Gothic, what it actually mean??

A History of Gothic

When people think about Gothic, they will think about something dark, evil, spooky, scary and creepy. It's clear that gothic is not only about music, it's a lifestyle, a certain sensibility. Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary defined the word "gothic" and he claimed that gothic is used in three ways. First of all, 'a building such as a cathedral that is gothic has a style of architecture that is distinguished by tall pillars, high vaulted ceilings and pointed arches.' Gothic is used to describe stories in which strange, mysterious adventures happen in dark and lonely places such as the ruins of a castle.' Gothic is also 'a style of printing or writing in which the letters are very ornate.'

The word 'gothic' is very old, and it was used since the Middle Ages and Renaissance era. It was named after the German tribe of the Goths, who once had invaded Italy and so had broken up the Roman Empire. In the 15th century, man hoped to revive the classical age; they had the idea of a rebirth or renaissance. The intervening period was called a Middle Age, and we still use this negative term. Because the Italians blamed the Goths for destructing the Roman Empire, they called the art style of this period Gothic, by which they meant barbaric. Of course this was a black & white view, during the Middle Age beautiful art was made too and there wasn’t a sudden rebirth of all the classical achievements in the Renaissance. And what to think of the technical inventions in architecture in the Middle Age, which made the huge Gothic cathedrals possible, like the Notre-Dame.

In the 1980's a new gothic movement came to the surface. It was preceded by punk, which came into life at the end of the 70's when there was a need for a distinctive non-conformist alternative culture. "Gothic music articulated an explicit nonconformist stance vis-à-vis the dominant establishment - according to The Vampire Book; the Encyclopedia of the Undead:. It opposed narrow sexual mores and traditional established religions. (..) The music celebrated the dark, shadowy side of life and had a distinct fascination with death. Its slow, driving sound was frequently described as melancholy, gloomy, even morbid. Those enthralled by the new Gothic culture found the vampire the single most appropriate image for the movement".

Interview with I -Socks owner






I - Socks is a boutique in Times Square, Malaysia and it have five branches in 4th floor of Times Square. I - Socks can be said the No I dealer for Gothic clothing in Malaysia. I hold an interview with the owner, Lee and he said that Gothic is a sub- culture that come from Germany and England since the Medieval era. But then, the Gothic fashion in this era is quit dull and old fashion. So the country like Japan, get the initiative to change it so it become more updated and colorful such like Lolita today. I asked him the reason why people nowadays wear Gothic and he said that kind of people wants to look different by dress up like that and it one of the reasons to make people look at them. Scarier you look, more Gothic you are. He explained that Gothic and Punk are anti-fashion and do something reverse-sided. For instance if normal people dress in colorful, Gothic will used the dull color especially black color and if normal people want to look pretty enough to attract attention, Gothic will do a scary make up for that reason.

His gave his opinion about Malaysia's Gothic fashion; he said that Malaysia has no experience in Gothic clothing. It is because Malaysia has no expertise in making this kind of fashion. The Malaysia media did not want to publish this fashion as the new trend for the youngster, but if they did, they will make a story about how bad Gothic can be as a negative influence to the teenage today. Big company which led in fashion industry does not give Gothic a chance; they think they cannot make money for this because the market is too low. Old generation said that Gothic fashion is something ridiculous and there no acceptance for this fashion. They do take it personally and said that Gothic represent the negative image to the wearer. Lee mention that people here think that Gothic is cross sided to the religion, Muslim country like Malaysia assuming Gothic as negative and its against the religion.

According to Lee, I – Socks had a really hard time to introduce this kind of fashion when he first opened the boutique several years before. In that time, this fashion is something new here and people needs time to get along with it. But his endeavor to introduce this kind of fashion makes it worth. Malaysian Gothic can buy their variety of stuff here instead of buy it from the internet before. Asking about what his overview about Gothic fashion in Malaysia, he told me that he wants Malaysian become more open-minded in fashion sense. Such like Gothic, he wish people will not take it personally as it only as a sort of fashion and not think it as something negative. He wants people here give Gothic a chance because Gothic just want to express themselves but not to harm people.





Naim, who is one of the I – Socks stuffs said that she prefer Gothic then Lolita. For her, Lolita is too girlish and the music is quit soft. I asked her whether she does some Gothic research, she said that she read a lot to find out what Gothic actually mean. She had a Gothic group before she work with I –Socks but now she alone.

* For further information about I - Socks visit www.i-socksonline.com