Alrite, as an ex-student and nascent designer of that-which-could-by-a-drunk-and-partially-sighted-person-be-termed "fashion", and having been asked "So, what's the whole Gothic thing about then?" enough to demolish a brick wall using only my skull, I feel duty bound to give my two cents on this.
I see clothing and so on as one of the most powerful methods for human beings to express their identity (or at least their own perception of their identity), both for their own gratification (they joy of building up one's ego
), and to communicate to others. Man has been changing his appearance, decorating himself, and indicating social positions in this way almost since he began to walk upright. And in the 20th Century, as "the masses" have found greater wealth and developed their own popular cultures, almost everybody now has the chance to project whatever image of themselves they want.
Being a combination of egotistical, vain, and artistic, the idea of projecting a strong image appeals to me. I like to think I am a free thinker (in so far as that's possible), who questions the conventions, ideas and current "fashions" of her society. Albeit from an armchair
. I think any society can only stagnate without, in short, people who stick out like sore thumbs - challenging common perceptions with their ideas or simply their innate oddness. I've felt, and been made, rather an outsider since my childhood for one reason or another (don't crack out the violins though, I'm sure I could have made myself a lot more popular if I'd seen the point), so I automatically idenitfy with other strange creatures.
Growing up, I was drawn to various subcultural styles - I went from a pre-teen hippy through glam to punk to GOFFICK by the time I was 14. It reflected the teenage search for identity, my estrangement from my peers (to my credit, although I was dressing pretty much as a clone of Siouxsie, there was no-one else around me doing anything like the same) and forming of a worldview. You could scoff at such a statement but fashion has long reflected the values and views of a particular age, it can do just the same for an individual.
Sometimes the symbolism of fashion is peculiar to a certain society or country (for example, black symbolising mourning and death in the West, wheras it's white in Japan), but just as often it works on a much deeper, instinctive level.
For example, consider the punk uniform of spikes and studs. Almost bedecking oneself in armour like some spiky reptile signalling to other soft-bodied animals "stay the f**k away or I'll f**king 'ave you, you f**ker!"
The aggression and law-of-the-jungle anarchy of 'punk' values is effectively conveyed in the dress.
Of course, people's instinctive reactions to certain aesthetics can vary. I simply try to combine those I like and which I feel reflect my values and ideas in the way I present myself. This lands me looking pretty f-ing goff at times, sometimes less so. But it's not about identifying as a member of some group for me, rather sympathies with one (of many) aesthetics because of what it represents to me. And essentially aesthetics are fluid things without boundaries, humans only create them by giving them these names and definitions.
OK, well, there is some identification with defined social movements and groups - but what I think is important is that one takes the elements of these things one likes best, rather than adopting the identity of member of this group (goth, punk, whatever) wholesale.
To me, wearing a lot of black, for example (my most gothest crime I think), is nothing to do with morbidity or "evil" (a concept I don't even believe in, for starters). To my eyes it symbolises authority, power and strength (something I aspire to and at least wish to convey, especially with my particular views on gender equality etc), and intensity (a pillar of my own personality... egotism again). And as such it's sexy
.
Every aspect of my dress has a similar symbolic attraction to me, and this is probably the case with the majority of people, although they won't analyse it. Even absence of interest in one's appearance, or a very mundane one, is telling of who they are.
Sorry 'bout that folks! But you did ask...
