U AIN'T GOTH/ ALT IF U BUY FROM SHEIN (periodt)

recently i've seen so many posers online claiming to be goth, emo or any alt subgenre while buying from shein and other extreme fast-fashion brands. in this blog article i want to explain once for all why YOU CAN'T CALL YOURSELF GOTH OR PART OF ANY OTHER POSTPUNK SUBCULTURE WHEN YOU BUY FROM SHEIN.

sum days ago i was texting a girl on insta who appears to be alt/ goth and i asked her where she got a top from that i really like. 

she answered that it was from shein.

i was like "ah. k.".

like defuk, i am sincerely preoccupied by how superficially people claim to be part of a subculture just by dressing that way without documenting themselves about what they're actually signing up for. every time i see anyone saying their part of any subculture but spot them wearing anything from these extreme fast-fashion brands i always turn away cause i don't like posers, i don't like superficial people

most of these subcultures are post-punk genres, which means that not only do they derive form punk in terms of music but also are heavily influenced by the mentality and ethics of punk. and the main ones are punk's DIY ethic and critical theory, which means that they critique power structures such as capitalism (it's like mentioned right away in the introduction of the wikipedia's post-punk article).

by buying from shein, an extreme fast-fashion brands that clearly is CAPITALISTIC and UNETHICAL (they produce poor quality clothing with the support child labour) or any extreme fast fashion brand, you go against these ideologies that literally CHARACTERIZE the sub-culture YOU CLAIM TO BE PART OF.

it took me just two clicks and one and a half wikipedia articles to document myself about what post-punk genres are. so i assume that anyone wanting to be part of any subculture is therefor able to do a quick research of the history and characteristics of the subculture they like.

if you don't you clearly have no interest into documenting yourself and therefor YOU ARE A POSER, u are by definition someone who pretends to be someone the/ to be part of a group without being actually being part of it. you just do it superficially in order to be seen, to fit in.

it made me really reflect that these subcultures are starting to water down and that many people are seing them just as "trends" to quickly hop onto and to immediately ditch once they see that it's not mainstream anymore. there is such a cool article Keep Alternative Subcultures Alive! by slushiebrained on spacehey that talks in dept about this which i would recommend to check out.

now all negativity aside, i'll give you some tips on how you can prevent these beautiful subcultures to water down. 

★ THRIFT. by thrifting not only you can find some accurate pieces of clothing that may fit your style and you also go with the ideologies of post-punk subcultures. you go against the terrible cycle of waste of clothing that consumerism and fast-fashion cause. BIG DISCLAIMER, it's not like the thrift store is full of corsets and stuff lol but it all depends on how you are gong to style things. so even if all the things u see seem boring maybe adding some touch ups later you'll have an outfit you'll like. it takes some time but it's like a treasure hunt, u can even turn it into a date idea lol :))

★ DIY. it's so much easier than you think, you can look up for so many tutorials online, USE UR CREATIVITYYY

★ BUY FROM SUISTAINABLE BRANDS. for now document urself on the internet, i'll edit it later with brands i've found.

★ CHANGE THE WAY YOU SHOP. (i used this before my parents allowed to go thrift) u don't need to buy new clothing every time. i only buy something when a piece of clothing doesn't fit no more or is damaged. and if i have pieces of clothing i don't like no more, i sell them or donate them. AND THEN i buy new pieces of clothing. also, most of the time it depends on how you STYLE the clothing, by just adding some touch ups you can completely change an outfit.

xx