This blog serves anyone who likes goth lolita but has no idea how to put together a decent gothic lolita coordinate for the first time.

First of all, let's check on some basic knowledge of gothic culture.

Gothic Subculture 

The gothic subculture from the 1950s to the 1980s was primarily based in England. In contrast to the energetic punk style, the early Gothic had a more self-reflective feel and was associated with aesthetics, dark thematic literature, or philosophy, such as gothic horror, romanticism, existentialism, and nihilism.

In brief, gothic culture in the 18th and 19th centuries mainly satisfied people's emotional attachment, mainly in literature and architecture.

What is now called Gothic mostly refers to the influence of 80s Gothic elements on music, film, and television.

Actually, there are many goth types in this land called "Gothic".

Goth Types

Gothic itself has different types because it absorbs different nutrients, like religious oppression handed down from the Middle Ages, the way of life of the European aristocracy in the 18th and 19th centuries, anecdotal stories about the life of the aristocracy from the ordinary people, etc.

There are some popular ones that also work for gothic lolita.

Traditional Goth —— Strong Visual Impact

Traditional goth started in the 80s, preferring 80s songs, punk & goth elements, featuring black exploding hairstyles, pale skin, and dark makeup. Torn fishing nets, chains, leather, boots, bones, and bats are also one of its features.

   Trad Goth

Romantic Goth —— 18th-century Literary Youth

Romantic gothic originated from the popular gothic novels of the 18th century, mostly set in medieval castles and decaying abbeys.

Romantic Goth focuses on the beautiful and dark things in life, like roses, crows, and graveyards illuminated by moonlight. They enjoy romantic or sad drama, opera, music, and the occult. 

So Romantic goth lovers are mostly 18th-century literary youth, they come from different classes and more literary worship.

Romantic Goth

The clothing of Romantic Goth is lace dresses, suits, or flowing clothes, which mostly feature a high waistline and less impractical decorations. They prefer decorations like lace buttons, black jewelry, or any dark gemstones.

The color is not necessarily black, it could be a deep blue, green, purple, or crimson.

For makeup, romantic goth tends to have a soft smoky eye effect, dark lips, and a preference for painted eye sockets. The hair can be long and either straight or soft and wavy.

Victorian Goth —— 19-century Aristocrats

Distinguishing itself from Romantic Goth, Victorian Goth has more Rococo elements and more ornate dresses with more exaggerated hemlines. You can also see the big ruffle collar and the huge elegant hairstyle from the Victorian period. By dressing like this, it wishes to convey an image of decorum and dignity. 
In addition to Victorian-style clothes, Edgar Allan Poe was a great source of inspiration for victorian gothic in aspects of lifestyle.

Romantic Goths liked to drink tea, write poems and plays, and attend formal parties and tea parties. Their aim was to achieve the ultimate elegance and refinement, just like the aristocratic elite or the rich.

Victorian Goth

For men's clothes, you can see bow ties, pants, and high-top hats. For women's clothes, you can see Rococo-style dresses, corsets, and as much jewelry as possible.

Medieval Goth —— Medieval Witches

Medieval Goth love aesthetics in architecture. They believe in magic and fairies, like old stories of knights and witches, legends, and medieval history. They may also love the game "dungeons and dragons",  and cold weapons.

Medieval Goth

For clothing, floor-length dresses and flowing clothes are common, with long and narrow sleeves for girls. They like lace cloaks and adore velvet.

Gothic Dresses

*You can click ✟ Gothic Dresses ✟ to find all kinds of gothic lace dresses on our site.*

Nu Goth —— Casual Gothic

Compared to other goth types, Nu Goth is more modern and leans more toward the everyday dress code.

The accessories are relatively simple, such as a plain black top with black dark stretch pants, mainly incorporating other gothic style elements and simplifying them.

The makeup is mainly big and smoky, leaning towards the black version of the popular European and American makeup.

Nun Goth

Gothic Lolita —— Gothic Dolls

Gothic Lolita is a lolita fashion style inspired by western gothic culture, especially victorian goth. It was popularized by a Japanese musician, Mana-Sama, who owns his own EGL and EGA brand Moi-même-Moitié.

Gothic Lolita

In fact, gothic lolita is not limited to the picture shown above. In addition to the strong style of Victorian style, gothic lolita can actually have other different styles for you to choose from, such as Elegant Gothic Lolita, Kuro Lolita, Shiro Lolita, Elegant Gothic Aristocrat, etc.

It's time to put up a gothic lolita coordinate together. That may be the fastest way for gothic lolita newbies to understand this fashion.

5 Coordinate Tips for Gothic Lolita Newbies

Tip 1: First Start with Items in Plaid Black

In Gothic Lolita, the main color that you always come back to is black. For newbies, it's wiser to get every possible item you want in plain black, especially your first blouse.

How to choose a Plaid Black Blouse

A good plain black top may not have gold trims, white trims, or other color embellishments on it. Here are some good examples below.

