Cheap-Gothic-Clothing
Buying designer Gothic clothing is expensive, so cheap-Gothic-clothing has become a popular idea. Fortunately, unlike most people in the popular culture, Goths thrive on using their creativity to create just about anything; especially their own wardrobe.
To acquire a cheaper wardrobe we often have to ignore the particular clothing items we want most. Intricate Gothic corsets and stompy Gothic boots among other things are sacrificed for more common pieces. The trick to assembling a cheap-Gothic-clothing wardrobe is time, both in searching and creating.
The best aspect of making it yourself is the acceptance we give to resourcefulness and creativity; making it yourself lets everyone know that you are the real deal and not just an imitation or a wanna-be. Unlike popular American culture, we operate in reverse; buying expensive clothes for their expense is frowned upon, while creating them yourself for cheap is encouraged.
Searching for cheap articles of clothing can be frustrating at first, but most often the best pieces you find are the ones you weren’t looking for. To ultimately save money and appeal to the Gothic side of your imagination a sewing machine is a fantastic investment; even a needle and thread will work if you’ve got time to spend. Modifying individual pieces is a pastime for many of us, and a great way to make a cheap-Gothic-clothing wardrobe.
An alternative to modifying is to buy rolls of fabric along with the design plans for anything you want. I once made a formal vest this way by buying rolls of fabric and the plans for a vest. With a little creativity and intuition I added a corset design on the back that is used to tighten the vest. It took a day of solid work, but I ultimately saved about $60. Whoever said that cheap-Gothic-clothing has to look cheap?
Creating and modifying your own clothing also comes at an advantage in the sense that you are getting exactly what you want. Often times, when you order online from nothing more than a few pictures and an alluring item description you’ll end up with something that doesn’t look as good as you wanted; and there goes your last paycheck.
Modification requires a lot of time and patience to achieve. Not just while you’re modifying each item, but even while looking for it. The ultimate trick is to stop looking for individual pieces and just look at what’s around you. Being resourceful can turn a typical thrift store into a goldmine; otherwise you’ll end up hopping from store to store browsing but never finding anything you want.
Shirts
With needle and thread you can sew unique designs into regular shirts, tear them apart, and keep them together. Throw in a knife and you can make a shredded shirt by cutting rough edges in a cheap shirt and letting it tear itself apart over time; after awhile it’ll be impossible to wear, but this just allows you to make another shredded shirt.
Making a sleeveless is easy as well. Most t-shirts are easy to rip the sleeves off, but sometimes the fabric will rip and you won’t get a very even tear. To prevent the shirt from ripping down the sides (which looks terrible) is to tuck the remaining stubs of the arms back into the shirt and sew them into place. This will keep the frail and easy to tear ends from going any further. Though ripping the sleeves off is a way to procure a quick sleeveless if you need one ASAP.
An idea for a cheap-Gothic-clothing shirt is to use black muscle shirts, even undergarments will suffice. If they look too bland, sew a design into one with your favorite color of thread. Shoelace is also a good improvisation for changing the look of the shirt; I prefer corset designs, and smaller corset designs on the shoulders can make a t-shirt look much better.
Pants
As much as we may like the buckle aesthetics and odd designs in the designer Gothic pants we have to be a little more creative to save money. Since I don’t spend much time modifying clothes, I settle on black jeans. Thrift stores are the best places to find jeans that are the best price; though a common trend in America is the intentionally faded fronts and backs. This only makes it more difficult to find a more solid color that is also in your size.
If you have a way to get belt buckles (the actual buckle, not the fancy plate that goes over it) then you can easily make your own bondage style clothes. Since I have not found a practical way of acquiring belt buckles I won’t bother going into them. As with shirts, shoelace can be used to add a unique aesthetic appeal to pants. Sewing designs into basic black jeans is a surefire way to make something very unique since most jeans don’t have much for fun color designs in the first place.
You can also shred jeans the same way with shirts; just make sure the shredding isn’t going to rip. Jean fabric is tougher than the usual cotton fabric and so won’t rip too easily, but the rips do get bigger over time. An interesting idea is to find a vividly colored fabric and sew it under the jeans after they’ve been ripped to add more color.
To make your own bondage clothes you’ll need to find rings. These are easier to find than buckles, but are still going to take time in searching for. After that you need fabric and time to sew everything together.
Army surplus stores are also worth a look. They often carry many cool pieces that are perfect for the industrial and cyber-Goth styles. Cheap-Gothic-clothing can be easily accomplished from such stores.
In conclusion, cheap-Gothic-clothing could be thought of as a clearance item online, or it could be the actual pastime of most Gothic subculture people. It is an easy and effective way to unleash your creativity to the world.
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