You might have noticed, you might not, but I use the term "darkalt" a lot in my tags when I post or reblog fashion and aesthetics here, and you might be wondering what exactly that means and how it differs from the word "goth", so I thought I'd give some quick definitions!
Darkalt is a term that, when simply broken down, means "Dark Alternative". It's a word that encompasses anything that has dark themes or imagery, and lies outside of mainstream culture. Macabre clothing, spooky decor, and all things a little morbid. Many subcultures and styles and aesthetics fall under this umbrella, but you don't necessarily have to be in any specific subculture to use the term. It's for all who appreciate the dark and strange in life to use.
Goth, on the other hand, is a music-based subculture that began in the 80s, primarily named after the music genre gothic rock, but includes its similar subgenres as well. Dark postpunk, deathrock, darkwave, coldwave, etherealwave, and gothwave are a few of the music subgenres goths listen to. This is what my blog is primarily for.
Many, many goths enjoy darkalt fashion and aesthetics and openly express it, but not every goth does! There is no one specific way to "look goth", as long as you enjoy the music and want to be involved in the community. There are popular styles in the subculture, sure, but the person listening to lebanon hanover in their pink pajamas is just as goth as the person listening to it in fishnets and black leather.
Darkalt is unfortunately an underutilized term that not many people know about, but I think if more people embraced it we could really clear up a lot of confusion and make things a lot easier to navigate online. I hope this post was helpful to someone, and if you've been looking for a new tag to use for your posts, I hope this one works for you ^^
stormborns
tangentwithtanner
2087
izzy806
gracieabrams
prguitarman
ellievsbear
