The 80s & the Lost Art of DIY
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- An Elder Goth speaking of the sign of the times. A heartfelt message to the younger up and coming Goth generation to return to our roots of DIY Goth. If you were raised in the 70's and 80s and used a rotary phone, listen to vinyl LP records or tapes, and ordered stuff from paper catalogues you'll know what I am spilling.
You reminded me of my favorite pants I remade back in 80s. I bought a pair cheap black jeans, got metal studs at a biker store. Put the studs around the front + back pockets/ down the sides. It was really satisfying as NO one had anything like it. Plus big safety-pins in shirts. Great hearing your DIY story
Point exactly. The one of a kinds, and building from scratch or recreating was so vital. It always amazed me when someone else wore something that made me say " why didn't I think of that" and of course if you knew that person and was close copying was a no no.
I've got to admit, the more I talk to people from the younger generation, the more I feel like the kids are okay. A lot of them do thrift and diy which is wonderful. It just doesn't pay the bills on TH-cam most likely.
Great job! Looking forward to your next video!
The 80s and early 90s were so much fun. Thrift shopping and making a cool goth wardrobe yourself. It's nice that you remind us about that. I think all of that, besides the music of course, was what really made you a goth. Now ordering expensive black clothes online with pentagrams makes you goth. It's very sad. We need more people like you Professor M to remind us what goth is really about. The music and the creativity it inspires.🖤💀
CosmicBlue A very heartfelt Thank You!!!
Totally agree with you. It’s the music first and the look second. People used to make so many creative outfits from thrifted or discount shop things. I mean the pre made stuff is great but it’s like the J Crew of the punk/goth set. That Hot Tropic is where all alternative cultures marinate. Back in the day those cultures STAYED FAR apart. LOL 😆
@cosmicbluemama,
I too wholeheartedly agree with you. 👍💯 I'm a late 90's Goth myself (elder Goth nowadays). One of my first DIY sewing blunders was trying to make a long velvet cape out of a trench coat. I kid you not, it was a guady mess that didn't quite turn out. But, back in the day, I couldn't afford a tailor made cape and wanted it black stretch velvet with burgundy lining velvet. It was hilarious. You have to cut me some slack as it was my first attempt at hand sewing, for one. Secondly, it was next to impossible to work with stretch velvet. Thankfully I don't have a picture of it. 🤣
Later on as finances allowed I purchased two coffin capes: black and another in burgundy in 2003. They were the average Halloween cape, but the drape was rouched almost festooned styled in appearance. Nowadays, I have a vintage black velvet coffin cape, the black coffin dress to match, but nowhere fancy to ever wear them.
I also used to DYI my own heavy metal bracelets and chokers from 1995-2007. Those sadly I didn't hold onto since they eventually fell apart due to average wear. And I'm sure Professor M will remember those heavy metal 80's as do a lot of us 80's generation. 🙂🦇
One more mention, I did a quick look on Wikihow for "How to tell if your "truly" Goth. Well, right at 3. Was get pentagram jewelry. Honestly, for years, I've been determined to separate this erroneous stereotype for decades (even in my pre-goth teens). Why is this all the sudden becoming fashionable in the vast Goth universe, when, the original "traditional goths" only had to use a little dark eyeliner, dark lipstick, dark-colored clothes (not essentially all black), and the rest they made unique wardrobes and it fit beautifully with the 80's. 🤔 Anyways for myself I just wear a rosary in response to this pentagram "must haves". I like to use reverse psychology even though I'm not a psychologist. 🦇🧛♀️🙂 And Professor M, another awesome, informative video. 👏 thank you! - the Victrola Lady 🦇🧛♀️❤
I do have fond memories of sitting down in front of the tv with a pair of very old jeans and a kitchen knife and getting to work. By the end of the night I had the perfect customised shredded pair of pants. My mom was less enthusiastic about my diy when I used her washing machine to experiment with black dye. The whole family wore clothes with a vague grey hue for weeks. :-)
HAHA!!! That was fun to read! Good old DIY. Vague grey ahhhhhhh. Was it RIT in the washing machine? Some would do it in the machine, but later they advertised that it should be done in a pot on the stove.
LOL!
That's what I was afraid of doing in my washing machine.
I have many pieces of clothing and backpacks/handkerchiefs and fabric hats that I want to dye because the black is waning away.
I was afraid if I did the dying in the washing machine my wife would kill me - her dresses are mostly light-colored.
