A Threatening and Mysterious Beauty ✞ Τhe Origin of Goth, Influences and Artists ✞ (Part One)

-People say that this is their race, but their race has no racial determination. It is the non recognized dispersion. It is not only the black “flag” of the “romanticized” alienation or the “post-punk classicism”. Goth people wear black because they “mourn”. A lot of people adopted the black clothing as a symblolism for the last shine of heroism in the decadence, as an indication of the raw world's contempt and as an indication of mourning related to the romanticism's death.

Gothic Culture is considered to be the macabre, romantic little sister of the Punk Culture. Forsooth, one of the most creative idols clearly came from the Punk Scene. And yes… we are talking about Siouxsie Sioux.

Siouxsie was the archetype of a dark painted and aggressively androgynous punk girl, who during the Punk Rock's explosion in 1976, reminded of the corresponding Sex Pistol's fan (and member, afterwards), Sid Vicious. While you cannot overlook her music talent -she continues to be the diva of the alternative scene and she still cooperates with Budgie (her husband and ex member of the band Creatures) - the reason of her swift recognition was her peculiar appearance. She was the one who gave birth to the characterization “Goth”, which was something like a label to describe people's taste in music, appearance and ideology. Besides, the band Siouxsie and The Banshees refused the “Goth” label, as they denied the “Punk” label, too. After the band's disintegration in 1996, the magazine Ghastly wrote that “the creation of a terrific gothic movement was not the band's priority”. Siouxsie's appearance faced frequent changes -from the first steps of a combative bitch who wears accessories with weird symbols to a transformative porcelain doll- however, she remained loyal to the image of a femme fatale woman. According to “The Village Voice” magazine, Siouxsie's vicious style gave her the title of “the most influential British star of the 80s”.

The book “Retro Hell” included a big feature about the Gothic subculture and especially about Siouxsie's copycats. Pleasant Gehman, the writer of this feature, said that a lot of girls began to imitate Siouxsie's style before her first song “Hong Kong Garden” became famous at night clubs etc. Her long, curly, punk hair, her pale skin with the two loaded eyes that were perfectly matched with her black eyelashes, and of course the strict lips of hers that reminded of the 20s decade, were the characteristics that were beloved by many girls.

Meanwhile, America had her gothic idol, too. And she was noone else, but Lydia Lunch. Both Siouxsie and Lydia Lunch adapted the figure of a femme fatale for their own aims, but specifically to exorcise the demons of their weird or cruel childhood. Siouxsie described at “The Face” magazine the inappropriate situation that her family was into. Her father was an alcoholic and she also had a rebellious older sister. These two facts were extremely scandalous for that epoch. Her older reminiscence was that she used to play dead. Her mother was used to pass by her body, which was lying on the floor. Moreover, she had swallowed a couple of pills in order to make her “death” more realistic.

Her more depressing song “Candyman” from the album “Tinderbox”, which was released in 1986, constitutes an attempt of her to describe “the untold of the child abuse”. Its lyrics, where we are able to understand the side of the person who abuses and not the victim's side, have created some theories about the nightmare that the famous singer was into during her younger age. Nevertheless, Lydia Lunch's childhood was also haunted, because of her sexual abuse that her father was responsible for. The song “Daddy Dearest” (1985) was the result of her effort to express affliction and to exorcise her trauma.

The painfully raw nakedness of a soul is Lydia's weapon, using a wide range of expression means. Lydia Lunch is known for her viva voce speech performances, her multidimensional music career, her shock-erotica poses and her participation in the artistic porn movies of the director Richard Kern (also known as the “cinema of transgression” director). And even if there was something attractive in Siouxsie's sexuality, Lydia Lunch was all along more insolent and aggressive. Consequently, although Lunch constituted the strong power of the dark and alternative scene, she never had as much influence as Siouxsie had in the Gothic appearance.

However, when “Goth” became mainstream for a short period in London, Lunch was in the gothic movement's forefront. Marc Almond made a reference in his autobiography (Tainted Life) about the first time that he met the woman who offered her help in Goth's invention. She was petite, with red lips and also sensual, with black leather clothes that revealed her chest. As he said, she was the type of woman that mesmerized and terrorized him. From Almond's description, her apartment at Barons Court was something like a gothic cave. The decoration was exactly as Almond had imagined it to be. Heavy, timeworn curtains in a dark red shade - which were always closed. The entire room was painted in deep red colour, just like blood. There was only a white lamp at the centre of the room, that created alive shadows into the darkness. As he got used to the shortage of light, Lydia's taste in decoration began to caught his attention: a range of some diabolique masks, one embalmed head of a deer, deer horns, witchcraft symbols, pillows from animals' skin, skulls from animals, pieces of bones that had some mystical meaning.. At the table's corner there was a vase with dehydrated flowers and on the floor there were some issues of the Penthouse magazine. This room was separated from the kitchen with a curtain. Also, there were dolls everywhere - damaged dolls, crippled dolls etc. While Almond was investigating the room, he found embalmed lizards, bats from rubber, items with spiders, items related to religion and a macabre gun collection: a flail, penknives, cleavers and axes. - Everything came from a creepy past. In the middle of the room was the seductress's bed: black and red, a place where undoubtedly disgraceful actions were committed. He sat down and Lydia showed him her collection of preserved amphibians which were doomed to live in marmalade jams. “Great!” he said.

