Pozer goth. It's ridiculous. Somehow I hate labeling myself.

I suppose that I do not mind labels so long as that label is not the sole thing that defines who you are.

I was just thinking earlier about this topic (while doing something else) that if I were so inclined, gothabilly would definitely be fitting for me. I've always been fascinated with the way people dressed in the 50s, and then when I first saw gothabilly a few months back, I was quite attracted to it. Although, I'm not sure it would work for everyday life unfortunately, at least not at work.

I do find myself attracted to dresses that resemble those from the 50s era (black or black/blue or black/purple especially).

I am a mix of all kinds of shit. Though I think my original base is goth. When I was in middle and early highschool. I used to always dress all black when I could. The problem was my mom would not buy me all the clothes that all these kids are able to get these days. I do not understand how people have been able to be "goth" "punk" "Metal" etc. Understanding parents is all I can assume. My mom broke down the first time I bought a studded belt at 14.

That's funny, my mom always liked/encouraged my style when I was growing up.

I grew up in a Mormon family in rural B.C., Canada. You can imagine how that went....

The key to my sanity was being totally unrelenting when it came to living my life, my way. I refused to let other people buy clothes for me(though Christmas presents were kinda unavoidable), and eventually we came to "coexist" through our differences.

Persistence, perseverance, strength of will, and intellect is the key to "growing up goth".

Same here.

Lets see... I can't lump myself into one group. I like various genres, Goth and not. My fashion varies as well. So, to break it down, I'm a bit:
- Victorian Goth, as far as when I dress up fancy, at least. I love my lace, long skirts, corset tops, my lace fan and parasol.
- Metalhead, since as well as Goth music, I love Black Metal. I also love my spikes, skulls, and dress pretty much like a Metalhead, with some Goth traits, for casual wear.
- Hippy Goth, because well, I'm working on becoming Vegan. And not to mention, I do like some of the bands the stereotype lists.
- Trad Goth. I love my fishnet, piercings, and make-up. I also like the classic music.
- Mopey Goth, but only because I'm a hermit so I spend alot of time in my Purple & Black room. And I paint, sometimes fun stuff, sometimes pieces inspired by emotions.
- Romantic Goth, based on my style when I dress up being Victorian/Medieval inspired, and I think graveyards, roses, and skulls are aesthetically pleasing.

There's probably more random elements, but those are the most predominant.

I wish my mom was the same. My Mom was always embarassed of me. I would always dye my hair black and wear plain black pants and shirts. She would try to be funny telling everyone that I was going through a phase. Yeah Apparently I was going through a phase for about 5-7 yeas guys.

Haha! Thank you Wolfmammy! That was both witty and well worded :3 You can feel or think whatever you like.




Don't you think that was a bit needlessly mean? I mean, really. There was no need for it.

I do see where Centurion is coming from though, and I think he/she worded it much better than you. I do think the term PerkyGoth does centre more around a personality type than a fashion or style (although I think PerkyGoths are more likely to like colours and sparkles etc), but being as I'm generally an upbeat sort of person, I've always felt PerkyGoth covered me quite well. Having said that, I am well aware that I am not a perky girl all the time. I suffer from depression and mood swings, and I do have bad days as well as good. Calling myself a PerkyGoth isn't me trying to pretend I am always happy and sunny and full of dark rainbows. Fuck no. I have days where I sit in my room and have dark thoughts and feel sad. Everyone does. But at least I'm trying to balance myself out a bit. Everyone needs to be happy and sad some of the time.

So yeah, I don't entirely disagree with Centurion, but I also don't see the problem with that term, or with MopeyGoths for that matter. Admitting we're happy/sad and going with the flow is probably a lot healthier than pretending we're depressed and miserable all the time, like some people do.

I just don't know why anyone has to be one particular 'type' of Goth or another.

If I feel perky and sparkly, I'll wear glitter and damn near look fairy-like. If I'm feeling darker and more romantic I pull out the long skirts and Qntal. If I'm feeling a bit agressive I'll go more Trad/Deathrocker. As I've said before, I normally look Industrial. I can still kick ass but without messing up my best accessories.

I think my mom likes it too. She's big into knitting scarves, and she recently decided to make a black one with red trimming (because it was goth-looking). What I *really* find interesting is that there is no middle ground with people's reaction. The ones that are supportive all think it's really great, and this lifestyle really seems to fit me. It makes me wonder if all this time, people saw something in me that until recently I never saw in myself.

Self-discovery for the win.

The Simpsons aren't really rude: it's just been done because they've been on for 20-something fucking seasons already.

I could say that I'm a "perky goth" in more of the fashion sense, because I try to dress more "devilish" but I always end up looking "cute" unless I wear some slinky, sultry stuff which I don't do most of the time or I wear something that makes me look like some Catholic fetish chic. But like I said, too much to me to be categorized by one word.

However, somehow related the l-o-l-ing of life, people always go out of their way to tell me to smile. Three people at the Steam Expo told me to smile, which definately wasn't rude of them, but yeah. I just don't smile if I don't need to - doesn't mean I'm mad, sad, or bored.

My mom and dad initially didn't like it, but they adjusted. Its come to the point where, as my style has evolved, they've liked some of the stuff. My dad likes the corset tops, the long skirts, my lace fan and parasol, my corset lacing and lacy jacket, and even my 3/4 length wool winter coat. My mom likes the same things, but she also likes my fishnet/lace shirts, my coffin purse, my Bat Hat (winter hat), my black and purple striped scarf, some of my more cooky items.

Carpi, I hate being told to smile "because you're so pretty when you do". Makes me want to vomit. We, as women, have some weird obligation to smile and look pleasing to every person who sees us? What complete BS!

Nice to know I'm not the only one whose parent was encouraging of there choices!

Donutte, it's disturbing sometimes how black & white people's reactions always are. People that have known me all my life always tell me how fitting it is that I'm a Goth. My husband, on the other hand, first met me when I was going through some weird surfer girl phase. It's taken him a while to get it through his head that I wasn't some normal girl that 'suddenly went Goth'. I used to wear fake nails filed into pointy claws and painted black to school, with mom's approval. ^_^

I think all in all with labels: goth, metalhead, rivethead, punk, anarchist, Satanist, occultist, pagan..... all fit my idoleogy and worldview, it's really the scenes/groups/rules attached to those labels that just wear one down.
If you like this, you can't possibly like this, and so on and so forth.......

Fuck it all: there's things about every subculture I hate, so I only take that from every subculture which I love, and completely discard the rest.