GOTH: THE DARK SIDE OF SHOES

dirty Fila and I were at the mall a few saturdays ago when I was introduced to the dark side of shoes: goth. I never thougth that shoes could have a dark side but they do. It is a whole new world. I went into Hot Topic to see if they had any new disney shirts for Pirates of the Caribbean. I have most likely been in that store a total of 10 times in my whole life. Now that the Disney Store in our mall closed, only Hot Topic has pirate shirts for that movie without having to go online to Disney.com.

While I was looking at the disney shirts which are normally just inside the door, dirty fila had gone deep inside and was looking at other stuff. I had never taken the time to walk around and really see what was in that store. WOW! is all I can say! dirty fila came to me with a black leather bracelet with spikes on and said she wanted that.(I thought "Hell no! She is only 10 and we had better get out of this store quick before she gets an more ideas.") I told her she could not have that bracelet with spikes as she was too little. Then she said she liked the clothes one of the cashiers had on. She looked like she really had stepped out of a wierd matrix. All in black, odd piercings, zippers and buckles and spikes all over her clothing in unusual places.

Well, as a mother of a soon to be teenager I decided I needed to look around this store and see what it was all about. There were some very different things in that store. I did speak to one of the male cashiers for quite sometime and asked him about his look and what it all meant. After speaking to him it seemed like goth was part fad and part subculture. It could be something that one day they all would grow out of once they got into the real world of life after college.

I was really fasicnated by the shoes of goth. They are really dark and suggest things that are not of the real world of 9am-5pm. Here is my mimi crash course in goth.

Goth: What the heck is it?
Goth in its simplest form, is a subculture. A group of people who feel comfortable within each others company. There is no specific thing that defines what you need to do or be to fit into the goth scene (except of course the implied black clothing). People in the goth scene all have different musical tastes, follow different religions, have different occupations, hobbies, and fashion sense.

Why would anyone want to be goths?
Most goths become goths because they have been spurned by 'normal' society because the way they want to live their lives does not fit in with how most people are told to live theirs. Goths are free thinkers, people who do not accept the moral rules of society because they're told 'This is just how it is' or 'This is what God says!'. Rather goths tend to listen to what you have to say, and make up their own mind. This kind of free thinking and rejection of dogma earns only rejection in todays society.

Goths often revel in the fear given to them by society as a whole. Often the behavior exhibited by society to them based on society's perception of them from stereotypes, rumour, etc are a constant source of entertainment. Of course, most of the rumours are totally unfounded, goths are people like everyone else, however when you already have a reputation, going for the shock factor is often far too tempting to see how much society at large is willing to believe (or deduce) with only a little encouragement.

History of Goth
Modern goth (ignoring where the name itself originally comes from) started in the early 80's as part of the punk subculture (which is itself was a rejection of most societal values, and anything considered part of the 'norm'). The phrase was coined by the band manager of Joy Division, Anthony H. Wilson, who described the band as 'Gothic compared with the pop mainstream'. The term stuck, and as punk eventually died, Goth survived and became its own subculture. The punk clothing and hairstyles mellowed, and the core 'rejection of society' attitude alone lived on in the gothic subculture. Over time this itself has been modified to be more of a 'no more blind acceptance of society's values' as opposed to rejection because it was there to be rejected (and because you could get away with it!)

Now, I do know about punk rock as that was big when I was in college and I was a ounk rocker for about 6 months. I use to wear black leather and chain and even sported a spiked bracelet and collar as well as purple streaks in my hair. My mother was crazy! She was glad when that was over!

I still remember that period like it was yesterday and the music! The music was great. I was in love with Billie Idol and Devo! I bought and still have most of the music I bought by them. Rebel Yell and White Wedding are still 2 of my favorite songs by Idol and Whip It is still a favorite of mine by Devo!

Punk shoes I remember were all black as well but the style of dark shoes then were not as extensive as those now. The dark side of shoes is Goth. I never realized that it was such a miniworld all to itself. Check out some of these links, then check out the shoes from the dark side!

Goth.net
Toronto Goth
Gothic Match
Hot topic
Evil Eyes
The Mission Boutique
Twilight Visions
Dark Side Shoes and Boots
Pennangalan Dreams-Serious Goth Footware

Just a few samples..kickin' shoes from the dark side. I think I will change my change my profile picture and become an honorary goth for just a little while. So long basic black pump! (You will be back soon enough!)