Beyond jewellery and harnesses, the accessories that finish a goth outfit are a belt, legwear, gloves and something in the hair. A goth belt is either a narrow strap carrying chains or rivets or a wide corset belt that pulls in the waist. Legwear means fishnet or patterned tights, over-the-knee socks, knee highs and leg warmers. Gloves come in fishnet, lace or knit, and hair pieces are pins, clips and headbands with bats, skulls or spikes on them.
Most of these are sold as one size, and on a belt or a pair of tights one size still has a number attached. A lace-up belt listed for a 60 to 85 cm waist and tights listed for heights of 155 to 175 cm are stating their size, even where there is no size to pick. Find that figure before you fall for the motif.
Key Takeaways
- Slim goth belts, between 2.5 and 3.3 cm across on the ones in this guide, carry chains, rings or rivets at the hips or through loops. Broad and corset belts sit over a dress or top.
- Every belt here is one size, so the listed length or range is the number to measure against: 105 cm on the Heartbreaker strap, 65 cm on the Gothic Heart Corset Belt.
- None of our legwear listings gives a denier. Where the tights in this guide print a range, it is a height or a length, and on one pair a weight of 45 to 70 kg.
- We sell no opera-length gloves, and the two glove-and-top sets in this guide are sized S, M and L with no hand measurement given.
- The hair pieces here are pins, clips, headbands, a scrunchie and a bundle of metal pins. There is no veil, comb or hair bow in our range.
Goth belts: narrow chain belts and wide corset belts
Width decides where a goth belt goes. A narrow belt runs through the loops of trousers or a skirt, or hangs low on the hips, and its hardware is the reason to wear it: chains, rings, rivets and buckles against black faux leather. A wide belt goes over a dress, a blouse or a long knit at the natural waist, where it pulls the fabric in and gives a loose garment a shape.
Narrow belts with chains and rivets
These run from 2.5 to 3.3 cm wide, all in PU. The PU Faux Leather Belt Chain is 3 cm wide and 100 cm long, with a chain detail and a buckle 4 cm wide and 3.5 cm long. Rivets and a buckle 4 cm each way mark out the Rivet Buckle Belt, 3.3 cm wide and listed as unisex, while the narrowest, at 2.5 cm wide and 105 cm long, is the Heartbreaker Faux Leather Belt in PU with metal.
Length is the number to read on these. The Chain Ring Faux Belt, 3 cm wide with a chain and what its listing calls a hidden button, gives a size of 69 to 77 cm, well under the lengths listed above. Measure round the place the belt will sit and compare. A belt slung at the hips usually needs more length than the same belt at the waist.
Wide and corset belts at the waist
At 12 cm wide, the Faux Leather Metal Ring Belt is faux leather with metal ring accents, listed as one size fits all with no length given.
A corset belt takes that further. The listing for the Lace-Up PU Corset Belt describes it as bringing "the shape of a corset top to the waist", in polyester and synthetic leather, one size and 70 cm from end to end. The Gothic Heart Corset Belt is PU with metal hearts, 65 cm long and 17.5 cm high. A laced front with some give comes on the Black Lace-Up Belt Supremacy, synthetic leather on an elastic waist listed at 60 to 85 cm.
None of the belts here comes in more than one size, so measure your waist before ordering and compare it with the number on the listing. The narrow straps above are the longest with a length given, at 100 and 105 cm. For shaping that comes from a whole garment rather than a band, see our corsets.
Straps that run over the shoulders, round the ribs or down the thigh are harnesses rather than belts, and how to wear a body harness deals with those.
Goth tights, stockings and over-the-knee socks
Punk in the 1970s and 1980s often wore its fishnets shredded, and fishnet is still commonly worn on goth and punk legs. Patterned tights, over-the-knee socks, knee highs and leg warmers carry an outfit past the hem in other ways. Plain opaque black tights are the base layer, and our goth style for beginners guide lists them among the first things to buy.
Fishnet tights
The Gothic Fishnet Tights are black mesh fishnet in nylon, and their listing suggests wearing them with boots. For more than a plain net, the Plaid Fishnet Tights carry a plaid pattern in polyester, and Skully's Net Skull Tights are net tights with a skull motif, also polyester. Both list an item length of 155 to 170 cm.
Fishnet does little against the cold, and one of our listings is made for exactly that problem. The Cozy Beige Thermal Tights are one-size thermal tights meant to be "layered beneath fishnet tights during cold months", with a medium or a thick plush to choose from.
Patterned tights
Floral lace tights belonged to the romantic side of 1980s trad goth, worn with frilled black blouses, tea-length skirts and Dr. Martens, a look later given the name ethergoth. Our Dark Floral Gothic Tights are a black floral pattern in nylon and acrylic.
Motifs and stripes are the other route. The Skull Tights are nylon and spandex in a standard thickness, and the Mesh Cross Tights put a cross motif on polyester and spandex mesh. The Diagonal Pinstripe Tights are cotton and one size. No tights of ours carry a spider web.
Over-the-knee socks, knee highs and leg warmers
A sock's length is measured on the sock, so where it stops depends on the leg inside it. The Night Goth Over Knee Socks are 62 cm long in polyester and spandex, with a bow detail, in black or white. Bats are the motif on the Black and White Bat Socks, a cotton blend at 68 cm with a listed width of 11 cm, and white stripes on the Stripe Goth Knee Socks, cotton and nylon at about 52 cm and listed as over the knee.
