this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2026
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Just because something is black doesn't make it goth. Goth is an actual subculture.
Is it? Can you show what the "actual" subculture is? Until you do you're simply gatekeeping.
It's hard to describe accurately without going into a full thesis on the subject but Goth is inherently counter culture, evolving from British Punk culture, it's about art primarily music and literature and community and being different. It's about finding beauty in the dark and morbid and occult when most people prefer the light and glamorous.
The fashion specifically is rooted in Victorian British influence and incorporates that same dark romanticism, occult and morbid themes. It's not just black clothes = goth.
Do you know enough about "traditional Chinese clothing" to know that this garb is not associated with morbidity and the occult? If so, maybe just say that instead of repeating "black clothes is not enough to be goth". Not to mention ignoring the "the boots, and the barely concealed look of utter disdain" part of that other comment just makes it look like you are more interested in putting people down than educating them on what goth is so that they won't make the same mistake going forwards.
For what it's worth, I would agree that the top-level post doesn't seem to be nearly macabre enough to fit as goth - but I know basically nothing about hanfu styles and traditions, so it would be hasty for me to write this off as mainstream appropriation. For all I know this is referencing a specific period of Han Chinese history that was very similar to Victorian Britain in terms of the cultural patterns and how it influenced and/or was rejected by later periods. For all I know there are elements of this dress that reference funeral rites, or some folktale about restless spirits that can plausibly map onto an "upperclass vampire count" vibe. If it does, then I'll readily agree that OP certainly did everyone a disservice by not explaining it more fully.
Yes, as believe it or not it is not my job to sit down with and educate every person on the internet who doesn't understand what Goth is. The internet is a great real search tool, that you can and should use to educate yourself. I am not putting people down by defending my sub culture from people who dont understand it and make no effort to try and understand it from appropriating it.
The sub culture as a whole is already having to deal with the rampant fetishization of """goth girls""" people using it as a costume to appeal to those fetishizers and them coming in to our spaces to try and hit on them and thus making those spaces no longer safe.
And if people want to take Hanfu style and make it dark, that's cool, I actually think the outfit looks incredible, but it's not Goth.