#goth substyles

[cemetery-grl]

Goth substyle blinkies!

[happy-radio]

Beginning of a series I wanna do celebrating goth fashion

[casperth3ghost]

"do you believe in god" -the kid who caught me drawing trad goth vamparian in math today

i love drawing goth people❤️

if youre goth pls marry me

[kathaariian]

i understand and support coming after people who use tiktok microlabels like “clean goth” however corporate goth is not one of those tiktok microlabels please X.X

[kingadora]

pen doodle inspired by this photo i saw on twitter :-0

[strawberryraviegutz]

“Emberlynn is NOT a goth!! We don’t claim her!! She’s an egirl!!”

First of all, what’s wrong with egirls?

Second, you do realize there’s a sub style of goth called Pastel Goth, right? There are so many substyles of gothic fashion. Gothic fashion doesn’t only include all black stuff.

Even the person who designed Emberlynn confirmed that she is indeed supposed to be Pastel Goth.

Plus goth is for the most part a music based subculture it’s not all about the fashion. If you personally don’t consider her goth cuz she likes anime, kawaii stuff, and smut then that also makes no sense.

I have never come across a goth or alternative person in general online that isn’t into anime, fanfiction, or smut. I’ve seen mostly positive things about Emberlynn but I’m also not liking this other new hate wave towards her.

“But she’s cringe”

THATS THE POINT. She supposed to represent all of those “cringy” fangirls who are obsessed with anime, fanfiction, smut, and their fictional crushes who also got bullied and made fun of for their interests. Even then it’s just a lighthearted jab at the fandom it’s not like Emberlynn was created out of malice.

A lot of thought and care went into her design and she was created BY people who are exactly like her which is why a lot of us see ourselves within Emberlynn and why a lot of ppl in the fandom love her. Because a lot of us are kinda like her in a way. And Viv and the ppl who work on the hellaverse team know this, because a lot of ppl on the hellaverse team, Viv included are also most likely like Emberlynn. SHE IS FOR US.

She’s for all the fangirls and or fans in general who’ve been bullied and made fun of and told that what we do and or love is cringey and wrong. She’s not for the ppl who for some reason haven’t grown out of cringe culture yet. She’s not for you.

No one is saying you HAVE TO like her or anything, but I frankly find it pretty weird at the amount of ppl I’ve seen who are genuinely upset about her existence along with saying incredibly mean and vile things towards her.

You guys will post saying that we need more quirky female characters who’re unashamed to be cringe and free and then you turn around post about how you much you hate Emberlynn’s personality or her character as a whole along with boasting about how wanna throw a brick at her face..

What is it with “cringey” fangirl characters and or quirky female characters in general that makes you guys get so angry and violent?? Yall clearly can’t handle characters like her at all despite claiming how much you want to see more characters like that in media. Grow up..

Anyways, Emberlynn Pinkle is such an amazing character. I love how relatable she is to a lot of us. Her human and sinner designs are so cute!! The color palettes for them are the definition of eye candy. We love a pastel goth queen.🩷🩵🖤

[frederickkittens]

Sweet Lolita through the years

Part 3

2008-2013(ish) “ott sweet”

This is what I believe to be both the most iconic era and the most misunderstood. As someone who was wearing and getting into Lolita at this time I remember it very fondly.

This is the era that really cemented lolita as what we know it as today. Due to the sheer amount of references and documentation of this era I’m going to focus less on individual items and moreso show the over all look

The regular look at the time was very elaborate and focused on creating a fully cohesive coord from head to toe. Balance, harmony, motifs, color and detail level being carried from head to toe was more important than ever. Contrary to popular belief however, piling on a bunch of accessories was not really the look. Very few Lolita’s went for the decora inspired vibe and instead went for tasteful balanced statement accessories and a lot of cohesion. Each individual item had its own detail creating a very “ott” look when paired with the trendy hair and makeup at the time as well as the busier prints and brighter colors.

