Review
Well informed and wide-ranging, Goth Chic is a great introduction to the subculture. --Kerrang!, September 07th, 2002.
Goth Chic is a remarkably interesting facts to know and tell book about the often misconceived gothic culture. The author of Lucifer Rising, Baddeley examines and offers an explanation of a culture described as a philosophical perspective but which is denied by most of its icons... Not just for the Mission-adoring veteran, this is a truly interesting and informed read for anyone who has a passing interest in gothic literature, music and for those with a black-eyeliner fixation. --Record Collector, October, 2002.
Goth is cool. Not all Goths are cool, some are just sad. But as an aesthetic, and taking in the breadth of Gothic style (music, film, literature, sex, fashion, architecture), it s right up there with gayness as a defining influence on 20th and 21st century popular culture... From Byron to Poe, Tim Burton to Lovecraft, Christopher Lee to fetish clubs, Goth Chic is an essential handbook for aspiring Goths. 4/5 --Loaded, December, 2002
Goth Chic is a remarkably interesting facts to know and tell book about the often misconceived gothic culture. The author of Lucifer Rising, Baddeley examines and offers an explanation of a culture described as a philosophical perspective but which is denied by most of its icons... Not just for the Mission-adoring veteran, this is a truly interesting and informed read for anyone who has a passing interest in gothic literature, music and for those with a black-eyeliner fixation. --Record Collector, October, 2002.
Goth is cool. Not all Goths are cool, some are just sad. But as an aesthetic, and taking in the breadth of Gothic style (music, film, literature, sex, fashion, architecture), it s right up there with gayness as a defining influence on 20th and 21st century popular culture... From Byron to Poe, Tim Burton to Lovecraft, Christopher Lee to fetish clubs, Goth Chic is an essential handbook for aspiring Goths. 4/5 --Loaded, December, 2002
Goth Chic is a remarkably interesting facts to know and tell book about the often misconceived gothic culture. The author of Lucifer Rising, Baddeley examines and offers an explanation of a culture described as a philosophical perspective but which is denied by most of its icons... Not just for the Mission-adoring veteran, this is a truly interesting and informed read for anyone who has a passing interest in gothic literature, music and for those with a black-eyeliner fixation. --Record Collector, October, 2002.
Goth is cool. Not all Goths are cool, some are just sad. But as an aesthetic, and taking in the breadth of Gothic style (music, film, literature, sex, fashion, architecture), it s right up there with gayness as a defining influence on 20th and 21st century popular culture... From Byron to Poe, Tim Burton to Lovecraft, Christopher Lee to fetish clubs, Goth Chic is an essential handbook for aspiring Goths. 4/5 --Loaded, December, 2002
Goth Chic is a remarkably interesting facts to know and tell book about the often misconceived gothic culture. The author of Lucifer Rising, Baddeley examines and offers an explanation of a culture described as a philosophical perspective but which is denied by most of its icons... Not just for the Mission-adoring veteran, this is a truly interesting and informed read for anyone who has a passing interest in gothic literature, music and for those with a black-eyeliner fixation. --Record Collector, October, 2002.
Goth is cool. Not all Goths are cool, some are just sad. But as an aesthetic, and taking in the breadth of Gothic style (music, film, literature, sex, fashion, architecture), it s right up there with gayness as a defining influence on 20th and 21st century popular culture... From Byron to Poe, Tim Burton to Lovecraft, Christopher Lee to fetish clubs, Goth Chic is an essential handbook for aspiring Goths. 4/5 --Loaded, December, 2002
Product Description
In Goth: Vamps and Dandies, cult author and scene veteran Gavin Baddeley delivers an incisively written and visually seductive history of the Gothic subculture, charting its eye-catching evolution from the 18th century to the present day. Lavishly illustrated with a wealth of full-colour photographs, this book unveils an exuberant underworld of dark glamour and visual excess, offering a comprehensive exploration of Goth s decadent celebration of imagination over convention: its provocative fashions, its followers uninhibited lifestyles, and the deathly beauty that lies at the heart of the Goth aesthetic. Alongside beloved icons like Robert Smith and Siouxsie Sioux, the book showcases many unknown vamps and dandies; intriguing individuals who dare to live lives less ordinary. Resurrecting Goth style in the workplace and on the streets, they re the subcultural diehards who make Goth eternal. From pleasure-seeking aristocrats to the femme fatales of silent cinema; from the Goth-punk explosion of the 1970s to the outrageous New-Romantic fashions that dominated Eighties dancefloors; from the inexorable growth of festivals like Wave-Gotik-Treffen to Goth s unconsummated flirtation with the mainstream, and its undeserved status as a scapegoat in the aftermath of tragedy. Baddeley weaves each of these darkly intertwining strands into a single compelling journey. Highlighting the resilience and integrity of those Goths for whom prejudice and even persecution can be grim realities, he holds a mirror up to the midnight world, illuminating Goth s enduring popularity and diversity.
About the Author
Gavin Baddeley is a graduate of Cambridge University. As a journalist, he has written for a variety of publications on his specialised subjects of the occult, rock music and trash culture. As a lecturer he has conducted a summer school on the occult. He was also made an official British representative of the Church of Satan by its late founder, Anton LaVey. He is the author of Lucifer Rising, Dissecting Marilyn Manson, and Goth Chic: A Connoisseur s Guide to Dark Culture.
