Introduction

What is the Gothic?



When we think of a meaning for gothic, the first images that come to most minds in our modern days are the people who wear black from head to toe, have pale skin, wear dark makeup, and are most of the time, very introvert. But we did not create this style of expression. Actually, this fashion has much meaning behind it that comes from way back. It started in the 1st century A.D. in Ancient Greece. Throughout time the meaning of Goth has been shaped from the different fears of each era.

 

A few characteristics of  the Gothic related to style include characters trapped in a room, sighs, crazed laughter, and lights in abandoned room. Some themes include mystery, fear, terror, sorrow, surprise, haste, anger, largeness, and darkness. Many of these adjectives describe exactly how a Goth in present days would dress and act.  

 

How Did I Select My Topic?

 

I mainly focused on the story of Dracula because the book was full of illustrations. It was not just one picture that caught my eye but all of them had good representations of clothing styles. The clothing I was viewing was Gothic because it was dark, vintage, layered, vampires had pale skin, and women's necks were covered by scarves or necklaces to cover bite marks. This is significant for it shows how dark and depressing that time of era was and how we represent that mood today. I find it very interesting how fashions in clothing have changed in looks but still maintain the same meanings. But do our modern day Goth's know what their style means or comes from or are they stereotypes?

 

What is the Scope of My Research?

 

My point is to express that our modern day Goth's fashion actually has a lot of meaning behind each color and accessory that comes from our history Gothic stories. I used Dracula to demonstrate the similarities in styles because it gives great examples of clothing and materials that have much significance behind them. In my annotated bibliography, I wanted to be able to open eyes to the important facts and similarities of the ages fashions and how the styles change but not so much the meanings.

Scroll down to see annotated bibliography and conclusion.