Cybergoth

Cybergoth is a subculture that derives from elements of cyberpunk, goth, raver, and rivethead fashion. Unlike traditional goths, Cybergoths follow electronic dance music more often than rock.

Cybergoths
A woman dressed in a cyber outfit

History

While the term 'Cybergoth' was coined in 1988 in the United Kingdom, by Games Workshop, for their roleplaying game Dark Future,[1] the fashion style did not emerge until a decade later. Valerie Steele quotes Julia Borden, who defines cybergoth as combining elements of industrial aesthetics with a style associated with "Gravers" (Gothic ravers).[2] Gravers hybridized "the British Raver look and the NYC ClubKid look with a 'freak show' spin."[2] This fusion between New York and London styles began in 1999.[2] Borden indicates that initially the hair extensions and bright fishnets did not mesh well with goth fashion, but that by 2002 "the rave elements of dress were replaced by Industrial-influenced accessories, such as goggles, reflective clothing, and mostly black clothing."[2] Steele summarizes:

“ Today cyber goths tend to wear primarily black clothing with hints of neon colors, as well as clothing made of reflective materials and PVC, and huge platform boots. Their hair extensions or falls often incorporate a bright color and multiple piercings are typical. Goggles are often worn. Some cyber goths also wear gas masks or (in what appears to be a kind of medical fetish) shiny PVC doctors' masks.[2] ”

Nancy Kilpatrick indicates that David Bowie's look in the 1970s is the initial inspiration for the style, and that Fritz Lang's Metropolis provided the prototype for cyber aesthetics.[3] Kilpatrick also notes a link to cyberpunk science fiction, particularly William Gibson's Neuromancer.[4]

Fashion

Cybergoth neon fashion under a nightclub black light.

Cybergoth fashion combines rave, rivethead, and goth fashion, as well as drawing inspiration from cyberpunk and other forms of science fiction. Androgyny is common.[5] The style sometimes features one starkly contrasting bright or neon-reactive theme color, such as red, blue, neon green, chrome, or pink,[6] set against a basic, black gothic outfit. Matte or glossy black materials such as rubber and shiny black PVC can be mixed and matched in an effort to create a more artificial look.

The black-and-monochromatic juxtaposition can take a variety of forms, including brightly colored hair and make-up, cybernetic patterns such as live LED circuit boards, body modification, gas masks and goggles (especially aviator-style), typically worn on the forehead or around the neck rather than on the eyes.[7] The most common use of a theme color is in the hair or eye make-up. Artificial, extended hair or "falls" are sometimes used to create this added effect. Falls can be made of various materials, ranging from yarn to fluorescent tubing to electrical wiring. Popular club gear for cybergoths includes tight black pants, tight black vests or shirts cut from ripped, solid or fishnet fabrics, fluffies, resembling costumes from 19th Century Gothic novels or early black and white horror films from the mid-20th century.[5] Companies that specialize in the style include Cyberdog, DANE in London, Pen & Lolly Clubwear[8] based in Sheffield (UK), Lip Service, based in Southern California (US), Robotic Kitty Fashions[9] which specializes in custom, made to order cybergoth gear, based in Chicago, and Diabolik, a shop in Montreal.[10]

Hair

Cybergoth style incorporates extravagant hair pieces and styles, including synthetic dreadlocks (known as cyberlox), hair extensions and so on. These hair pieces can be made of a variety of materials, from real hair to synthetic kankelon hair, plastic tubing, tubular crin, rubber and foam strips, belts, and are often accented with goggles.

Music

In the first decade of the 21st century, the instrumental, computer driven, synthesized hypnotic tempos and textures of the trance music of the late 1990s were transformed into futurepop, a term coined by Ronan Harris of the UK band VNV Nation and Stephan Groth, vocalist of Apoptygma Berzerk.[11] Other associated music includes aggrotech, power noise and club-oriented dance music styles such as techno, drum and bass, acid trance, darkstep, synthpop, electropop, gabber, hard trance, hardstyle, dubstep and dark psytrance.

Locations

Much of the culture centres on nightlife; in the United Kingdom the former is provided by clubs such as the Slimelight, clubantichrist in London, The Wendy House in Leeds, Autonomy in Leicester, Chains on Velvet in Norwich, Nightmare in Nottingham, Ascension and Cyberia in Edinburgh, Bedlam at the Queen Margaret Union in Glasgow, and the yearly Infest festival.

In the United States clubs such as Leland City Club in Detroit, Necto in Ann Arbor, The Castle in Ybor City, Tampa, Death Guild in San Francisco, QXT's in Newark and Das Bunker in Los Angeles show a strong cybergoth presence. In Canada, the subculture is exemplified by Toronto's monthly Darkrave events at Nocturne Club, the Plastik Wrap boutique, and in Montreal, Les Foufounes Électriques nightclub.

See also

References

  1. ↑ " "StreetTech|CyberGoth"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Valerie Steele, Gothic: Dark Glamour, Yale University Press, 2008, p. 49-50
  3. ↑ Kilpatrick (U.S. edition), p. 35.
  4. ↑ Kilpatrick (U.S. edition), p. 36.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Kilpatrick, Nancy (2005). The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined. UK: Plexus. p. 55. ISBN 0-85965-365-X.
  6. ↑ 2002-09-13 "Dead fashionable" The Age (Retrieved on 2007-12-06)
  7. ↑ Kilpatrick, Nancy. The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2004, ISBN 0-312-30696-2, p. 35-36.
  8. ↑ Pen & Lolly Clubwear
  9. ↑ Robotic Kitty Fashions
  10. ↑ Kilpatrick (U.S. edition), p. 34-35.
  11. ↑ "Being a little bit productive". Sorted magAZine. 2002.

External links

Media related to Cybergoth at Wikimedia Commons