Grown-up alt kids, what is your style now?

[LongLiveGoblingKing]

As a yoof my style was alternative. Gothy greb.

I'm now a mother of two in my 30s and feeling a bit lost when it comes to my personal style. I want to create a Pinterest board of inspiration so I can begin curating ideas, but I actually don't know what I want my style to be.

Looking for 'outfits for women in their 30s' throws up mainly preppy looks, which I don't think is me. Then again, I don't want to be really gothic or punk or anything. I think I want smart and sophisticated with a nod to my alternative past, but what is that even called?

So please tell me what your style is and what it might be called, I need inspiration!

Used to be goth, now more vintage/dark academia. Think long swishy skirts, cats eye glasses and braided hair.

Similar to you, was a goth in my youth and much prefer an alternative style. I add elements in, so black boots and leather jacket with jeans or a dress. Still have multiple ear piercings, a few gothish jewelry items, but very understated. Primarily black but I am working at adding colour as I am getting older I find colour lifts my complexion.
Good luck

I was a goth in the 80s/90s and my look now (I'm 48) is pretty much summed up by my username! I love a velvet prairie dress. I wear a lot of rich jewel colours (burgundies, emerald green etc). Also a bit of dark academia when I'm more casual (which I appreciate is aimed at people a LOT younger than me, but I've been doing brogues and cord blazers for decades). Doctor's bags, rose gold antique jewellery, centre parted dark brown hair (used to be black but the complexion can no longer handle it!), sheer red lipstick (again, used to be deep matte red but I can't carry it off anymore).

Susie Cave, Helena Bonham Carter and Eva Green are my grown up style heroes.

Ooh thank you both for introducing me to the term Dark Academia! This could be key.

I was a Goth but am now a minimalist in dress terms. Cos and Arket. My way of being different now, is to never wear black, as this is what everyone wears!

I wear greys and whites.

Also goth/alt. Still just wear black, but will allow purple/burgundy etc. Loads of silver jewellery and piercings. Don't wear the makeup now though. I think the "sport goth" aesthetic mixes in quite well, especially if you've reached the age where comfy footwear wins over clompy scary boots! Still in my leather Matrix coats

I was a bit alt in the 90s. Piercings , black hair , loads of eye liner dms with everything etc. The piercings have gone and I dont have the patience or time to lace up dms anymore with small children to dress , but remnants of that time remain. I wear chunky biker boots with tea dresses still , but overall I'm much more practical! I look for cotton over synthetics and generally reject fast fashion , shop second hand where possible and have now started making my own clothes as I hate most of what's in the shops.

I guess what I'm saying is to look beyond what's in the shops , as it now seems to be fast fashion or boden with no inbetween! Dressing aged 40 is trickier than I imagined it would be.

How I yearned for a leather Matrix coat.

I'm 34 and it's taken me a while to realise I need my clothes to be simple. I wear black or grey skinny jeans (don't care that they're "out") with combat boots and my leather jacket. Black and grey tops. I have my ear piercings but dont wear any other jewellery. I've realised I dont like anything that feels faffy or fussy. I still wear heavy eye makeup. I am basically lazy and havent evolved at all style wise and I'm happy as I am. My job is creative and nobody cares how I dress. I cant be bothered to change my wardrobe with the times and have to rethink stuff (like shoes) around it, but I admire people who do and enjoy looking at their outfits.

@MyFloorIsLava there is a leather goods shop inside the Liverpool Central station concourse. It's been going a very long time and I used to go in there for my stuff, till I moved away. Also a big alternative collective called Quiggins which is sadly gone.

I also like slightly 70s stuff - I have loads of vintage lurex dresses and cardigans. Darker colours, though, obviously

Clothes wise I'm a bit boring: just jeans and tops, midi dresses, wide leg black trousers. Leather jacket and Vans with everything.

My biggest upheaval has been that pregnancy changed the shape and size of my feet and now all converse are very uncomfortable. I've lived in converse for years!

Looking at Pinterest I'm leaning toward what might be described as edgy academia and edgy chic.