Maybe it is difficult to determine the gothic archetype due to the style which was created with a big ambiguity between the two genders. The males who espoused the gothic culture used to flirt with the “ridiculousness”, while they were wearing much more make-up than the females did.

Peter Murphy, the singer and frontman of the band Bauhaus, had a peculiar stage performance. His figure had certainly some elements from the german expressionist silent horror films. He reminded of Caesar, the mysterious murderer from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and of Graf Orlok from the Nosferatu (1922). With an androgynous appearance which was very masculine at the same time, Peter Murphy seemed more like a horror movie star than like a rock singer, while his style had elements of funeral elegance.

Murphy said in his interview at “In the City” magazine that he improves his image because he wants it to be unique and not because he wants to be pretty. His monochrome appearance -the sharp zygomatic bones under his black hair- affected a whole generation of Goths. Also, the Bauhaus' guitarist Daniel Ash said that in a brief time period his band managed to attract everyone who was dressed in black and make them imitate the band's style. They characterized their fans “the androgynous spaced demons”. Just like Bowie did (he had enveloped the guitarist Mick Ronsom and gave an “electric blowjob” to his guitar), Murphy and Ash offered something more at their live shows, too. They used to “flirt” with each other and Murphy often used to appear on stage in his black underwear.

However, many companies were attracted to this dark movement and tried to make it mainstream. The Maxell Company employed Peter Murphy in 1983. He worked as a model for their advertising campaign which appeared on television and in the streets. The singer wore an elegant suit that made him seem like a well-dressed businessman, even if he was a peculiar one, who was misleaded by the Maxell's power, while he was sitting with apathy in a post-modern lounge. On the one hand, this made Murphy more well-known. On the other hand this was the reason that his band broke up in 1983. Some years later, the band got reunited and their first live shows in California made them more popular than they were before.

When the gothic culture found for the first time its home into the legendary Batcave Club in

London, David Edmond, the fashion designer and member of the band Specimen, created appropriate clothes for his band and for the people who joined the gothic nightlife in England. Edmond said in an interview of his that during the 80s there were a few people who used gothic elements in their clothing. There was a girl, whose name was Morticia, who used to sell gothic clothes and jewellery and she really lived in a gothic way. Additionally, Laura Vanian – who was in a relationship with Dave Vanian, member of the band Damned- was the absolute type of Goth girl. The band's autobiography (The Book of the Damned) includes a part in which Laura refers to her marriage. She described her wedding dress: black lace and purple silk. Her wedding cake had two black roses on it. The three of them -Morticia, Dave and Laura- seemed to be the living version of Charles Addams’ cartoons.

Bands like Specimen and Alien Sex Fiend began to use macabre elements, such as cemeteries etc. David Edmond continued his interview saying that he used to work in an alternative fashion store in Chelsea. The epoch of the Neo-Romantic and Punk clothing had come to an end. Edmond and other fashion people started to cooperate with the Batcave and with Specimen, in order to create something new in alternative fashion. At first, people who haunted the Batcave were a mixture of Punk, Neo-Romantic, weird and unpredictable groups. Gradually, the gothic style dominated and Goths got increased.

The Damned's singer, Dave Vanian, is difficult to be described as a Goth singer, because when the band released its first album (New Rose) in 1976, it had more punk than gothic sounds. Nevertheless, the band's website made a reference about Dave and his past job. He used to work as a gravedigger and he was something between Bela Lugosi and Nosferatu. The erotic thriller writer, Cecilia Tran, wrote at “Blue Blood” -the American magazine of unconventional erotica- an article which was called “Vampire Chic”, where she described the Vanian's presence. She said that he was one of the first who dived in head first into the vampires' elegance. Practically, he used to appear with various characteristics from the 18th century, such as lace shirts and candlesticks on stage.

The occasional band's gothic exacerbation came into their zenith during the 80s decade. The Damned accomplished a tour for their album's (“Strawberries”, 1982) promotion, which contained a gothic scenery with ecclesiastical issues. This scenery included decoration of stained glass and some nuns, who undertook the vocals. Vanian said about the show that he worked hard for many years in order to make a successful result. As Patricia Morrison said at the british gothic magazine “Grimly Meltdown”, the Damned's album “Phantasmagoria” (1985) gave birth to millions copycats of Vanian.

