Gothic fashion is having its mainstream revival and we’re loving it. Dark colours and gothic influences are decorating Market Street. Goth’s mainstream turn has meant elements of gothic fashion are being mingled with other aesthetics, so students exhibit a wonderful tapestry of influences. I love this turn fashion is taking, straying from the strict uniformity of sticking to one aesthetic, resulting in innovative unique looks and making the prospect of dipping into a different style not so intimidating.
Darker colours have been creeping their way into 2024’s high street fashion, but designers set the tone for a gothic revival months ago. 2024’s autumn/winter runways are packed with the aesthetic. Lebanese fashion designer Elie Saab’s beautiful runway collection featured many dark, long gowns, reminiscent of Morticia Addams’ (a gothic fashion pioneer to many) iconic look in The Addams Family, accenting sharp shoulders and long, curved silhouettes finished in a wide flowy shape to exaggerate the body’s proportions. Saab features long gloves, draping capes, dark flowers, sheer layers and ruffles, true to gothic influences and adding dimension and texture.
The deep red vampiric gowns are a favourite of mine, and the ethereal, sweeping cream looks are wonderfully haunting and ghost like – Saab reasserting that gothic fashion is not confined to the dark. The gowns adorned in deep green, purple and blue flowers remind us of an enchanted forest: the whole collection has a mystical, paranormal quality.
Findikoglu’s avant-garde collection Femme Vortex is dripping with the rebellious nature of the gothic. The show is a celebration of the divine feminine while redefining what ‘feminine’ means, aiming to throw out patriarchal norms and make a statement through androgynous looks full of dishevelled business attire paired with lingerie: the abundance of corsets and lingerie as outerwear defying what is deemed scandalous by patriarchal norms. The fluidity in gender representation also defies these norms, the show functioning as an unapologetically outrageous manifesto for a new representation of femininity.
The show features many Victorian influences: laced corsets, rigidly structured gowns, ruffles and white base-makeup to name a few. The Victorian era birthed gothic literature, the dark themes a reaction to the state of spirits under the rigid reign of Victoria and Albert. It was also a time with very high mortality rates, so death was a commonplace subject, and people were expected to wear black for a period after a death. For women this period lasted two years, so black was dotted all over England in Victorian times. These looks heavily inspired romantic goths, while gothic literature such as Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Frankenstein created iconic figures the gothic movement would draw on as well as a penchant for paranormal and taboo topics. The Victorian embracement of death is entrenched in gothic culture, as well as a woeful, dreary attitude and outer appearance.
Femme Vortex then displays elements of the Victorian gothic through dark, mournful clothing, pale makeup that makes models look vampiric or subhuman, laced corsets, long gloves and high neck lines. The collection is overall beautifully intricate, the short white ruffled dress a particular favourite, and the cathedral setting wonderfully sets the audience up for a haunting, unique night to remember.
Gothic fashion then, keeping in mind Victorian influences, is linked to times of repression and tragedy (in Victorian times high mortality rates). Gothic fashion resurfacing now makes sense as a reaction to tragedy, after a build-up of low morale from the events of the 2020s starting from the aftermath of covid.
Gothic fashion influences as seen among our students include dark skirts and patterned tights, high knee socks, corsets, frayed clothing, velvet, dark nails, lipstick and sharp eyeliner. Common is wearing a few of these features combined with different aesthetics such as hippie or preppy, toning down the full gothic look but still incorporating it. Black, red, purple and dark green are also heavily featured.
This fluid approach to gothic fashion’s resurgence reflects the freedom fashion is taking on with no need for conformity or labelling – we don’t have to fit in a box anymore. This, I believe, will make the gothic style long lasting. After all, who needs to express their angst more than a sleep deprived student with deadlines?
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