Casual Lolita was still seen at the time though it seems what people call casual Lolita now is wildly different than what we called it back then.perhaps it was due to OTT very elaborate coords being the norm led to the casual coords of the time being quite elaborate in their own right. Usually using a skirt, cutsew, smaller or simpler accessories and a more wearable comfortable vibe.

“Bittersweet”, I’m not here to debate whether or not this is a substyle or a “real thing” on this post, simply to acknowledge what the term refers to. During the ott era it was a micro trend to wear a mix of pastels and black- often paired with edgier hairstyles and accessories. A lot of people compare this style to pastel goth but I think a more accurate comparison is spank! Kei being the darker sibling to fairy kei. Consider this the spank kei of lolita.

Hair and makeup typically look inspiration from another wildly popular style at the time: gyaru. With its rise and popularity, many styles in Japan used the hair, makeup, and even deco nails from the style with their own styles. This can be seen very often in lolita. Hallmarks of this being the eye droop, lashes, circle lences, big teased hairstyles, face gems and heavy rounded blush.

Though still seen, metal jewelry was quickly becoming less common with plastic chunky jewelry becoming the popular trend for brands and wearers of lolita. Jewelry that directly matched the print really took off at the time.

Novelty bags were at their peak at this time. You can often see snaps of girls carrying multiple bags! Plush animal bags had also come back around as a trend with the emergence of many iconic designs like ap’s horse bags and the lyrical bunny pochette. Tote bags that featured the dress’s print were also quite popular as opposed to the screen printed designs of past eras.

Some of the most iconic and sought after prints were from this era, it truly defined what we view as lolita and so many people cite this era as what got them into lolita. The prints were honestly really varied in terms of motifs and colors though- moreso than ever before!

While twinning has always been a thing I feel like making a 2010s sweet post without showing some of the absolutely iconic twinning coords would be a disservice to everyone. Twinning was in and of itself a trend of the time

I often see any ott sweet coords called 2010s sweet when they simply aren’t. Deco lolita definitely existed at the time but it wasn’t the common look. So if you intend to emulate 2010s iconic sweet style try and look at and truly study the style of the time! I hope this post does help clear up some of the main misconceptions.

If you’re interested in reading more here’s part 1 and part 2

[pleasestayawayidonotlikeyou]

could u maybe make a murder time trio(separate if possible) with a goth reader? if not that’s ok:)

Traveler I don't know who you are but I was thinking about writing some skelies with goth reader for some good time now, so thank you for this request 🙏🏼🙏🏼 Also, I added out Nightmare because I can <3

Featuring: Dust, Killer, Nightmare and Ted.

Masterlist

Killer

He finds your style... Interesting to say the least, in his words "It makes you look like the baddest bitch on the multiverse"

Definitely brags about it to the others "Ha! I have a groth partner and you don't!" "You mean goth?" "That's what I said idiot"

Finds Cyber goth and Punk goth the coolest styles, but let's say the truth, it doesn't really matter what substyle you wear, your clothes are all over the floor in the night anyways.

He can and will make flirts involving your dark aesthetic, especially if you're vampire goth.

"Hey sweetheart are you a bat? Because you can come bite my body any time~" "Killer we're in the middle of hiding a body what the fuck"

Ted

Your style helps him remember you, it's so different, so distinct from the norm that it makes his mind recognize you from maybe miles away.

Ted finds some of the songs pretty relaxing, it's one of the rare types of music that doesn't hurt his "brain".

People are scared when you both go anywhere.

Though he kinda likes it, no one can bother you when they think you're a freak.

Loves seeing you get ready, especially if you're traditional goth, he could stare forever, seeing you carefully putting eyeshadow on makes him feel so calm.. it makes his day 10 times better for no reason.

He'd make cookies of you, for no apparent reason, and then give them to you.

Dust

He fucking adores you.

Whatever you say he does, no questions, he just does.

Let him do your makeup. Pretty please?

Loves every goth substyle, but steampunk and vampire goth hold a special place on his soul.

Dust actually really loves fashion, and yes he will choose clothes for you when you don't know what to wear, and trust me, you end up looking fabulous.

Wastes all his money on you, skirts, boots, pants, anything you like he buys you, even if he had been in debt once for buying too much.