Black Blouse with Trumpet Sleeves

Black Blouse with Jobat Collar

Black Blouse with Ruffle Collar

How to choose a Plaid Black Dress

And a black unprinted lace dress would be a good start if you are new to gothic lolita and have a whole wardrobe of sweet printed main pieces.

What's more, the dresses do not need to be absolutely solid black, jacquard cotton, lace, or velvet texture are very popular choices among goth lolita. Black dresses with different textures do bring you different vibes.

Black Jacquard Dresses

Black Velvet Dresses

Black Dresses with Handkerchief Hem

Black Tulle Dresses

How to choose OTKs for Solid Black Dresses

For a solid black gothic dress, solid black tights are the safest choices. Black lace tights and mesh tights are also optional as long as it matches well with the main piece. 

One thing worth to be noted is to keep the main pieces and socks with the same texture because some combinations really go against the harmony together, such as nylon stocks with a cotton jacquard dress. 

Lace Tights

OTKs with Spider Webs

 

Mesh Tights

Tip 2: Be Brave to Try Other Colors In Gothic Lolita — "Black ≠Gothic"

This is a misconception that gothic lolita should be in black. In fact, wearing black is not making you goth, and also not wearing black does not make you un-gothic. It really depends on how you style things as long as it would be considered gothic lolita.

Colors like maroon, crimson, and deep purples are all optional in Gothic Lolita. Here are some good recommendations with black colors mixed with other colors.

Black x Crimson Colorway Dresses

Black x Klein Blue Colorway Dresses

*You can click ✟ Gothic Lolita ✟ to find more gothic dresses on our site.*

Tip 3: Stick to Several Gothic Motifs and Themes

Enough about solid color main pieces, you may also want to know what kind of motifs and themes you can choose in gothic lolita.

Apart from religious elements like crosses and churches, you can also find mysterious elements like castles, architecture, chandeliers, starry nights, moonlight, constellations, and death elements like bats, coffins, graveyards, roses, medical equipment, and so on in gothic lolita.

Normally, to keep your wardrobe simple and clean you better choose some motifs said above and stick to them.

How to choose OTKs for Printed Dresses

The motifs or themes of your main pieces can actually help you to pick your OTKs.

Here are some printed elegant gothic dresses below, and what kind of OTKs do you want to pair them with? 

Example 1 —— Royal Blue Dresses(EGL)

In my opinion, the accessories should match your main piece and so does the OTKs. So I would go with those:

Lace-up design and lace texture can always bring you a touch of elegance.

Example 2 —— Gold x Black Colorway Dresses(EGL)

For religious-themed dresses, you can go with tights with similar motifs like crosses, thorns, and other church things. The gold or silver motifs on the black tights really match those nun-vibe gothic dresses.

Tights with Gold or Silver Motifs

OTKs with Crosses

Besides, tighs with star motifs can match dresses with constellation themes.

Tights with Constellations

Tip 4: Use A-line Shape Petticoat for Gothic Lolita

Most Gothic Lolita outfits are not made for a cupcake or bell-shaped skirt. So it's the A-line shape petticoat that you should invest in gothic lolita. The color of the petticoat doesn't really matter, it can be either black or white as it will be worn under your dresses anyway.

For other must-have accessories, here are the tips you can check on.

How to choose Headpieces & Jewelry

For headwear, a plain black head bow would match everything, choose a rectangular hairband if you want to achieve a more traditional look, a simple bow clip for an elegant look, and a circular headband for a gorgeous church look.

Gothic Black Rectangular Lace Hairband 

Gothic Black Ruffle KC

Elegant Hair Clips


Black Lace Bonnet 

Circular Headband 

How to choose Jewelry

For Jewelry, you can pair your gothic coords with any plain black necklace, and the gorgeous neck bow below is more suitable for elegant gothic aristocrat coordinates.

Neck Bow with Jewelry

*You can click ✟ Gothic Accessories ✟ to find all kinds of gothic accessories on our site.*

Tip 5: Find Your Gothic Substyles

As we know, gothic lolita is the combination of goth and lolita influenced by western goth fashion, and now it is being absorbed and integrated. Your own gothic lolita styles can be elegant(EGL),  can be in all black(Shiro Lolita), can be very victorian(EGA), or can even be bittersweet(Pastel Gothic).

So it's really important for you to find your own style and stick to it. That can help you determine which items to bring in and out of your wardrobe.

How to choose shoes

Tea party shoes, which are commonly seen in OTT sweet lolita, may not be the right type of shoes for gothic lolita. For Gothic lolita, it is the platforms or lace-up boots that are the best choices.

Gothic Shoes

Choose what kind of hairstyles

Goth lolita likes to wear their hair down, which can be either straight or curved with a natural hair color. Pigtails are sometimes worn and more complicated curls are also worn with more over-the-top coordinates.

Gothic Wigs

That's all the 5 tips for gothic newbies. I really hope the content can help you somewhat. 

Gothic lolita is indeed a charming fashion. What characteristics of gothic lolita intrigue you the most? Please feel free to leave a comment below.