Patricia Morrison joined the band “Damned” and played bass from 1996 to 2005, after bassist Paul Gray was injured by a fan in their concert. The same year that Patricia became a member of the Damned, she married the lead singer Dave Vanian and in 2004 they got their daughter, Emily, who was the reason that Patricia left her band. She also joined The Gun Club, Fur Bible and Sisters of Mercy. She released a solo EP with the title “Reflect On This”, in 1994. Mick Mercer wrote in his book “Gothic Rock Black Book” a description about Patricia and he characterized her as the “Goddess of Goth”, a title that comes after the first one, which belongs to Siouxsie Sioux. Natasha Scharf, the chief editor of the magazine “Meltdown” and a Patriacia's big fan, said about her that she is “the original Morticia Addams”. Furthermore, Scharf said that we should forger Siouxsie and Gitane Demone (Christian Death's blond diva), because when Patricia promoted the Gothic movement at unpopular clubs in America, Siouxsie was still in Fine Arts University and Demone not even imagined that she could join the gothic band Christian Death. During the end of the 80s, Morrison's appearance – balck long hair that was combed backwards, silk dress and high heels- expressed a clear removal from the punk look and a turn into a beautiful heroine, who looked like she had come from a gothic horror movie.

Andrew Eldritch, Sisters of Mercy's frontmant and ex Patricia's cooperator, always had a notorious agitation with the gothic scene. However, even if he likes it or not, the outlandish and lean as a spider man, was the main influence for the Goth men of the 80s decade. Richard Davenport-Hines wrote in his research with the title “Gothic” that Eldritch had an amazing photogeny because he managed to discover in himself the image of the melancholic goth man.

Donna Ricci was a woman who promoted the contemporary variation of the typical gothic look. Initially, she was hired by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean to work as a photomodel in their comic with the title “Death”. Later, Ricci established her own agency (Wicked Talent), which exclusively had alternative models with gothic, punk, vampiric, rockabilly looks and they also had piercings or tattoos. Ricci planed to open her own club which would have a vampiric concept. In the article “The Rise of the Gothic Supermodel” in magazine “Bite Me” (2001), Ricci said that marketing and advertizing had a rebellious trend to search for dark and more etherial aesthetics. She also refered to the mainstream versions of the Gothic subculture, which were found in various advertisements, such as Calvin Klein, Levis and large cosmetics companies. Last but not least, Donna Ricci described the gothic style's acceptance saying that there is no doubt that a more threating beauty has become not only acceptable, but desirable for the fashion world, too.

In the research “Men in Black”, which subject was the black colour in the history of fashion, the writer John Harvey made the ascertainment that the black colour, especially in the Goths' culture, is used in order to declare that the one who wears it is outlandish or he feels like he is outside of the society. According to the research, black clothing and white make-up have a relation with the drepression and melancholic feelings, in general. Maybe the writer was illuminated by the article “Five Reasons Why I Wear Black” of the american magazine “Horror Garage”. This article was signed by the famous horror writer John Shirley, who wrote ( with his collaborator David Schow) the screenplay of the film “The Crow”.

According to Shirley, the black colour partly operates as a racial colour for those who are alienated. From the other hand, he complemented that there is also a group of people who are dressed from their top to their bottom in black and they go to crowed places and concerts like Sisters of Mercy. These people say that this is their race, but their race has no racial determination. It is the non recognized dispersion. It is not only the black “flag” of the “romanticized” alienation or the “Post-Punk classicism”. Goth people wear black because they “mourn”.

A lot of people adopted the black clothing as a symblolism for the last shine of heroism in the decadence, as an indication of the raw world's contempt and as an indication of mourning related to the romanticism's death. Shirley does not mourn because of the human spirit's pettiness, but for the general coldness that dominates the world.

A many year research about the mainstream fashion showed that many Goths wear black just because it is a cool colour and it make them look pretty. Nevertheless, this dark colour constitutes fashion's refusal. Cecilia Tan wrote in her article with the title “Vampire Chic” about the first time that her mother saw her with black lipstic on her lips. She said that she was like dead and her daughter received it as a compliment. After some suggestions like: “ How to manage the look that Lily Munster or the Frankenstain's Bride had”, Cecilia Tan ended up with the conclusion that the appearance is easily complemented with a long black coat, which is ideal for a Goth's night wandering. She continued saying that Goths should wear everything that is dark and appropriate for a creature who lives in the shadows, so they would never allow other people to offend them by telling them that as vampires they are not well-dressed.

The author's book is translated in greek language:

(Greek Version: Μετάφραση: Ονούφριος Ντοβλέτης (2008). Η Βίβλος της Γοτθικής Κουλτούρας, σελ: 227-235, Αθήνα: Οξύ)

Original Information:

(Source: Baddeley, C. (2002) Goth Chic: A Connoisseur's Guide to Dark Culture, pages: 227-235.)

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