Goth fashion brands: buy the boots first, then the silver

Goth fashion brands run from subculture labels like Killstar to designers like Rick Owens, shown as gothic by a museum in 2008. The designer side is Guidi for boots, Chrome Hearts and Emanuele Bicocchi for silver, and Undercover and Yohji Yamamoto for black clothes. Owens pieces start at $400.

If you buy one designer piece, buy the boots first, then the silver. The goth edit shows both. The velvet, the lace and the band shirt can come from anywhere.

Quick facts

• On within: 46 Guidi pieces, 734 Chrome Hearts pieces and 49 Emanuele Bicocchi pieces, read 9 October 2026.
• Guidi median: $1,675, with prices from $345 to $2,650 across 13 sizes, EU 35.5 to 45.
• Chrome Hearts median: $1,800, about five times the $365 median for Emanuele Bicocchi.
• Museum exhibition: More than 75 ensembles at The Museum at FIT in 2008, in Gothic: Dark Glamour.
• Dr. Martens: 20 pairs from $200 to $600, plus an MM6 collaboration boot at $249.
• Undercover: 60 pieces from Jun Takahashi, $70 to $3,500.

First, the boots

Every goth style starts at the feet. Deathrock wears "combat boots or Doc Martens", trad goth wears creepers and winklepickers, and Ted Polhemus lists "precarious stilettos".

Guidi began in 1896 as a tannery in Pescia, Tuscany. Its shoes are sewn in off white leather and then dyed in a turning drum, zips and all.

The 788Z is hand made in Italy from horse full grain leather, with a Goodyear welt. That welt matters: "A Goodyear welted shoe resoles again and again," says how shoe soles are made and resoled. The money stays in the boot.

Eugene Rabkin's StyleZeitgeist x Guidi combat boot, shown on 12 September 2023, was limited to 150 pairs. He built it for "my teenage roots of dank goth clubs and industrial music".

A designer shop in Yorkville has two black back zip boots: the 796ZI on a metal heel at $2,050, and the lace up NB07 at $1,875.

The Dr. Martens 1460 is named for the day it was introduced, 1 April 1960, and the brand has a following in goth among other subcultures. parlor23, at 11 Willison Square, has a 2020 sample of the 1460 at $250. The burgundy 8 eye boot Dr. Martens made with MM6 Maison Margiela is $249, down from $595.

(The Supreme pair at parlor23 is called "Yohji Yamamoto Black", so one road to Yohji runs through a Dr. Martens.)

Second, the silver

Polhemus describes goth silver as jewellery "depicting religious or occult themes". Chrome Hearts fits that: Richard Stark and John Bowman started it in a Los Angeles garage in 1988, with the master silver jeweller Leonard Kamhout. Its logo carries a cross.

A resale shop in Yorkville has the lightly used #10 Dagger Pendant at $1,500. The Filigree Cross Pendant is $4,000. For the reasons behind those numbers, read why Chrome Hearts costs what it does.

Emanuele Bicocchi calls itself "an independent jewelry label founded in Tuscany, Italy". The Chrome Hearts median is about five times its median. Due West, at 431 Queen Street West, sells the label.

Bicocchi's Stella Ventis Dagger Necklace is $345, and its Flourish Medium Skull is $595. Lower still, a Serge DeNimes Laurel Ring in silver is $160, the lowest price among the goth edit's silver.

Then the clothes, from the museum's designers

The clothes come third because the museum's designers each took black somewhere different. Curator Valerie Steele called death, horror and the erotic macabre "perversely attractive to many designers."

Rick Owens is known for draping and bias cut, and moved to Paris in 2003. His black DRKSHDW Hustler double layer long sleeve T-shirt is $400 at a resale shop in Yorkville. More on his cut is in Rick Owens style.

Jun Takahashi sang in a Sex Pistols tribute band as a student. His label, Undercover, has the motto "We make noise, not clothes." Yohji Yamamoto's collections are mostly black, a colour he has called "modest and arrogant at the same time".

within holds only one Yohji Yamamoto mainline piece, a pre owned Pour Homme logo long sleeve T-shirt at $100, and no Ann Demeulemeester. Y-3, his line with adidas since spring 2003, starts at $39.

For the drape at a lower price, thom/krom calls its look "minimal darkness" and runs $75 to $289.

Buy the boots first. The velvet can come from anywhere.

The long black dress

Cintra Wilson wrote that "the origins of contemporary goth style are found in the Victorian cult of mourning." The 2008 show opened on that idea, with a black silk and netting mourning dress from about 1880.

The goth edit opens on black dresses and long draped skirts. A Helmut Lang nappa bubble dress is $899, down from $2,520, and an Ottolinger slitted maxi skirt is $399, down from $695.

An Undercover asymmetric skirt is $725, and a Litkovska ruffled midi skirt is $1,170. Both want a heel. The MM6 Maison Margiela anatomic ankle boot in black is $1,350, and the Guidi 796ZI sits on a metal heel.

Before you buy

Each shop sets its own terms. At Utopia, a resale shop at 132 Cumberland Street, every sale is final. It ships abroad, and international orders arrive in 7 to 10 business days.

WDLT117, at 7 St Thomas Street, offers exchange or store credit within 14 days, unworn with tags. Jewellery, collaboration items and pieces discounted 50% or more are final sale. It ships abroad with duties unpaid.

At Due West, unused pieces return within 30 days, and sale items cannot be refunded. It ships abroad, and duties and taxes are the buyer's. At parlor23, every pair of shoes is final sale.

Guidi sizes run EU 35.5 to 45. Read Guidi boots sizing and designer shoe sizes before you order.

Common questions

What is the goth style of fashion?

Goth fashion is a clothing style worn by members of the goth subculture, and typical looks include black dyed hair and black clothes. The subculture emerged in 1980s London, and bands like Bauhaus, The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy and Siouxsie and the Banshees shaped its dress. Polhemus described black velvets, lace, fishnets, leather and silver jewellery.

Where can I find goth clothes in Canada?

Blackwood Castle is a Canadian label that designs its clothes in Canada, and Disturbia says on its site, "We ship to Canada". For designer boots, silver and dresses, browse the goth edit. Three of the four shops here say on their own pages that they ship abroad, and their terms are under Before you buy.

What are some popular gothic fashion brands?

Killstar, Disturbia and Blackwood Castle make goth clothes outright. The 2008 museum show added Rick Owens, Yohji Yamamoto, Undercover and Ann Demeulemeester. within holds no Ann Demeulemeester.

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