You saved my life! 😅🗡💀
Sam,
That's a good memory to share. I made many shredded pants too! I enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing. 🙂🦇👍
I'm a goth in my teens and I think the reason why I fell in love with the goth subculture (and punk too!) is it's DIY nature. I'm a high schooler, so I don't have the money for fancy goth brand items (with the exception of a couple pairs of shoes). I have a real leather jacket that I snagged for $7 at my favorite thrift store that I paint goth band logos onto. I actually thrift most of my wardrobe! I put together a lot of my necklaces and earrings from random charms and chains that I get online or from craft stores. While goth shops may be convenient, thrifting and DIY is rewarding and so much fun!
That is a clear sign of a goth. Independence to create and the need to DIY or in our case DIG everything. Welcome to the channel 🎩
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Great video thank you 😊
Rickon Thank you!
Quite an incredible inspiration to help baby bats understand that originality is almost a necessity in the goth subculture 🦇
I’m 51 so I agree 100% that chain stores is not the way to build one’s wardrobe 🤨 Scour the thrift stores and it’s shocking what you’ll find to alter without even being able to work a sewing machine🖤💀
Janie Brossman - Thank you. Yes, hoping a whole new wave of Goths go back and start amazing everyone with a revolution from store bought to handmade.
I love going to the thrift store and altering pieces I find like tops skirts and jewelry and I get the most compliments on my diy pieces. I find my pieces especially during the Halloween season but at any time.
All the goth sisters I was hanging around with waited patiently for Halloween to come to get fishnets and other hard to find stuffs that only was available at that season. Think it was Black Friday here on youtube also did a segment in which she made a b-line for a Halloween place just to get supplies for the year.
Well said Professor for encouraging DIY as I was taught in my early years. I would not want to weat the same outfit as someone else, unless it is a uniform in the armed forces. I don't mind buying clothing thaI know I will wear as long as it's classic. I am very pleased to to draw my favourate gothic symbols. We should also be proud to be unique. I am pleased that I have chosen to delve into Goth. I have chosen what style I feel unique with. Yes I know who the Rolling Stones are and the song that mentions the colour black. In future you can talk about films and literature Goths can delve deeper into. You can do a talk on the Eglish expressions that were popular in Victorian England. Thank you for another great video and encouraging DIY. DIY can turn a hobby into work you enjoy doing as a working activity.
Julian 'films and literature Goths can delve deeper into' excellent notion! That is something that I will be very happy to share. I love both subjects. And some gothically good read and flicks to mention.
@@gothicallyyoursprofessorm.7222 Thank you Professor M, for your kind reply. I am pleased that we have an appreciation for similar subjects.
👏👏👏
I graduated high school in 1989. I wore skull buckle boots, thrift clothes and lots of black eyeliner. I was into U2, Virgin Prunes, PiL, Gene Loves Jezebel, Dead Kennedys and a whole bunch of other bands. I created my own patched denim jacket back then. I still do a lot of DIY projects because it is so much fun! I think it's sad that kids think you have to buy expensive Killstar clothes to be goth these days. Some of them don't even listen to the music at all but still want the 'goth' tag. It's a mess.
Meg - You touched on a lot of good things here. First I should say we are on the same time scale, myself 1990, secondly, I'd like to mention about PiL and will share for others who may read this comment and wonder who PiL is? PiL is Public Image Limited, and it was fronted by Johnny Rotten AKA John Lydon. I loved this band! I know so many songs. My favorite is Seattle, first seen on MTVs 120 Minutes at 2AM in the morning when I should have been sleeping knowing I had to get up at 6AM to get to school. -- And ' kids think you have to buy expensive Killstar clothes to be goth' I have been seeing of buy, and don't try now. For myself, a pair of army boots, to me was sacred to wear and bleached jeans, black soft suit jacket that was vintage, black shirts, shirt tied around the waist everyday. I had a girl who was a transfer student from Connecticut say to me on a school bus " If I shave my head will you still sit with me?" And I replied "Yes". 80s...And the DIY was so much fun.