Pretty much the same!

Mom jeans, band/movie/TV show tees, Docs/Vans/Converse.

Lucy and Yak Alexa trousers and Run and Fly have crept into my wardrobe over the last year too, I am obsessed with R&F dungas.

Make up wise - light foundation, cat eyeliner, blusher and occasionally very bright lipstick, but usually nude.

I’d still be in skinny jeans but 3 pregnancies have changed my figure and I don’t feel comfortable in them any more.

OP my feet are knackered thanks to rheumatoid arthritis and I can't wear my beloved heeled Victoriana boots anymore. Brogues are your friend! These look gorgeous and I want a pair. Clark's Hamble Oak are good too, they come in all sorts of colours and finishes and with the option of wide fitting too. Brogues are v dark academia and super comfortable which is a bonus!

I had the same dilemma...I wasn't a goth but quite grungy in my teens and 20s. In my 30s I felt I'd outgrown the look.
I now have a sort of hybrid style.
For work/ smart occasions- lots of black, tweed and dark colours (what posters are calling dark academia...I didn't know that was a thing).
For outside of work - very casual, laid back style prioritising comfort. Faded black jeans and T shirts in either dark colours or plain white. Loose fitting cotton dresses. Sporty trainers or Converse.

@TheVampiresWife

OP my feet are knackered thanks to rheumatoid arthritis and I can't wear my beloved heeled Victoriana boots anymore. Brogues are your friend! These look gorgeous and I want a pair. Clark's Hamble Oak are good too, they come in all sorts of colours and finishes and with the option of wide fitting too. Brogues are v dark academia and super comfortable which is a bonus!

I love brogues! Unfortunately the ones I really like are always £££ and I can't quite justify it.

Oh I loved Quiggins @BobbinThreadbare. The original one at the Bluecoat Chambers. Spent many an hour in there in my youth, great for vintage clothing.

@GetTaeFuck

Pretty much the same!

Mom jeans, band/movie/TV show tees, Docs/Vans/Converse.

Lucy and Yak Alexa trousers and Run and Fly have crept into my wardrobe over the last year too, I am obsessed with R&F dungas.

Make up wise - light foundation, cat eyeliner, blusher and occasionally very bright lipstick, but usually nude.

This is also me. Although I’d add DMs and men’s jeans…I often wear DH’s. Plaid shirts too.

Infact when that 80s/90s TV culture fashion came back “in” last year (or was it the year before??) I was most put out.

As well as when I was told pencilling freckles on your face was a good thing to do after decades of being told to cover my natural ones up for an even skin tone….

I tend to just pair high street dresses (usually plain black) with dr martens boots or sandals, or converse/vans and a leather jacket. Or mom jeans with a band tee.
I wish I was confident enough to still have crazy coloured hair.
On Pinterest I find some ideas by looking for outfits based around shoes/jacket I already have.

I was a Goth from 15-25. I’m 50 now (somehow!). Throughout my life I’ve drifted away from Gothy styles, and ended up more glamorous. But now I’m 50, I’m finding I am drawn towards Gothy stuff again. Slightly. I don’t want to look like I sleep in a coffin these days, but I still love chunky silver jewellery, distressed jumpers, black boots, silver buckles, etc. Still love loads of eye make up.

In my 30s I thought I’d completely lost my Gothy look but I made a new friend and she said she’d spotted it straight away.

Still wear skinny jeans, converse or docs, band T-shirt's. All black. If I'm going out it's gothic/witchy style dresses and new rocks. Mostly black but with bits of purple/dark red/forest green here and there,

I wear a mixture of clothing, though I hate looking like everyone else (always have), I have some sensible clothes for when I need it, other than that I’m a bit of a hippy, I wear DM’s but also have Vans and many other shoes, I wear dungarees, combats, denim shorts and a few hippy type dresses (I hate ditsy flowers and frilly things). When I’m in a sensible mood and I want to blend in I wear skinny jeans and a simple t-shirt with a denim jacket 🤣.