfortable shoes, but obviously I can't wear them everyday, considering I need to manouevre up and down small steps, etc. I normally dress them down anyway; I don't dress up to an extent: I overload on fishnets/jewellery according to my mood but I stick to simple-cut clothes for daytime, and leave the frilly skirts, etc, to clubbing or occaision.

For my job, I have a fairly strict dress code, because it's a hospital, I can't go 'CorpGoth' and have to stick to trousers and shirt or so on.

Maybe I'm just a freak (ok, you can drop the "maybe") but I don't differentiate between "gothed up" and regular clothes. For work I dress in black pants, black shirt, black shoes, black hat, black suspenders, etc. For casual dress I replace the black pants with a black kilt and sporran. I don't think either is too extreme, though some might wonder about the kilt. If I really want to get fancy, I wash the clothes and myself. Is that extreme? The only other style I have is nudity, which I do agree is a bit extreme so I keep it where like minded people congregate. I do carry a black towel, but it's hard to express goth without the garb.

Braveheart, please knock it off with the personal formatting. Hitting the return key for every "line" puts weird breaks in your post on other people's screens (like mine), and makes your comment a real pain in the arse to read.



My god. If you consider washing yourself and your clothing "fancy," I would hate to see what you define as "dressed down." Actually, I would just hate to smell what you define as dressed down.

And as for not being able to spot goths at a nudist colony, I'm guessing the copious amounts of metal punched through the skin and the huge back tats that read, "Goth as fuck," might out a few members of the subculture.

Some thoroughly non-goth folks do have some decidedly gothic tats. I'm not sure what constitutes a gothic piercing, since some of the same folks sometimes carry a lot of metal. The matted hair and waist length beards are sometimes a bit of a giveaway on these guys. Just thinking about this gives me an idea for the tattoo I've been considering. What is a good place for spider webs on a guy who's already pretty hairy?

ps. you don't like the smell of peppermint, LadyA?