@megmc,
I too designed my own heavy metal patches, and kept a few of them. My mother embroidered the Iron Maiden logo from a scrap of a black t-shirt in 1992 since we always couldn't run out and buy "that expensive" $7 USD patch I wanted. My mom still treasures an Eddie (Iron Maiden) design I drew on a pair of my blue jeans ( in church ⛪, of all places!) From 1992 as well. I held onto a deniem Jean jacket painted Eddie I hand drew and painted using a ball point pen, nail polishes, white out for Eddie's hair and eyes. And to make the eyes really stand out, I glued on tiny fake earring diamonds. (Sorry, I don't know what these post earrings were called, but I have several sets). I actually free hand drew Eddie from the Killers album I had on cassette tape since I didn't have the actual LP yet. So, yeah it was a lot of work, very hard on my eyes to study the cassette tape cover, but well worth it! I still have the patch I did in 2005, I believe. My mom will never turn loose of that Eddie I drew on my jeans though. She is extremely proud of it and we still laugh about the time I drew in church! Classic! 🦇🙂
I think social media has a lot to do with the whole cookie cutter goth thing that we see these days. Sites like Instagram have images of people who dress in a certain way, and endorse certain brands, and those who follow those pages think that be part of that culture you have to look and dress that exact way. I was born in 1980, so I don't have any experience of the early goth scene, but I remember some of the early 90's goth fashions with labels like Dark Star being available and loving what I saw but I wasn't old enough to wear them and then when I finally fully embraced the Gothic lifestyle in my early 20's, I couldn't get the clothes that I liked in my size, being a 6ft tall and plus size female meant that I wasn't catered for. Even if places did offer plus size options, the length wasn't there and still isn't in most cases. So, I had to learn to do my own thing. I'm still teaching myself dressmaking and I often make my own accessories and jewellery. I love nothing more than a good thrift store rummage to find suff to customise and make my own.
Devastatia669 what makes it so wonderful that you were born in the 80s itself. The cusp of Star Wars! 1980 was a year that brought explosive change that 79 being changed into an 80 we had no idea that that decade would explode in music and fashion. And early 90s goth fashion was still a bit in the TradGoth, with a lot more vampire mixed in. We were tipping in to a lot of Industrial vibes. When you mentioned you are creating your own clothes that put a smile on my face.
Diva,
That's an awesome story you shared and also that your designing your unique jewelry, clothing, etc. It is extremely difficult to find clothes that fit as they should. I run into that myself since I'm petite and fall into either a young teen girl and a "not quite petite regular woman" since the pants tend to be either too baggy in the midsection, or they are too tight elsewhere. When I can I try to go to my thrift stores on my days off if I don't sleep in. 🦇 🙂 I haven't ever found that comfortable off the rack "new" clothing article yet that fit me just right. I also find that second hand jewelry can make excellent Goth accessories in a pinch, too. Unfortunately, anymore these days I don't have the time to make my own jewelry due to a hectic work schedule.
@@gothicallyyoursprofessorm.7222 I also vividly remember there was this carry over of the late 70's into the mid-80's, then again by the late 90's and tapered off by the early 2000's. Thereafter, I never felt any carry over of any other decades really. I do remember the Empire Strikes Back. I was too young to have seen the original Star Wars that debuted earlier in theaters nationwide though. I believe several of us saw the dawn of some fascinating, and exciting times during the 80's. Then sadly, we watched them disappear as time marched on. And others of us keep the vast history alive through our written, oral accounts, documentation, pictures, home movies, etc. 🙂👍🦇
The convenience of online gothic shops created the cookie cutter mentality. Back in the days there was no shops so we had to DIY and mix and match. I am not against the stores, there are ways to include a bought piece in an outfit and make it your own, it's the lookbook mentality that messes everything. Baby bats just look at Instagram models and try to emulate them then complain it cost too much to be goth because of the brands.
NoirVelours the lookbook mentality well quoted and well said! I had always felt the more original or far off from the malls, or everyday gear was the only path. This week my mind has been flooded with memories of trying my utmost to not wear anything we had in malls. Malls those incredible places we went to that was everything. Now I am also one to get things like my top hat, vests and canes from suppliers. Yet, I know when they come my way I will do something to them. Change buttons, or bands, color etc. And also 'models and try to emulate them' Yes, exactly this has been something that I keep seeing on Pinterest. There was a cool video I saw from the early 80s like 1981. It was set to the music of the song Fade to Grey, and everyone in London was completely completely original not a single alternative person looked like the other.
@Noir, I agree. You are spot on about that. I'm not on Instagram anymore because partly, due to too much oversaturation of the Goth style and look. The unique and original Goths get lost in the mix. I got bored looking at all of these "copy cat look book Goths" that run the gamut on YT here. The haul videos were almost equally an eyesore for me. And the influencers that are supposed to be trendy, likely are copying other Goths styles instead of finding (and designing their own). In my younger Goth years the online goth shops were just emerging. Lip Service, Tripp, nyc, and Morbid Threads (Hot Topic line), were very much out of my price range to buy at once. I did scrimp and save (and slave at my job) to afford it back in the day. Yet, I never see any younger Goths on here say "I had to work my butt off to get this____) whatever high-priced articles of Dollzkill, Devil Fashion, Punk Rave, Killstar things they've been wanting for so long.