Nightmare

Oh my, he's actually head over heels.

This hoe's rich alright? It does not matter how expensive the prices may add up, it does not matter how many clothes you want, he's buying it, it's not like he'd run out of money anyway.

He likes the music, it's one of his favorite types actually - but he still prefers his classic music, "no offense darling.. classic is just better."

And if you're traditional/romantic/Victorian goth?? Lie down on the bed because he can't control himself anymore sweetheart - and he's making sure you aren't walking for some good time.

You're married to him, so you're now also ruler of his kingdom, and your style fits perfectly with the gloomy vibe of his realm.

[twsthc]

diasomnia fashion headcanons 🪦

⚠️ warnings: "creepy" shirt

last updated: aug 26, 2023

✶

MALLEUS DRACONIA 🐉 🛈 " ballroom goth / romantic goth "

incorporates traditional briar valley elements into modern styles

only he seems to have left out the modern part

dresses like they lurk in foggy forests waiting for a virgin maiden to stroll by so they can feast on her pale neck

LILIA VANROUGE 🦇 🛈 " vkei casual / mall goth "

cycles through fashion ever century or so

always sticks to darker edgy styles though

lends his older band shirts to silver and sebek

in his bandman era

SILVER ⚔ 🛈 " rokku gyaru "

silver and kalim lesbian gyaru girlfriends

pretend this style isnt overstimulating as hell silver uses magic to remove uncomfortable textures trust me

rokku gyaru is a substyle of vkei!

most of these clothes are lilia hand-me-downs

SEBEK ZIGVOLT ⚡ 🛈 " masculine trad goth "

also puts a lot of traditional valley elements into his outfits

might be revised later but trad goths are the sweetest people ever and i just wanna see sebek in the makeup really

couldnt find any examples but hed wear dark earthy tones

[llorom4nn1c]

♡ A guide to emo, goth, and scene! ♡

So since I see a lot of confusion over certain subcultures are and the differences between them, I thought I would make somewhat of a master post basically outlining the characteristics and differences of three aesthetics that I see misinterpreted a lot. If I do at any point get something wrong, feel free to correct me because I really don't intend to spread misinformation.

🎀 Emo

Emo is a music based subculture that first emerged in the 80s out of the hardcore scene. The name emo came from the music genre emocore, which was short for emotional hardcore. The fashion is typically pretty casual, with some staples being straightened and teased hair with a sideways fringe, black clothing, band shirts, arm warmers, sneakers, skinny jeans, fishnets, arm warmers, wide leg pants, studded belts, and merchandise from various properties like Emily The Strange, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Ruby Gloom.

Since the early days of emo, the music in the subculture has expanded outside of hardcore and post-hardcore, and has since gone on to include alternative rock, horror punk, metalcore, pop punk, and screamo. Some of the most prominent artists in the scene are Avril Lavigne, Blink 182, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Paramore, Pierce The Veil, and Sleeping With Sirens.

Since the subculture is mainly music based, fashion is not as important to being considered part of the scene. Therefore, not dressing in a specific way while listening to the music wouldn't make you a poser, but dressing emo while not listening to the music would. What is not considered emo is listening to a random genre of rock music. Bands like Metallica and Nirvana, while enjoyed by many emos, are not emo bands and therefore don't make someone emo. Furthermore, I can't believe I need to say this, but, contrary to what many people seem to think, kawaii people are also not emo. While it is common for kawaii people to listen to metal and other heavy music genres, their style is not at all similar to emo and they don't consider themselves as part of the subculture either.

🎀 Goth

Goth is probably the oldest subculture here, with it dating back to the 70s English punk scene, with bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure pioneering the culture. The post-punk band Bauhaus' debut single 'Bela Lugosi's Dead,' a song inspired by the famous horror actor Bela Lugosi, who portrayed Dracula in the 1931 film adaptation and also starred in White Zombie which is a film that's typically referred to as the first zombie movie, is often considered the first gothic rock song.

