I ran into this article on a Finnish web site about the Gothic culture and it's origins. It was written by a fellow VF, also called Marina (yeeey!) and I have the honor of reposting her work here. Hope I'll have get the same treatment later on
NOTE: The entire post is a link to the original page!
P.S.: Marina is on the picture below, with the striped dress! :*

The secret nobility: GOTHS

Marina, Julia, Ilari, Riitta and Molla: unique in their own styles and not at all bound by one single color or title.

Nobody really knows what gothic is, but certainly no one wants to bare a label: what species of Goth is it, what does it eat, how should it be stored after opening and what about washing instructions? Do remember to tumble dry with care – this is very fragile material after all.

THE GOTHS were a Germanic tribe in the fifth century, but back then they had greater worries than how to save up enough money for the annual trip to Wave Gotik Treffen in Germany or which hair dye stains are easiest to wash off your dog after colouring your mohawk. Evolution also brought us gothic architecture (the Cologne Dome), gothic literature (Edgar Allan Poe) and inevitably, gothic illiteracy (the narrow-minded sort of people who blame Goths for all deadly sins, except perhaps the dismantling of the USSR).

Mother of Goth!
Traditionally the Goth subculture originates from British punk of the 1980s, thus music is an inseparable part of the Goth identity. Most English bands from that decade give a good taste of what is known as old-school Goth, so it has almost nothing to do with Nightwish or the entire fan base of HIM. Legend has it that as the original Brit-punk wave faded, the depressed rebels turned to gloomier shades, paler skin and melancholic poetry, but not without an attitude. As the decades passed, the originally underground culture crawled from the Kingdom’s outskirts over to the continent and further, growing more branches of music styles and clothing designs and also unavoidably dragging along shallower name-calling from society.

Julia Sheremetyeva, a Karelian photographer, speaks for most people: “Goth is a limiting term for the people who address you as such, not for yourself. No one in fact knows what Goth really is.” Sannie van der Horst, a Dutch corset seamstress, supports this opinion. “When you call someone Goth, your meaning is not clear.”

Still, the reaction to the sound of that word is not without a skip of a heartbeat. Irish Neurion Denver admits to take “great pride in being called a Goth. People say it like an insult but I take it as a complement.”

Carrying the label
This subculture has evolved so much that if a Goth from 1983 met one of 2008, they’d call each other ‘silly posers’ and wouldn’t even discuss Hussey’s latest gig. Gothic music as such does not exist, although many bands are stubbornly categorised as such. Perhaps an artist’s image can be darkly inspired and there’ll be a couple of bats in the lyrics, but generally there is no one gothic artist. However, some are accused of motivating gothic musicians: Tim Burton’s films, Viona Ielegems’ photography, Rozz Williams’s songs and Anna-Varney Cantodea’s struggle. It’s impossible not to mention Marilyn Manson, who is blamed every time some sick Jimmy-the-Goth stirs up a fight in class: Manson is the spokesman for all Gothic scapegoats out there. Heavy metal is of no relevance here either, nor are Emos, Nazis, JRock Lolitas or devotees of low-sugar fruitarian diets. Finland’s own “destroyer of taboos” Sofi Oksanen raised the same issue of belonging socially in her famous book Stalin’s Cows, as she unveiled the matter of identities.

Good Goth
The scene has diversified a lot, but a Goth is still imagined as a suicidal kid in black. Many blindly accuse them for generating violence, but Goths have all the freedom to peacefully express themselves. Angry emotions are relieved through harsh dancing to EBM (Electro Body Music), unfortunate romance through an intricate Victorian dress.

One famous American under the pseudonym Voltaire, a musician with a healthy share of black sarcasm, pointed out in his book What is Goth?, that “people who go out of their way to call attention to themselves through their appearances have little to hide.” Goths can wear German uniforms of the 1940s, remaining completely apolitical and free of any racial intolerance.

Ilari is an 18-year-old Finn: “I always try to be as polite as possible, since I represent both myself and the scene. Politeness is really cool, but arrogance isn’t. If tourists are polite enough to ask for a photograph of me, I usually let them, but if someone does it behind my back, I kindly ask them to delete it.”

Unlike other social groups where alcohol and stronger substances are frequent, the Goth scene is much cleaner. Having reached this point in life when Goth becomes a lifestyle, most are well-read, hold university degrees, permanent jobs and aspire to constant self-development. If someone takes aristocratic nobility as a role model, it inevitably leaves a trace.

Inspiration unstoppable
What unites a pinup dolly, a cyber mermaid, a spider-webbed cutie, a Victorian lady and an industrial rivet-head? Fascination of the uncommon and the out-of-this-world unique. A Goth is someone who is free-minded, artistic and open to experiments. Aesthetics are high because beauty is found in everything in all its detail and variety: darkness and light, good and evil, all that exists triggers creativity. Ielegems always says that “Beauty is easy to find anywhere, what’s difficult is to frame it.”

Voltaire seems to have found the essence of the subculture: “Goth is whatever you want it to be.” Once a revelation strikes that self-expression is unlimited, you look at the world with acceptance and curiosity: then labels evaporate automatically.

“I’m Julia, friends call me Puppy, Goths say I’m a deathrocker… Call me what you want, but I know who I am, and I just don’t take it to heart,” says Sheremetyeva. Van der Horst agrees: “If you can’t laugh at yourself, there’s no point in life.”

Everyday is a dress-up day!
Many wait for an occasion to wear a dream dress, whilst Goths emerge in their fantasy world and have a sharp dress sense regardless of the occasion. Riitta, the owner of the Morticia chain, confirms the axiom: “The girl with the corset always wins!” Appearances matter and Goths, free from vanity, display this fact.

Molla Mills is a Finnish designer with a distinctive pin-up image: “I love to look different! It’s important to me what others think about my style. I want to be very vintage, but I can find many traces from my past in my look: punk, gothic and Terylene era.”

Preparing an outfit or getting ready for a party is a lengthy, but very enjoyable process, often more exciting than the end result. The look reflects a carrier’s dedication to the lifestyle, although understandably there are boundaries. Brit Darren Powell says that he has to “dress down a bit for work but on the whole I am able to do much of my vampire business during office quiet times.”
Mills, who runs her own online boutique, comments that “today vintage style is difficult to keep up with; a woman is not feminine anymore. Dressing up means playing a certain role, and you can change roles with your appearance.”

Van der Horst describes the gothic scene as “a place to see, but also to be seen. Maybe it is a contradiction in itself: open and closed at the same time.” In any case, you will never be overlooked; just don’t wear any HIM merchandise.


Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” is practically a hymn
The Cure is an already classic rock band from England
Nine Inch Nails sets industrial beat to the dancefloor
Qntal inspires medieval role plays and pagan gatherings
Emilie Autumn plays for twisted Victorian elite

(Article by Marina Sidyakina for 6DEGREES)

* * *

Here, she also offers some links for other fellow Goths:

The Hits
Lumous Gothic Festival
The most northern Gothic festival in Europe, runs annually in Tampere.
www.lumous.net

Where to meet
Wave Gotik Treffen
WGT is an annual Gothic festival in Germany in May. It attracts about 30,000 visitors every year and is the biggest in the continent.
www.wave-gotik-treffen.de

Syn/\psi
Monthly electro/industrial club in Helsinki with live acts.
www.synapsi.info

The treasure chest:
www.x-tra-x.de
www.morticia.com
www.skeletonsintheclosetclothing.com
www.mollamills.com