Ruffles Not Diets

How to dress for school is a big issue for goths and other alternative fashionistas.  Teens have to deal with possible school dress codes and parental expectations/beliefs.  College students rarely have to worry about dress codes, but are often suddenly dealing with a lot less time and money.  Grad school varies.  In most fields it is basically like college (but magnify that time issue), but if you are in a professional school like I am then it is often somewhat like dressing for work .  There likely still aren't formal dress codes but many professional students are encouraged to dress according to the informal standards of their profession (and "professional dress" is often a code-word for mainstream or conservative). Often you will end up needing recommendations or making useful connections through your professors, and all of your classmates are potential future colleagues.  This last consideration is especially noteworthy to me as, in the long run, I plan on getting a PhD in my field and Library/Information science is a teeny-tiny field where everybody knows each other.  I would argue that none of this suggests you ought to try and hide or downplay your subcultural associations.  After all, when the person you are meeting is someone who, in a few years, you legitimately could be skyping with at 2 in the morning to discuss a conference poster for a project you collaborated on, you really need to consider how long term you are willing to hide your spooky self.*  Also, a semester is a long enough period of time for anyone who comes in with negative stereotypes to realize you are a srs bizness academic.  For myself, while I feel no need to tone down any gothiness, I do take care to be neat, modest, and, at least at first, avoid any sexualised elements (like corsets, even over a blouse which would be perfectly modest) and really cliche elements or to keep them in highly stylized version (ie: this skull necklace, not this one).

You've seen most of this outfit before, but here I have styled it completely differently.
Skirt: Rose Mortem
Camisole: Soma Intimates
Bolero: Lane Bryant Outlet
Hair Flower: Wet Seal, originally a too-small headband so I attached it to a hair clip.
Earrings + Necklace: Art of Adornment.










*I also agree with what the Lady of the Manner had to say about the virtue of "easing in" to dressing goth in this recent article.