When we hear the word ‘gothic’, we generally associate it with either a specific social group, certain genres of music or attitudes towards complex topics such as cultism. However, in the turn of the last century, the fashion industry has seen a huge outburst of gothic fashion trends, which have consequently influenced the wider markets of the high street.
Gothic fashion has inspired many to experiment with captivating fabrics and alluring colours such as black, red and royal purple. These fabrics and colours add elements of mystery and are often the cause of heads turning: they are pleasing to both the eye and touch.
If you have been into H&M recently, you will probably have noticed the section that consists of three key colours: black, white and grey. And the clothing in this section is all very edgy, with a lot of gothic influences. This could be due to Halloween being in the horizon, but it could also be the general rise in gothic fashion trends, just like in 2012. And, if you go onto H&M’s website, you can see a variety of fabrics and colours that fit into the gothic fashion category in the ‘Retro chick’ tab. (Warning: temptation to go on an online shopping splurge becomes very hard to resist!)
Similarly, if you go to the ‘New in this week’ section of Topshop’s website, you can see that black is the most common colour, and most of the clothes contain really interesting fabrics, patterns or a contrast of deep colours. And what is even more exciting is their Halloween section, which is bursting with velvet, lace, and feathers. In fact, it is almost impossible to browse this section and not see something that strikes you.
But these gothic fashion trends aren’t only in the high street shops. Gothic is now all over the catwalk too, with leather and lace featuring consistently. Leather is a fabric that can go with a lot of outfits, especially in the form of a jacket – my leather jacket is one of my favourite items in my wardrobe – and now, you can buy leather everything (or faux leather if you prefer to shop ethically). So this winter, perhaps look into a leather skirt, which can be found in H&M, and sparkle up your outfits with the edginess of the gothic.