Gothic Couture-Issue 12

The Goth subculture has endured long enough to spawn a major fashion-retailer (Hot Topic), popular films (Tim Burton received an Oscar nod for his “Corpse Bride”) and TV characters (think Abby Sciuto, the forensic scientist on CBS’ “NCIS”).

And mainstream parody: A “Saturday Night Live” skit, “Goth Talk,” poked fun at the subculture as being dominated by teens.

Damien Wallace, editor for Promo Magazine, said it’s too easy to make assumptions about why some gravitate to the scene. “It’s like asking why do you like strawberries?”

Even the scene has changed dramatically since he first was drawn to it as a teen in the Skagit Valley. Then, Goths were perhaps best known for dark, Victorian-era clothing, including bustled skirts, corsets and lace.

Today, the aesthetics run from “cybergoths,” with clothing and hair reminiscent of futuristic science-fiction characters, to those who dress with an early-20th-century burlesque feel.