A dying flame
 

At what age are you too old to stay gothic?

I'm 17 and only recently turned goth. My parents aren't too happy but that's not my problem. When does it stop being cool and start being geeky?

When you start listening to other people's opinion of your lifestyle instead of doing what's comfortable and right for you.

never too old
 

I'm in my thirties, and I know plenty of Goth-types who are older than me (going into forties, fifties and even a few in their sixties). Just what do you suggest they do after that certain age? Stop wearing clothes they like and listening to music they like? What do they wear and listen to instead - things they've never liked before but feel obliged to because they're too old?

I think there are some things that start looking silly when you have a certain age, like big swirly eyeliner-designs (which can be very cute when you're 16) and poofie lace mini-skirts.
But you just have to wear what you like, even if some people think it looks silly.

No, not at all........:P

My husband always tells me that I'll have to stop being what I am at about 45. I tell him that if we survive that long, I'll thing about it.

Yes, it's highly unusual.

That's why I envy her.

appearance
 

Is that aimed at me, or someone else?

Whichever - yes, most of my recent jobs have involved corpgoth clothing.

Not unusual here.

However, Portland(& the Northwest in General) is SO much more laidback than the South, for example.

It's taken awhile for this Southern Girlie to adjust to the wanton liberalism here. :p

But seriously Folks. :)

The attitudes in P-town are much more relaxed about things like piercings, hair colors and clothing, etc. etc.

Several of Manimal's Hellspawn's teachers, have multiple facial piercings. That kind of thing would NEVER fly in Deep East Texas.

It's nice to finally live somewhere you can just be whoever you want to be, without judgement or shitty looks from the surrounding populace.

Let's hope this rampant acceptance is Viral. :D

I buy what I like. At work you'll most likely see me wearing tasteful black heels or my kneehighs, a black skirt, red dress shirt, my silver rings and earings, a black choker or something of the like and with my hair up in with chop sticks and, of course, my make-up to match.

That's pretty professional right? You don't usually have to compromise who you are in any place or at any age. You just have to find something you like that fits the situation.

Wolfie, I know a beautiful woman who is very near 50. She manages to pull off a mature, tastful style very unique to herself. She is a very powerful, almost dominatrix-like woman. Don't ever change girl, I like your style! :)

Well, I manage a kitchen...
But I wear anything I choose, which is usually black pants, black tee, black boots..etc. I have professional styled clothes but they are all to my liking. Xng, I'm surprised you run into problems...(or could run into problems) I've never experienced any distaste for my appearence even when I'm entirely "gothed out" people actually ask me where I got this and that or ask me 'who' or 'how I' colored my hair... people here are generally accepting and kind.

I'm of the, erm, older persuasion. Not ancient, but not exactly in my first bloom of youth.

I've tended to become more gothy as I grow older... by which I mean I tend to express myself more openly and more confidently. This is because authority comes with age, and nowadays I'm more or less my own boss so I have the freedom to be as gothy as I wish - within the bounds of society.

I'm lucky to work in an area where I have some flexibility in how I dress. (Today I'm wearing a long black Indian-style tunic with copper beading over a pair of black pyjama pants.) I do dress more conservatively when I have meetings, but since I am a mature lady I feel I have more authority to dress as I wish. That extends to cheerfully showing off my lovely tattoo. But even if I worked in a more corporate environment, I see no reason why I couldn't dress the way I choose on weekends or after work.

Remember that the goth subculture has been around for a while now, so somebody of my age being openly gothy doesn't tend to surprise anybody. I am friends with plenty of 'older' metalheads, hippies, punks etc.

So darling, don't start worrying that as the years progress you'll be expected to wear pastel sweaters or dye your hair Mundane Dull or get rid of any piercings. Just bear in mind that as you get older you'oll (hopefully) achieve more security, autonomy and confidence, which means more freedom to be yourself...

Xnguela, What's a gothic haircut or hair style when it's around? I wanna know.

Also going back to the original post. How does one wake up one morning and think "Oh I know.. I'm gonna be Gothic now"? Then choose to follow that path for the remainder, or until you decide to change?

Isn't being Gothic, something you kinda 'fall' into, a preference, or (hate to phrase it like this) a class? I'm curious, cause I can't say I've ever fallen into any class. I'm just me, an alternative, of beat individual.

My friends parents used to be goths & even in their mid-thirties you can still see an influenece. They both wear lots of black & still have their old haircuts/colour, personally I think it suits them & that they maintain it well.
I think that really you should change out of it if YOU feel like it. I'm quite comfortable like this & can picture myself dressing like this when I'm older.

One doesn't, unless one is trying to fit in with friends or scare one's parents. One can certainly wake up one morning and dress gothic, but it would just be a costume - might as well dress like Glinda the Good Witch or an Oompa Loompa.