Style For Black/African-American "Goths"?
 

I've always had an interest in the Gothic subculture- specifically the Music. Recently, I've gained an interest in expressing my love for the music through clothing. Im wondering, is it possible for black men to pull of the Gothic look? If so, can you guys give me a few pointers?

My look so far is usually a black t-shirt, blue jeans and black vans. But I've been trying to expand the spectrum by incorporating bondage jeans, combat boots and trench coats etc... And shirts like this (http://www.the-black-angel.com/gothi...raven-sdl.html). But, pulling off the hair is going to be tough haha- I thought about just going for a Mohawk.

So, what do you guys think?

Stay away from make-up and especially guy-liner.

You can do whatever you want with you hair. Shave it, braid it, pick it, pony tail. Don't really matter.

Basically anything you feel like works. My experiance says that almost any kind of hair fits the "gothic style" as we so choose to call it here.
The most important thing is you feel comfortable.

I see quite a lot of black punks in the city. I have a friend who does go full on metrosexual gothy and he's quite a pretty young man.

You know, just go for it. Stuff like band patches on your clothes and all that works pretty well. I think the fullblown deathrock look from LA looks damn cool on just about anyone that's willing to commit to such a high maintenance look. That's the deathhawk, glammy make-up, torn fishnets, patchy clothing, studded vest, animal print kinda stuff.

From an entirely personal taste, I would second AshleyO's mention of punk.
Dark punk and deathrock look way cooler than when a goth tries to look all victorian and shit. I've seen some crazy deathrocker looks though that I also feel are too much but that direction is overall much more fun.

I agree that a rather more punk look would probably suit you more. I have a black friend who has 'her' (she looks totally androgynous) hair short, purple and spiky, which looks pretty cool. But as timeless says, any kind of hairstyle can be gothy really.

Your clothing ideas sound awesome, and thanks for posting the link to that site. (Lacy top shopping spree coming up!)

As regards makeup, I would advise you either not to wear it at all or to wear a lot and do something really creative with it. Anything can look good, depending on your face, as long as it isn't half-done.

Finally, the whole point of our subculture is to be different and not conform to stereotypes. Wear what you like and what suits you, and people will respect you for being an individual.

Are you insulting Victorian goths? Because I have some pretty awesome looks of that style myself.

Personally I think frohawks are about as awesome as hair can get. All the white kids will be jealous that their hair will never look that good, no matter how much backcombing and aquanet they subject it too.

I only have a couple tips on the subject:

Do not dress like Queen of the Damned.

Use a dramatic mixture of black, white and color with color around the collar and cuffs.

I have seen an Afro-America Goth that has cornrows dyed in a maroon or purple. It looks very attractive. It would be nice if I had a picture. You can imagine how he looks.