Every now and again someone lobs the old chestnut of “Gloomth isn’t ___!” at us. It’s been a constant since we began the label, being told we aren’t goth enough because our pieces can come in all these non-black colors, or not lolita enough because we occasionally shoot our dresses without blouses or someone doesn’t like the petticoat we chose for whatever shoot, etc etc. The thing is we weren’t trying to fit any one single subculture style. We never have.
I design clothes that please me, I’m a very selfish animal in that sense. The style has evolved as my taste and our audience has. My work pulls from all sorts of things that I love- historical fashions, subcultures, music, flowers etc etc. The result is something entirely it’s own.
Gloomth is for the Misfits of the Misfits. It’s an aesthetic that can be pulled into all sorts of styles. Our fans have never been one single style type so why would our work be?
I appreciate that people are protective of their styles and subcultures, but be wary of stagnation by holding up rules before creativity. And really, they’re just clothes. And your scene isn’t cheapened by other people enjoying it in different ways than how you do.
For the record we do welcome practical feedback on our work of all other sorts! Have a suggestion for improving one of our designs? Want to see something photographed differently? Constructive and relevant comments and feedback are how we improve, and we value that input. You can email it to us directly or through any of our social media accounts.
-Taeden
Gloomth & the Cult of Melancholy 
I love Gloomth’s style and find it hard to believe that anyone would have negative comments. But then again, I too am inspired by a mixture of influences and therefore totally appreciate what you are doing. Your photo shoots are awesome and I find them visually inspiring. Please keep up the great work 🙂
Thank you for your kind words! 😀
I think a lot of people confuse protecting their subculture’s style with nitpicking participants who don’t fit their narrow ideas of what the aesthetic should be. I suppose it’s always been a part of subcultures, the need to form cliques within it and police new participants- it’s always felt very grade school to me, that behavior. It’s also very counterproductive as that sort of bullying chases new people off, and then scenes die out.
It’s tricky as how do we market a label without using words to connect it to scenes? Eg: We aren’t lolita-specific but we use the word to connect with people who can blend our work into their aesthetic. Then people gripe that not 100% of what we do suits that, well…..if we don’t market no one sees our work, and then what?
Rambling…. 😛
You are not alone! I was talking to my hubby about this the other day and we were trying to come up with a term for designers who don’t limit themselves to the rules of each subculture, but embrace different aspects to create something beautiful because it’s what makes us who we are. We should start an anti-rule subculture! Or at the very least come up with a catchy word/term to market ourselves as what we are. X3
I get that rules/guidelines have a purpose, being able to visually identify members of a subculture is part of what makes subcultures so it`s best to have a standardized base. But when these rules are used to badger and bully new participants and people who tread onto the edges of styles it’s kind of pointless. Why chase off people who bring fresh ideas and perspectives to your style? And how does it negatively effect anyone if someone else is wearing clothes?!?! The world needs another way to hurt each other so much that we had to create blogs for something this minuscule?!
I need to make Gloomth-kei a thing haha! 😀
I tend to refer to my tastes, rather than my ‘style’. To me a style is just a particular combination of tastes.
That’s pretty much what I do also. After a certain point my wardrobe just stopped being *one* thing anymore. 🙂