If you've read trendy mainstream fashion mags lately you might have noticed bits of gothery turning up here and there. February's issues of
The Face and i-D were a disturbing part of the trend. A member of the latest group of young artists was wearing a Bauhaus shirt. Random models
in photo spreads are wearing mesh shirts, velvet, etc. (The Faece also has a blurb about the upcoming movie about Factory Records). One ad
features a raven (in i-D I think). Now, one raven does not make a winter, but be warned: the Eighties revival, having used up white trash and
London punk, is moving into post-punk, which includes the Batcave scene. We've already got gothoid bit-players in teen dramas like
"Popular." If "Quincy" or "CHiPs" were still around, they'd already have had a gothsploitation episode. One morning (excuse me, one
night) you'll wake up to find a Disneyfied version of the scene. The lamest bands and the biggest poseurs will be anointed its
"representatives." It's sorta happened already, just like it happened to punk. All your bats are belong to Sony.
Respectability strikes a scene whether it's healthy or torn by bickering, but the latter slows its recovery afterwards. Enough
one-upmanship. Not everyone's got the forbidden Olaus Wormius latin translation of the Necronomicon (or survived to to tell about
it...) or brews their tea in Aleister Crowley's skull. Take what you like from the scene, but bring something to the table too.
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Ohm