Goth and punk, styles, alternatives and DIYs

INTRO

As someone who grew up round a lot of punks and goths I always saw my sister and her friends with their trad goth makeup, done up hair, and cluttered punk jackets and I always looked up to them. As I got older I got sick of hearing that my style should reflect who I am whenever I asked how I could achieve a look like theirs. It is true that punk and goth styles are rooted in unforgiving self expression. But as time went on punk and goth really developed a sure style of dark or rugged looks and most folks who are new to the scene ain’t so sure on how to achieve these looks. I do have to add though, a lot of the punk and goth folks you see on the street, in clubs or online have built their styles over years of collecting and unfortunately you won’t be able to achieve a closet like theirs in pure seconds of becoming a goth or punk. I feel like this will end up becoming a deep dive on goth and punk styles of the past to present. 

THE HAIR 

Goths with their bats nest hair and punks with deathhawks were one of the first things I was exposed to in these styles and hair is definitely a huge part of the look. Of course since the ‘70s and ‘80s things like hairspray don’t hold as well as they used to. And for any folks who don’t wanna drop bout 15-20 bucks on a decent quality can of hairspray luckily there’s many cheaper alternatives. 

For things like liberty spikes, deathhawks and other held up styles folks I know used a mix of Elmer’s glue, Knox unflavored gelatine, sugar water, egg whites and soap bars.

For more information on Mohawk styling and care I recommend Gabz pukes’ “the care and feeding of Mohawks”

And for bats nests or other goth styles, you can use similar products, curling irons/crimping irons, teasing your hair with combs, and to be honest just completely messing up your hair to achieve that ratted nest style.

Other interesting looks,, 

For colored hair and alternatives to boxed hair dye, you can use Gelatine, kool-aid, and beetroot juice, although these often work best on lighter hair types. 

Side shaves if you don’t have any electric clippers you can achieve a similar shaved look with regular razors or scissors. Common additional looks to side shaved hair include cheetah print, spider webs, and other unique designs from what I’ve seen these are most commonly achieved using markers, eyeshadow, dye spray, and bleach. 

Examples of punk and gothic styles you can achieve with what I have previously mentioned are similar to the styles of Kim royer and the members of the devotchkas seen below,

PATCHES, JACKETS AND ADDITIONS

The most common jackets I’ve seen for punks are often cluttered with pieces of cheap old shirts and homemade patches. And as for goths I tend to see more plain jackets with small accessories. Of course you are not bound to either of those options. 

For homemade patches taking unused cut up shirts or jeans and creating homemade stencils with paper/cardboard you can paint over the stencil and save money on the increasing price of patches. If you don’t have access to sewing materials or extra fabric, using stencils and paint directly on jackets can achieve a similar look. 

For smaller cheaper additions, adding necklace chains, safety pins, staples, beer bottle caps and metal charms can give you a desired cluttered look. 

Political Pieces are often frowned upon when it comes to patch jackets mainly by metalheads, but in goth and punk scenes politics are a strong aspect of the community. I often see political armbands combating the well known Nazi armband using symbols like the three arrow symbol or simply crossing out a swastika. These are easy to make with any cheap fabric cut out and paint. 

Studs and homemade spikes, studs and spikes are often expensive yet they’re huge in many scenes. What I’ve commonly seen as replacements to these items consist of small screws and homemade large spikes made out of rolled cut up soda/beer cans sewn into or pushed into the fabric of a vest or jacket. 

Pins, pins can get expensive but for a similar look you can add safety pins to beer caps, can tabs, dog tags or any pieces of carved scrap Metal. 

ICONIC STAPLES 

Many staples of goth and punk styles often include layering. One of which I’ve seen often with nightgowns and slip dresses, see through-Lacey jackets, velvet fabrics and leather. You can find most of these items in thrift stores at affordable prices. In true DIY fashion when you look for items you can’t expect a perfectly manufactured punk/goth item. DIYing gothic or punk fashion from average clothes often includes a few main points dying fabric, layering, cutting, and accessorizing. 

GOTHIC MAKEUP 

Often seen online “trad goth” makeup is portrayed with white face paint and blocky lined black paint. While there is no set way to appear goth makeup-wise I’ll focus on some cheap alternatives to these expensive white and black paints. 

Traditional 80s goth makeup is different from the “trad goth” you see online. Often with red or black lipstick, black/blue eyeshadow stretching to the nose, and often subtle eyeliner. to achieve this look folks often used the lightest foundation they could buy (if any) or even face paint from halloween/costume shops, skin safe markers, and eyeliner which was often smudged in place of dark eyeshadow. Seen below are siouxsie & the banshees as well as Xmal Deutschland with a similar traditional style.

Common 90s goth makeup id say many goths stood true to the traditional 80s styles and eventually branched out into many different alternative makeup styles we see today. With the rising popularity of gothic metal, dark wave and other alternative bands. The members of these bands popularized a laid back makeup style often with similar aspects like pale foundation and dark themes. Some prime examples being the members of the dark wave band diva destruction and the alternative band jack off Jill. despite not being goth it’s clear they inspired many of the goth (often mall goth) styles seen today.

Just to add there ain’t really any right way to dress punk or goth it’s all bout self expression. Although as of late there’s a real importance to being anti conformist and connecting with your scene as these subcultures are almost slowing dying out or becoming so watered down they lack any meaning. I feel like to keep these scenes going it’s real important to show your part of em and to keep contributing to building a better scene. 

I’m planning on adding much more to this but I’ll post all this just for now, if there’s anything I should explain further or anything y’all think I should’ve added id like this to be a collection of diys and styles for anyone just now getting into these scenes or looking to add to their current styles.