Fashion, for many admirers of gothic design, is a core component of the aesthetic. After all, if you love the art, why not wear it and show it off? But hunting for clothing that suits a gothic wardrobe may prove difficult depending on where you live. Traditional brick-and-mortar shops catering to dark alternative styles aren’t plentiful. Meanwhile, the internet has such an array of options that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
To help you start your journey, we’ve curated a list of five brands that sell apparel with gothic, macabre, and dark design elements. These shops market specifically toward alternative crowds, selling everything from elegant gothic lolita to cyperpunk and then some.
This is only an overview of a very small handful of brands, which barely scratches the surface of dark alternative fashion and its many sub-genres. In other blog posts, like 7 tips for building the ultimate elegant gothic wardrobe, we give more general advice for wardrobe building. We also dive into more in-depth breakdowns of niches within the fashion, specific brand reviews, and more.
Think of this list as a starting point, especially if you’re aiming to build a dark wardrobe up from scratch and don’t know where to begin your search.
Church of Sanctus
(churchofsanctus.com)
This one-person shop ran out of the UK sources, cuts, sews, and packages all of its pieces in-house. Its theming focuses on the divinity of the wearer, and many of its pieces center around church imagery often favored in darker and more gothic aesthetic.
You can find tank tops, dresses, collared shirts, underbusts, shoulder bags, corsets and more on their storefront. Other pieces are sometimes available in collections, so it’s recommended to subscribe to their newsletter or follow their socials to keep up with upcoming drops.
Relatedly, Church of Sanctus creates highly coveted pieces that often sell out quickly and are made with deadstock fabric, meaning many of the pieces are a one-and-done deal that won’t be resold. The prices are a little on the higher end because of the aforementioned in-house production, but the quality is high and the longevity of each piece is wonderful.
I Do Declare
(idodeclareshop.com)
This brand is an LGBTQ+ owned and operated small business with a focus on dark romantic clothing and slow fashion. It’s ten years in the making and still growing to this day.
The shop features pieces in a romantic and fantastic styling of a darker wardrobe. You can find some witchy elements scattered throughout, as well. There’s a focus on flowing and drapey silhouettes and large, billowing sleeves. It offers a selection of dresses, corsets, shirts and shorts.
You can also find some accessories like belts and garter patches, along with some non-apparel merchandise like stickers and note pads.
Midnight Hour
(midnighthour.com)
Midnight Hour is an LA-based brand founded by Akiko & Danny, and it’s a great option for those who value supporting small businesses with strong ethos. This duo and their team create all of the art for their products and prioritize sustainable shipping and manufacturing processes.
They also focus on fair treatment and pay for workers of the overseas manufacturers they use, though a bulk of their product comes from LA-based manufacturers. To top it off, they support numerous local charities like LA Family Housing, Hope in a Suitcase, and Hang Out Do Good.
They design their clothing to be comfortable for all body types and genders, and we’ve yet to see a single person look anything less than amazing when wearing a Midnight Hour piece. They have just about everything available for sale with the exception of shoes and socks, so if you’re looking to expand your wardrobe out beyond the staples, this is a perfect starting point.
Forest Ink
(forestinkclothing.com)
Forest Ink is a family-operated alternative lifestyle brand based in Texas. Founded in 2009, the shop started off with sustainability, accessibility, and inclusivity in mind.
Today, they offer sizes from XXS to 5XL, use biodegradable packaging, and manufacture with certified sweatshop-free labor. You can find their designs on their home site, as well as boutiques and retailers like Vampire Freaks and Berserk.
On the Forest Ink site, you can browse their store by collections. Their current collections include Doll Parts, Uniform, 1911, Vampire’s Kiss, and Midnight Menagerie. They have plenty of sultry and vampiric designs suited for those who favor the aesthetic over other types of gothic fashion.
42Lolita
(42lolita.com)
42Lolita is the official online store of 42agent. They work as a middleman to bring the designs of indie Chinese creators to other parts of the world. Despite being a proxy service rather than a small business, 42Lolita makes it onto our list because of their good reputation and deep involvement in the lolita community. They host lolita-centric events around the globe and work as an ambassador of the style in China.
To note, most lolita brands, along with offshoot styles of lolita, are based in Japan and China. This makes it difficult for overseas consumers to get their hands on any coveted goods spied on Xiaohongshu (RedNote) or Weibo without relying on a proxy.
As a service, 42Lolita has always been professional, quick, and kind. They aim to get buyers the best possible deals and keep their costs lower than many competitors without sacrificing quality of service. They even offer a custom proxy service, meaning if you find something from Taobao that they don’t already offer, they can buy it for you for a small fee.
Also, the little freebie gifts they throw in to order packages are pretty cute.
Our Selection Criteria
We crafted this list based on several factors, including cost, business ownership, product quality, and service quality. None of the listed entries are affiliates or sponsors. Rather, this is a list based on our own personal experiences with the brands.
While narrowing down our selection, we focused on a few important questions.
Cost
How much can you expect to spend on these items? More importantly, does the price that the company asks for match up with the quality of its products and services? Are these relatively accessible price points for newcomers who are trying to build up a new wardrobe from very little?
Business ownership
Who owns the business? Is it a small business owner, a small group of importers, or a large manufacturer? What are their policies on outsourcing goods and working with manufacturing companies?
Product quality
How good are the items? Are they luxurious? Do they match the product images and models on the shop’s site, or do they feel and look cheap? Does the quality line up with the cost?
Service quality
Is the customer service attentive when problems arise with products? What is the company history of handling customer relations? Is it easy or difficult to get in touch with a real person when something goes wrong with orders?
All of our chosen brands are high quality and sell their apparel at fair price points. They have robust customer service sectors so you’ll never feel like you’re being left to handle issues on your own.
We do try to feature smaller brands and companies on these lists. However, a large share of the market for gothic-inspired fashion lies in Europe and East Asia. To that end, we felt it would be remiss not to include any aggregate sales sites, importers, or businesses that outsource garment manufacturing.
Making the switch from one fashion style to another is a labor of love, since most people don’t have the money or time to do a complete overhaul in a day. But it helps to know where to pick up a few basic pieces without an exorbitant price tag, and these five shops are a perfect place to begin the hunt.
Pair your new pieces with some beautiful gothic furniture or dark and elegant perfumes and you’ll be living that sweet dream in no time.