In honor of #WorldGothDay, I dug up this piece my college roomie and I wrote in 1996.
Thirty Days to a Complete Gothic Transformation
1 - Throw out every pink garment you own. 2 - Get rid of the pale yellow and the sea-green too. 3 - Start by wearing a white shirt, but with a black jacket. 4 - Lose any Keds. Your shoes must be dark, heavy. Like your soul. 5 - Move up to a black shirt. Have many. It will be necessary. 6 - Dye your hair a shade darker, but not black, not yet–not till you’re ready. 7 - Two words: Black eyeliner. Buy it. Wear it. Get to know it. 8 - Stop smiling, unless you’re standing alone in the rain. 9 - Jewelry: crosses. Crystals. Talismans. Gargoyles.
“THE CURE” ORIENTATION WEEK:
10 - Start with “Friday I’m in Love.” Move up to “Just Like Heaven,” if ready. 11 - Find pictures of Robert Smith. Fall in tragic love. 12 - More albums: Staring at the Sea. Disintegration. Pornography, if you dare. 13 - Study Robert Smith’s hair. Buy some mousse. See what you can do. 14 - Learn the lyrics by heart. Listen by candlelight. 15 - Be like Robert: add blood-red lipstick to your look. 16 - If you don’t have a leather jacket by now, get one. (Black.)
17 - Sit in deserted chapels gazing at the stained glass. Cry if possible. 18 - Eat listlessly. Enjoy nothing that is not beautiful and unattainable. 19 - Spend more time in graveyards. Lie beneath a tombstone, staring at the sky. 20 - Candles. This cannot be stressed enough. Black ones. 21 - Read tragedies. All sorts. 22 - Rent “Interview With the Vampire.” Feel Louis’ pain. 23 - Write to Anne Rice. Tell her she speaks to you in your depression. 24 - Write to Robert Smith. Tell him the same. 25 - Lie in a coffin. Blue-white lipstick recommended. 26 - I think you’re ready for black hair by now. And another earring. 27 - Learn to play guitar. Practice on rooftops, late at night. 28 - Rent “The Crow.” Weep for the death of Brandon Lee. 29 - Try to contact Brandon and convicted, innocent witches through a seance. 30 - You have become one with the darkness. Welcome.
