The term “Gothic style” refers to the style of European architecture, sculpture (and minor arts) which linked medieval Romanesque art with the Early Renaissance. The period is divided into Early Gothic (1150-1250), High Gothic (1250-1375), and International Gothic (1375-1450). Primarily a public form of Christian art, it flourished initially in the Ile de France and surrounding region in the period 1150-1250, and then spread throughout northern Europe.

Its main form of expression was architecture – exemplified by the great Gothic cathedrals of Northern France. For the two main decorative styles, please see Rayonnant Gothic Architecture (c.1200-1350) and the later Flamboyant Gothic Architecture (1375-1500). The finest examples of Gothic design include: Chartres Cathedral (1194-1250); Notre-Dame Cathedral (1163-1345); Sainte Chapelle (1241-48); and Cologne Cathedral (from 1248); as well as the cathedrals of Canterbury, Winchester, Westminster Abbey and Santiago de Compostela. In Gothic design, the planar forms of the previous Romanesque idiom were …

There’s something so subversively cool about goth style and beauty. Pulling from a range of philosophies and aesthetic influences as varied as 19th century romanticism, 1950s kitsch, Victorian occultism, and modern Punk Rock, the goth look has a dramatic and powerful appeal. If you value unconventional individualism, playing with these stylistic elements can be a fun way to express yourself.

Growing up with a sister who revels in all the dark, macabre details of goth beauty routines, I’ve become quite skilled at shopping for the perfect black lipstick or Vampira-esque corset dress. I love the sense of tongue-in-cheek creativity that runs through goth fashion and beauty trends, and the way these looks often mix quirky cuteness and unsettling edge in equal amounts.

Put your own unique spin on this iconic look with a few of the many beauty products designed especially for darker sensibilities. Whether you prefer a campy vintage …

One would think that Valentine’s Day, with its swooning goofiness, is to goths what New Year’s Eve is to bartenders: strictly amateur night. But actually the celebration of Saint Valentine is the solstice end of the Circe’s mandated goth year that begins with Halloween and ends with this Hallmark/Big Chocolate dominated fuck-fest. It’s the last night of wild sensuality before the hated Spring and Summer, when layering is impossible and the sun makes mascara run and those most hated of poseurs, beach and health goths, rule. Valentine’s Day is the last day to bone out the crypt with a goth’s loved/detested ones in relative peace before the earth is once again overrun with norms and exposed toes.

The overlap between goth love songs and goth breakup songs is large to the point of being a perfect circle. Goths make each other mixes with the expectation that the music will serve …

Surprising similarities between divergent groups, but old stereotypes persist, researcher says

Though they express their sexuality in starkly different ways, evangelical Christian men and goth men share a startling amount of common ground in their “intimacy talk,” which in both cases tends to emphasize intimacy, vulnerability and respect for women.

Despite this, these groups do not completely transcend the culture in which they were reared, a CU sociologist reports. But the strategies these men employ can be seen as an attempt to deal with bad options enforced by social tradition.

Clearly, there are differences between the groups. Young evangelical Christian men eschew partying, embrace self-discipline, extol moral cleanliness and commit themselves to sexual abstinence. They value old-fashioned, masculine chivalry.

Goth men, on the other hand, exist largely on an opposite pole, donning dark clothes, expressing dark emotions, rejecting traditionally “masculine” traits, engaging in “gender bending and queer play,” freely enjoying …

The Fetish Goth shows off the sexuality of the gothic scene in terms of their attitude, their dress, and the music they listen to.

These are the kinds of goths you will see wearing PVC, Leather and Latex… if they are wearing anything at all that is.

The goth scene has always been the kind of scene that attracts people with alternative mindsets. Part of this is how inclusive the scene is. When you are a member of the gothic subculture, one of the first things you discover is how accepting everyone else is of each other, warts and all. This welcoming side of goth also encourages people to explore themselves further. When you are in an area of acceptance like that, you are free to grow into what you want to be. People who have even an inkling of the fetish lifestyle in them might start exploring it that …

I still have no idea who that red-haired eighth grader was, but she impacted my life in ways she couldn’t possibly fathom.

Picture it: metro Atlanta, circa 1997. I’m a fresh-faced sixth grader getting used to the rigors of junior high. Middle school, being that terrible, awkward time in life when you experience all the newfound joys of puberty, wasn’t exactly the easiest transition for me. It was especially tough since I went to a school that was about 50 percent lower class white sociopaths, 40 percent lower class black sociopaths and 10 percent really stuck-up rich white kids who got the shaft during the last county rezonings. There weren’t a lot of cliques on campus, but of the few that were, what intrigued me most was how the groups seemed to exist sans the grade level boundaries. If you were a sixth grade jock, you hung out with the …

Online, it’s not hard to see that there has been a war on sex in combination to Goth. There are those that believe that the connection of bondage with Goth’s is wrong and are hateful towards it, or those that still think that in such an apparently open-minded subculture they can dictate that if another chooses to dress in less that it’s for some reason wrong.

What Happened To The Mantra “Wear What You Want”

To put it bluntly, just because you dress in a Victorian style does not mean you can say that styles such as Deathrock are devaluing the subculture. Such a subculture that takes creativity and self-expression so seriously you’d think that there would be less close-minded bigots but that isn’t always the case. In a perfect world people would be able to wear what ever they want whether that’s a mini-skirt and crop-top or head to …