Goth is a subculture with many different sub-subcultures. Some of the most popular are batcave, bubble goth, cyber goth (formerly referred to as gravers), death rock, mall goth (formerly known as spooky kids), nu goth, romantic goth, steampunk, vampire goth, and, my personal favourite, gothic lolita. Contrary to what many people think, I don't consider aesthetics like pastel goth (which I do love) to really be a part of goth since it doesn't have roots in goth. Obviously I'm not going to go over every substyle because that would take way too long and would have to require its own post, but some common staples in most of these styles is lots of black, horror-inspired imagery, very big teased hair, black or red lipstick (red was the most common in the earlier days), and very pale almost white skin. Therefore, e-girls and emos (e-girls especially) are not goth. Also, the fetishisation of the 'big tiddy goth girlfriend' is very demeaning and offensive to goths, as well as just not funny at all because of how it objectifies and reduces them to simply walking breasts who wear black.

Goth music is, in my opinion, some of the most accesible and palatable alternative music. The most popular genres are dark wave, electronic rock, gothic rock, industrial metal and rock, new wave, and post-punk. Some of the most popular bands are Bauhaus, Evanescence, Joy Division, Marilyn Manson, Rammstein, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Birthday Massacre, and The Cure.

🎀 Scene

Scene is an aesthetic that originated in the 2000s on the website MySpace as a derivative aesthetic to emo. Many scene kids were considered emo posers because of their unconventional style and the music they listened to, which included genres ranging from crunkcore to metalcore, often being considered 'trashy' by other subcultures. Despite all of the hate towards scene kids, many embraced their label and many of the most popular people in the subculture started being known as scene queens who are also often credited as the first influencers. This included people such as Ambrehhhisdead, LedaMonsterBunny, and Melissa Marie Green.

Some staples to the style are colourful clothes, straightened and teased hair with colourful raccoon hair extensions, the scene swoop fringe, brass knuckles or diamond necklaces, bows, leopard print, zebra print, colourful shorts, tutus, tight clothes, sunglasses, knee high converse, band shirts, and merchandise of characters like Gir from Invader Zim, Gloomy Bear, and Hello Kitty. Personally, I would consider the modern rendition of scene, scenecore, to be a different aesthetic that, while it is pretty similar to scene, typically borrows from aesthetics like glitchcore rather than emo or mcbling.

Scene music is pretty diverse in what it provides, as it ranges from very heavy genres such as deathcore and metalcore to more pop and rap adjacent genres like crunkcore and neon pop. Some of the most prominent artists are 3OH!3, All Time Low, Asking Alexandria, Blood on the Dance Floor (unfortunately), Bring Me The Horizon, Brokencyde, Cobra Starship, Dot Dot Curve, Jeffree Star, Ke$ha, Metro Station, and Millionaires. A lot of the music is known to ignore many of the typically conventions of music, with the lyrics often containing themes relating to partying and sex.

That's it, byeeeee! ˚｡⋆୨୧˚♡

[girlytips]

The kanji “kei” (系) and its usage

As I still keep seeing it being used in instances where it doesn’t make sense, I thought it would be a good idea to talk a little about the kanji’s actual use within the japanese language.

系 is commonly used as a suffix to categorize and describe various things by their “type”, therefore can also be translated as such. For example, your nationality would be “country+kei+person”, stating the color of something “color+kei+object”, describing a song “genre+kei+music”, and specifying the style of your outfit “style+kei+coord”. However, in the overseas jfashion community there still persists the misunderstanding that it means “style” or “fashion”.

So where does this misunderstanding come from?

The very first instance of “kei” being used in a fashion context overseas was “visual kei” (ヴィジュアル系). During the late 90s, western media outlets discovered the genre and introduced it as unique fashion style from Japan heavily tied to music while also translating its name as “visual style”. This was the beginning of the whole misunderstanding as visual kei is only used to label a band as “visual-type”, meaning there is a heavy focus on a visual aspect. This is also why you will have a hard time shopping for the so-called visual kei fashion because it doesn’t really exist, and what is considered that overseas usually falls under the japanese goth punk (ゴスパンク) style that bangya wear.

