Every day we see how gothic fashion is increasingly taking over the world. To be exact, it is not just fashion, it is a lifestyle. Since the mid-80s, Gothic crosses, rings, and pendants took on great importance in the fashion world. That was a heyday of Gothic rock, literature, and art. Since then, Gothic subculture expanded impressively.
The curious thing about Gothic subculture is that it has its own identity. This includes the way Goths dress and accessorize, the color choice, and, of course, commitment to certain jewelry designs.
Importance of Jewelry in the Gothic subculture
The significance of Gothic jewelry is that it helps emphasize and enhance the signature Gothic style. Designs and shapes of these pieces draw inspiration from ancient cultures, such as hieroglyphs of Egypt or sculptures of Greece and Rome. At the same time, because of being originated in the medieval period, Gothic is also affected by the art and architecture of the Middle Ages.
Gothic lifestyle defines the followers’ personality. These people love the culture, music, poetry, horror movies, as well as arty-crafty stuff. They describe themselves as artistic natures who don’t accept anything traditional, conventional, and boring. Probably that’s why Goths gravitate towards hand-made and custom accessories. No matter if their jewelry is crafted by hand or bought in a store, the most important thing is that it should match the Gothic style. Skull rings, tree-shaped crosses, bat earrings, large black stones, and ankh pendants — these items comprise the basic Gothic jewelry collection.
Types of Gothic Rings, Pendants, and Bracelets
There are countless Gothic jewelry designs. Some pieces are rather on the classic side, while others are lush and fancy. Gothic jewelry can cause admiration and smile, and, at the same time, it may terrify and outrage. A vivid character and multi-faceted representation are the reasons why so many people (some of them are not even Goths) like Gothic accessories.
Gothic rings are normally shaped like skulls, crosses, dragons, bats, and other animals. They may feature mysterious signs such as pentagrams or ankhs as well as romantics symbols including hearts or intertwined hands. The vast majority of rings are made of stainless steel.
While rings are commonly steel (because it is more durable), Gothic pendants glisten with silver textures. A silver gothic pendant is no stranger to precious stones such as emeralds, rubies, sapphires, or amethysts as well as colorful glass. Along with that, there might be clear stones, Swarovski crystals, and black gems (such as onyx and CZ stones). The main motifs of Gothic pendants are crosses (including inverted crosses, Tau-crosses, Ankhs, Maltese crosses, etc.), dragons, skulls, wings, bats, and Celtic patterns. There are also sophisticated necklace pieces without a certain theme but generously encrusted with colorful gems and inserted into a silver or black frame.
Gothic pendants are basically miniature versions of necklaces. They are made either of steel or silver and feature a popular Gothic symbolism. Some models, instead of metals, benefit from leather, satin, or velvet fabrics adorned with studs or charms.
The meaning that Goths give to all these items has originated from their lifestyle and worldviews. They came from a world of darkness and have a strong attraction to everything related to death and occultism. Therefore, Gothic jewelry designs (skulls, snakes, dragons, black cats, owls, etc.) reflect the supernatural and otherworldly sides of our lives.