I usually buy my clothes on the cheap from thrift stores including belts. I buy my shoes pre-owned and as inexpensive as possible. I bought maybe three pairs of Demonias brand new, but after wearing them for a few times decided they just didn't go with my Goth style. I happily found a used pair of Docs and those are far more comfortable than Demonia. Nowadays for me it's about comfort and less about the stiff, scratchy, unbearable fabric they make fishnet tops in. To remedy this dilemma, I found that using black fishnet panty hose works perfectly (if not better than) the average one-sized fishnet top. And the material is much more soft and stretchy too. But this is just me. 🦇🙂 -the Victrola Lady 🧛♀️🦇
Greetings, Profesor M., and thank you a lot for the video.
It set so many thoughts rumbling inside my mind, I must strive to keep my comment down to few lines.
The '80 and '90 were so different from today: you had more time off even when you worked, but a lot less available at the shops, expecially related to alternative subcultures and styles (they were called alternative, not mainstream, for a reason!). Even getting Goth Rock CDs often needed an hour travel to a far away shop or event, with no assurance you'd find what you were looking for.
Today most things are readily available with a few clicks on the 'net. And I can see many shops selling tools and fabric or pins and embellishments you need for DIY closed down in the past 10 years.
Music readily available on the 'net and social sites connecting you to Goths all over the world contribute to reduce the time you don't have anything to do, ie time available to start you DIY projects.
I'm afraid that less direct, personal relationships between Goths in the same area contributes to the lessening of the creative thinking and enterprise. Many discos too closed down in my town in the past 10 years, reducing the venues to go and show off your DIY garments.
I hope videos like yours will encourage more creative thinking and production among Goths, and maybe even inspire somebody into trying the subculture, one that can absorb you in so many ways and levels into doing things: music, dancing, DIY, makeup and fashion, even furniture and room colour!
Take Aurelio Voltaire, you can even take up making your own Goth soaps! 😁
Keep the good stuff coming!
Blatro when you mentioned 'I must strive to keep my comment down to few lines.' I say to you write as much as you like. The space is yours to do so and its your liberty. Next you hit on so many good things. The changing of the times. Its so different now and so many closings and changes. The DIY is less, for the easier click I can get it has taken over. My heart was so concerned for how the culture will go. Its still evolving and changing which shows growth, yet the feel of total ' we are DIY and we very unique for it' With Aurelio, I watched how much he goes and buys at stores, and balances that with how much he creates. From what was once coveted black eyeshadow in the rarest form, is now offered quiet readily. We should have a new name for it Amazon + Goth = AmaGoth. Where you can have all your Goth sent in a GothBox with an upside down frown on it and just instant goth oneself. As for my videos- you got it- more to come!!
@@gothicallyyoursprofessorm.7222 AmaGoth made my day! 😹
Also,
(And I recently got ridiculed for this about the Goth rock that Blatro mentioned and how next to impossible it was to get back in these days), but for me, by the mid- late 1990's I lived in Podunk, (where ever). I didn't have any connections nor knew of any friends that had even a bootleg copy of say, Sisters of Mercy, for example. (Although Andrew, lead singer of said group, has been quoted as saying he never liked the Goth term when describing their music).
And I never knew that bauhaus existed before three months ago. How is it possible that a over decades elder Goth never heard nor so much seen these legendary guys? Well, I can't seem to sum up a concise response. Probably because i didn't know the bands I looking for, for one. Secondly, how am I going to find any Goth rock (Pre-TH-cam days) when the internet was still the wild west full of construction 🚧sites, dead ends, "file 404 can't be found" and the dreaded, blue screen of death, Kern.Dll caused an error. Kern. Dll will now close. And your computer would then crash for unknown reasons. Radio didn't play bauhaus to my memory back then.
And who in Sam's Hill is Peter Murphy?! TV, hah! 😆 No such syndication footage of them to be found.
Bands like Souxie and the Banshees, Joy Division, bauhaus, SOM, Christian Death, etc. were still underground music that never, ever surfaced in any thrift store that I frequented regularly back in these days. I probably would have snapped up these bands had their music turned up in these places.
So, yeah, finding Goth rock before TH-cam here was non-existent for me. I used to listen to classic rock, surprisingly, classical music like Bauch and Betoveen, Queen, Jimmy Hendrix (in my teens), 80's heavy metal. Yet, I seriously frowned on Marylin Manson. No offense to those who do enjoy him. I never considered him Goth. I did, however, think he was the typical music industry stereotype of what they thought Goth will look and sound like. In the late 90's, I never cared for what was then popular on the radio. I was too busy enjoying my favorite hobbies of 8 track cartridge tapes, LP collecting (pre 33's records of nowadays), and used cassette tapes.