After this, many years passed and “fairy kei” (フェアリー系) appeared within the jfashion online sphere, strenghtening the overseas conclusion that “kei” must mean “style” and therefore refers to fashions. While fairy kei is indeed used as a name for this specific 80s-inspired pastel fashion, it’s a lot more common to see it being refered to as just “fairy fashion” in japanese because “fairy-type” is also used to describe plenty of unrelated things. Meanwhile calling it fairy fashion would have been useless overseas for a similar reason and it made a lot more sense to use “fairy kei” instead.

From that point on, the international jfashion community would coin one “kei fashion” after another regardless of the styles actually being known by those names within Japan. Searching the majority of them in their japanese spelling would result in a dead end with many not even making any sense in relation to fashion, such as “mori kei” literally referring to forest types and “pop kei” to anything that’s popular at the moment.

Basically, the lesson of this post is that there is no need to include “kei” in the names of japanese fashion styles unless they are unrecognisable without it, because you are not writting in japanese using the kanji to categorize something by its style. In context of the fashion featured on this blog, it is used to differentiate the overall style genre from the english adjective that is “girly”, but not for its substyles as their names are distinct on their own.

I hope this little language lesson was useful to my readers, and if you have any requests for other jfashion-related terms to introduce or explain - just hit me up in my inbox!

[madam-kumo]

J-Street Fashion Banners/Moodboards

Kogal Gyaru A street fashion very influenced by 80's - Y2k fashion in the west. This fashion involves bright tans, blonde hair, and doll-like eyes. This specific substyles of Gyaru is extremely common with teens in Japan as it allows them to wear Gyaru but still wear their uniforms. There are many more exaggerated form of Gyaru like Agejo, Tropical Gyaru, and Hime. This style is most commonly known for being the exact opposite to Japanese beauty standards at the time.

Sweet Lollita

A Japanese street fashion most commonly associated with Rococo and Victorian clothing. Its most well known for its very lacy and ruffled trims and extremely ornate patterns (usually ranging from sweets to cute animals). Also, please note that the fashion has no association with the novel of the same name and the same name is merely a coincidence. Other substyles of Lollita includes, from goth to punk to the very ornate Hime Lollita. This fashion style is all about the desexualization of femininity and appealing to your inner fancy princess.

Visual Kei Visual Kei or V-Kei is most well known for its music because of their association and similarities to western goth music. Visual Kei is actually referred to as a branch of the umbrella term "Goth" and its most popular influences are bands like Malice Mizer and Dadaroma. Visual Kei, like Gyaru, has seen a boom in popularity because of the comebacks of 2000's fashion and the acceptance of alternative styles. Visual Kei is most noticeable by the multiple black layers along side dramatic hairstyles and makeup. The most popular substyles of V-Kei are Eroguro-Kei, Tanbi Kei, and Angura Kei. This style is all about visual dramaticism, hence the name, and creative expression.

Decora-Kei

Decora fashion is most well known for its visually bright and very colored style. This style involves kid-like fashion but times ten. Most Decora wear extremely bright or bold colors and eye catching clothing and multiple accessories. Many Decora's describe themselves as "Straight out of a Lisa Frank coloring book" and they show that influence in their extremely bold and flashy style. Decora's generally wear bright tennis shoes or platforms with multiple pieces of jewelry and hairpieces. Common themes are kid's shows, hello kitty, and rainbows. This style is meant to appeal to appeal to your inner child and be as eye catching as possible.

Menhera (Trigger Warning for mentions of Self-harm, suicide, mental illness, and general gore themes.)

Menhera is mostly well known for its art work and media that slowly influenced into a fashion type. Menhera's are usually wear medical related things like bandages, pill themes, and paying a bit of homage to nurse or school girl uniforms. This style is usually colored with hot pinks, pastel colors, white, and lavender. The most noticeable part of this fashion is the implications of self-harm with bandages on the wrists and thighs and a boxcutter; this is seen a lot on a popular character named Menhera Chan. This style's purpose is to bring awareness to mental health and the importance of it because of Japan's high suicide rate.

