Blame it on The Cure. Blame it on Edward Gory. Whatever you do, though, you can't deny the Goth. The culture, the fashion, hey, the eyeliner. It's alive and well now as it always seems to have been--at least since the late seventies/early eighties. And it shows no signs of slowing down. Eyeliner sales must be through the roof!

The New York Times has a funny article about one author's personal history with the Gothic culture, which could pretty much be any of our own histories. I grew up in the middle of the country, in Louisville, Kentucky, and even those well-manicured lawns and competing mall-lifestyles were susceptible to an outbreak of Goth every now and then. Perhaps we were a more likely target for Goth style because of all that sameness. No matter where you went as a teen, it seemed, there were some Goth kids hanging around comparing weird jewelry and competing for who could don the most dark apparel.

So what is the point, you ask? If Goth has been around for so long, and none of today's teens are exactly reinventing the wheel, why bother with the eyeliner (so to speak)? Why has Goth culture endured? Fashion historian Valerie Steele (who shares a name with my best friend), who was interviewed for the article, says Goth, which originated in the Victorian era by way of mourning garb, that while it started out representing death and abuse, now it's just about plain old rebellion. How rebellious can you be though, when everyone else is wearing the same thing? Show up to school in a white suit or a gold lamé cocktail dress and we'll talk!

Goth pic by alanejohnson006.