And how bauhaus and Sisters of Mercy rolled through my recommendations on here is a dark, not-so- spooky, unsolved mystery of the universe, but I'm glad that I gave them several listens. I now have more true 80's Goth rock to add to my music collection. I just wish that I could have lived in a bigger city back then where these guys played either live in a huge venue, or even in a small theater. 🦇🥰 I am aware that bauhaus disbanded (broke up) by 1983. Peter Murphy still tours and puts out records. As for Sisters of Mercy, I'm well aware that they re-formed into the Sisterhood (without Andrew Eltridge, lead singer. ) Just bare with me. I'm still reading 📚 and wading through a lot of past articles, magazine clippings, watching old footage, etc. Whenever I find a band that's awesome and new to my ears, I will read anything about them as time and my schedule allows. 🦇
@@EB1878 You brought me back memories of times past when I felt trapped in a small place (which was a big town!) when outside, in the world, in places far away, there were people I longed to spend time with but I could not reach in any way. But sometimes I got a glimpse of they amazing lifestyle and feats on the radio, MTV, some magazine and lots of hearsay.
And there I was, like a bird in a cage that could hear in the distance birds chirping on trees that I could not see, much less fly to.
@@Blatro_Ceneidrago yes, absolutely 💯. I'm like a trapped bird in a cage nowadays. There's no goth scene, really no subculture where I live, either and I'm the only goth in my area. It truly is difficult to find other like minded people. I don't do Instagram, I don't do Facebook since I don't like either platform. Secondly, I don't feel like competing with all of these goth influencers, goth hauls, nor modern goth fast fashion as such like Punk Rave, Killstar, Devil's Fashion, etc. I read extensively and enjoy reading. I think my dilemma is being in a far remote geographical location that doesn't have any night clubs. The local coffee houses in my area are very left-leaning and I don't engage in politics whatsoever. I'm kind of like, "Uhmmm... what shall I do on my evenings off work?" I really don't know of any social events that would even offer any form of entertainment. So, I'm kind of stuck in a rut for now. It would be awesome to meet fellow Goths locally, you bet. But none that I've seen nor heard of in my small town.
i'm 55 and even though i can now easily just order thangs on line i still prefer to buy the cheapest stuff i can find (i don't do name brand anythang) and make it my own as in personalize it. i actually enjoy doing the arts and crafts myself but over and above that i really like the idea that i'm wearing something NO ONE ELSE has.
Macabrel~ perfectly said! And I agree totally to have something no one else has. Welcome to the channel🎩🕷🖤
Vivian Westwood asked Johnny Rotten (Lydon) and a couple of girls he was hanging around with. To model some of her clothes for a photographer. John said that just 10mins before, they had been in the shop, "swiping" t-shits. (His straitjacket shirt was a Westwood design). Vivian wouldn't let John and the girls keep the clothes. So he goth the girls to copy some of them. He despised what he called, elitist fashion, at the time. The safety pins were solely to hold their well worn clothes together. The fashion designers thought it was just for fashion. LOL.
Damiencross ~ Thank you for sharing that. That was awesome to read. I smiled at the swiping part. Isn't it amazing how the smallest thing like safety pins can create the biggest dent in fashion history?
🦇👍👏👏👏👏🥰- the Victrola Lady
Actually, if I went to a club and seen another goth dressed like a carbon copy of myself, I'd probably leave and find another place to go. But here's one Professor M, 🤣 What if the entire club was dressed alike and you couldn't tell anyone apart? What would you do? 🤔
Dance like no one else!
🦇🖤🦇
@@Blatro_Ceneidrago yep 🦇❤🦇
EB1878~ I have an answer for that! If everyone was dressed alike in the club, then everyone seemingly would be on the same level. For example, in the late 70s, and early 80s, a club in NYC called Studio 54 opened. There were so many famous people going to Studio 54, they deemed that since everyone inside the club was famous no one was special. If everyone was dressed alike in the Goth club then that would make no one special. However, since the Goth community delights in looking Gothic as possible and trying to out-do the other Goth fashion wise, it seems hopefully unlikely there would be an ocean of an entire club of everyone dressed alike. I have a question the 1878 in your ID is that a year, or some unique number you like? For in the year 1878 The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison.
I've been thrifting all my life and I love DIY. 😍It's the only way to truly express yourself. 👨🎨I'm an artist and I love being able to be creative with my clothes just like I would with a painting. 🎨🖌🧵🪡✂😎👍