Mori Kei

Mori Kei is a street fashion centered around cottage living and as if living in a forest. Mori Kei consists of blouses, green ruffled skirts, and general "nature-like" fashion. This style is most commonly associated with "Cottage-Core", which is a western subtype of this fashion as Mori Kei really took off in 2009 while Cottage-Core became popular in mostly the 2020's. Mori Kei focuses on naturality, like a lack of overly expressive makeup and more toned down clothing that less visually eye-catching but no less beautiful. Mori Kei is also centered around hobbies from sewing, to reading, to even photography.

Sukeban

A Japanese style that got incredibly popular in the 70's when a movement started to stop the overly strict school systems for women. Girls began to do the same as males, sitting "unladylike" and making ugly faces in pictures, and began to intimidate teachers. These women first began changing their uniforms, making them longer and wearing unauthorized accessories, as a form of protest. This style was very looked down upon and still is today because of its association with gangs and violence. However, this style has slowly but surely grown in popularity due to social media, manga, and a popular Japanese movie called Sukeban Deka. This style is centered around the empowerment of women and to fight back against social and gender norms.

[systimming]

🥀 - goth substyles

[ilikerobotsandfish]

꒰ˆമ ˕ മˆ꒱ psst! you should share some of your favorite regretevator headcanons with me! here’s one of mine ^_^

i think Scag would enjoy fashion and wishes she had a body for it, and she likes substyles like gyaru, y2k, and general glamour. she’s also intrigued by goth culture and its styles.

your turn (^> ·̮ <^)✩

[malakhim]

what is being in lolita fashion on a day to day basis like? theres a lot of reasons why i cant and dont right now but what do people even say? im no stranger to being seen as a freak so thats not concerning me but im very curious. thanks

Wearing lolita for me is chill mostly. I imagine it varies a lot based on where you live and what substyles you wear. I wear mostly old school, casual and gothic. I think over the top gothic styles are somewhat in the public consciousness so people go "Oh it's one of those goth kids" while my old school clothes make people think I look like a doll or someone into vintage clothes. Casual coords can pass as me just being a stylish person. I get a lot of questions and compliments, and occasionally, someone will know what lolita is and compliment my coord or ask where I get my clothes. Old people love it most of the time. Not all of them though. My family is really like.. the weirdest about it, but they've backed off for the most part now that I've been dressing like this for quite some time now though I still mostly wear casual coords around them. I wore it to a family reunion, and people were really chill about it so I think that helped my immediate family calm down a bit when they realized I wouldn't be treated like a freakazoid. Occasionally, I meet someone who knows a lot about Japanese culture but doesn't know what lolita is exactly; they can just tell I'm wearing a Japanese fashion. Often an interesting conversation starts. It happened to me at the somnologist a few weeks ago, and it also happened with my cousin at the family reunion. It can also happen with some people who watch anime or make anime inspired art. It's fun... I like making conversation with people, but I imagine it can be a bit overwhelming if you don't like talking to strangers. It also might be less of a thing where a culture of hospitality isn't as much of a thing haha. I've had very few negative interactions but they have happened... Most I've talked about online in semi public spaces. Like the guy in England who asked me if I wanted to dress like Annabelle and blew smoke in my face.. I just walked away from him... And I've been catcalled and approached by weird guys.. Usually I just make an excuse to leave. But that also happened when I dressed in plain goth/alt fashion, so I'm kind of used to it. It also doesn't happen frequently enough that I feel in danger or troubled by it. I'm also so sooo autistic. There's a chance someone has been mean to me but I just didn't realize lol.

[pansyfemme]

you have a very unique fashion sense and i NEED to know… are there any fashion styles or subcultures that are not something you would ever wear, but you that you can appreciate From A Distance?

I do think it’s true for..most fashion subcultures. some because it’s just so not the type of thing i like to wear (like goth or honestly most fashions that involve a lot of black) and some because i know i couldnt do them justice (most forms of gyaru or lolita) but generally a lot of fashion styles involve a loooot of wardrobe building so unless i was somehow able to build an outfit with items that would also fit in with my normal closet im not super interested in trying other substyles rn