The Noir Fishnet Knee Highs are shorter, polyester fishnet at 39 cm. Several of our knee highs are listed as stockings, so it is worth searching the shop under both words.
Leg warmers cover the lower leg only. The Striped Leg Warmers: Grey & Black are acrylic and 40 cm long, and the red and black Tie Dye Leg Warmers run to 45 cm in cotton and polyester, with a maximum stretch width of 44 cm to compare with your calf.
Reading a one-size listing
Each pair of tights here comes in a single size, and not one of our tights, stockings or socks listings states a denier. Where they give a figure, it is a height, a weight or a length. The Knit Sheer Stocking Tights, made to look like stockings in colder weather, list a fitting range of 150 to 173 cm in height. The Skull Tights list 155 to 175 cm and 45 to 70 kg.
For thickness, go by the listing's own words: the Warm Winter Gothic Tights are thick thermal polyester with a fleece lining. How opaque tights should be under a mini or a midi is set out in our guide to goth skirt lengths.
None of the tights here is sold in extended sizes. If a height or weight range leaves you out, the Black Goth Winter Leggings are sold in S to 4XL: black faux leather with a thermal inner layer, cut to the ankle.
Gothic gloves beyond lace
Gloves were on Ted Polhemus's list when he described goth dress in his 1994 book Street Style, beside "tightly laced corsets" and silver jewellery, in a look of "black velvets, lace, fishnets and leather". Our long lace, short lace and cross-motif pairs are set out in our guide to gothic arm warmers and arm sleeves, along with what each material does and the one-size problem they share.
Fishnet reaches the hands in the Fingerless Fishnet Gloves, black acrylic and listed as unisex. The Buckle Mitten Gloves Duo take a mitten glove form with buckle detailing, in polyester, and the Dyed Gloves come in black and red, cotton and polyester.
Some of our tops come with gloves. The Mesh Crop Top + Gloves is a sheer mesh crop top with matching gloves in polyester and spandex, and the Skull Goth Set with Gloves pairs a top with gloves in the same fibres. Both come in S, M and L. Their listings give bust, length and sleeve measurements (the skull set adds waist) and nothing for the hand, so size by the top. None of our gloves is sold as opera length.
Goth hair accessories: pins, clips and headbands
Bats, a skeletal hand, a sword, spikes and horns: most of our hair pieces carry a motif, and the range is small.
Hair pins and clips
The Nocturnal Bat Hair Pin is a bat in lightweight plastic on a sturdy metal clip, in black or red, and its listing suggests it for updos or hair pinned back. Bats also come as an alloy pair, the black bat hairpins, one for each side or both together. The Skeleton Claw Hair Pin is alloy shaped like a skeletal hand, and listed as suitable for thick hair.
The Hairpin Sword Pendant is a metal sword with an antique finish, pitched in its listing as necklace drama for the hair. If the metal in your hair should agree with the metal at your throat, goth jewellery brands compared goes through the materials. The Silver Gothic Hair Clips are an acrylic pair listed at about 5.5 by 2.35 cm.
Headbands
Silver grommets run all over the Riveted Headband, a one-size band of black stretch fabric, and the Silver Spike Hairband carries spike accents. A horned skull sits on the plastic Horned Skull Headband, while the Winged Lace Headband spreads polyester lace into wings, in black, red, grey or pink.
The Black Hair Scrunchie PU, in synthetic leather, and the Hairpin Bundle of stainless steel pins keep hair up rather than decorate it. We do not sell veils, hair combs, fascinators or hair bows.
Frequently asked questions
What accessories do goths wear?
Jewellery and body harnesses are the obvious ones. Past those, goths wear belts hung with chain or rivets, net and printed tights, socks that climb above the knee, gloves in net, lace or knit, and headbands or hair pins decorated with bats, skulls and spikes.
What kind of belt suits a goth outfit?
Match the belt to the clothes. Trousers and skirts with loops take a slim strap of about 3 cm with hardware on it. A dress or a loose top takes a broad band or a laced corset belt at the natural waist. Either way, check the printed length against a tape measure first.
Are fishnet tights goth?
Yes, and punk claims them too: in the 1970s and 1980s punks often wore theirs torn to shreds. Plain black net, plaid net and net with a skull motif all belong in a goth wardrobe. In winter, pull a pair on over thermal tights.
Do goth tights come in plus sizes?
The pairs in this guide do not. Every one is a single size, and where a range is printed it is a height, a length or, on one pair, a weight. For legs that need a bigger size and some warmth, our faux leather winter leggings go up to 4XL.
What are goth hair accessories?
Pins, clips, headbands and scrunchies carrying the motifs of the wider wardrobe: bats, skulls, spikes, horns. Ours include a bat pin, a claw pin shaped like a skeleton's hand, a grommet-studded headband and a horned skull headband. Veils, combs and bows are not something we stock.
What is a corset belt?
A broad band that laces or fastens round the waist to give the outline of a corset top without wearing a whole corset. Our Lace-Up PU Corset Belt measures 70 cm end to end and the Gothic Heart Corset Belt 65 cm, so put a tape round your waist and compare before choosing.
