A goth choker is a band, strap or chain worn close around the neck, and there are seven kinds worth telling apart: velvet ribbon, lace, leather strap, O-ring, spiked, cross or pendant, and chain. Choose by what it is made of and what hangs from it, then check two things before you buy: your neckline, and your neck measurement against the listing.
Most choker guides are written by fine jewellers, for gold chains and pearls. Ours come with buckles, rings, studs and spikes, so fit and neckline matter more. Below, each kind gets its neckline and the pieces we sell today, starting with our goth chokers, harnesses and garters collection. Every price was read from our store on 1 October 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Velvet and lace chokers need bare skin beneath them. A strap with rings, studs or hearts sits just as well over a plain crew neck.
- A pendant or a drape of chain needs open skin to hang in: a V, a scoop or a square neckline.
- Chokers are usually sold at 14 to 16 inches, about 36 to 41 cm. Take your own neck measurement before you trust the words "one size".
- A single figure on a listing is the length of the piece, not the neck it fits. How it fastens tells you the rest.
Types of goth choker, and what each one suits
Each kind sits differently on the neck, and that decides the neckline.
Velvet ribbon chokers
A velvet ribbon is the softest kind and the one that reads most Victorian: a narrow, flat band with almost no hardware, the Carmilla end of the wardrobe. It suits an open neckline, such as a square, a sweetheart, an off-shoulder top or a slip dress, where there is skin between the band and the fabric.
Our Black Velvet Choker 'Moondance' hangs a silver-coloured crescent, horns down, from a black velvet band, and closes with a clasp and an extension chain. It is $19.99.
Lace and ruffled chokers
Lace is wider and softer at the edge, closer to a frill than a line. Give it room: a strapless or off-shoulder top, or a low scoop. Against a shirt collar or a high neck, the two edges compete.
The Ruffled Cross Choker layers black lace ruffles, hangs a glossy black cross below them and fastens on an extension chain, $27.99. The Lace Rose Choker is slimmer, a black band with a sheer frilled edge and a silver-coloured rose, $19.99.
Leather and faux leather straps
The strap is the default goth choker: a flat black band with something at its centre. Because it is firm and plain, it works over fabric as well as on skin, which the softer kinds do not.
The "MY" Heart Leather Choker sets a heart-shaped ring in the middle of a black strap and fastens with press studs, $19.99. The Noir Heart Necklace hangs three hearts and swags of chain from its strap, also $19.99, and our own photograph shows it over a black crew-neck T-shirt.
Check the material line before you buy. The Noir Heart Necklace is listed as PU, which is faux leather. The "MY" Heart listing says only leather, and does not say which kind.
O-ring chokers
An O-ring choker is a strap with a metal ring at the front. One small ring is the plainest choker there is, and it goes with any neckline, a shirt collar included.
Our black faux leather O-ring choker is exactly that: a single ring on a slim strap with press studs, $19.99. The Midnight Steam Choker is the loud version, three large rings joined by draped chain on a studded, buckled strap, $19.99. Its chains need bare skin or a plain dark top behind them to show.
Spiked chokers
Spikes belong to trad goth and punk, and they are the one kind with practical limits. They can catch on knitwear, scarves and long hair, and they need clearance from a coat collar, so wear them with a bare neck or a flat neckline.
The Noir Spike Choker mixes cone spikes and curved claw spikes on a buckled strap, with a ring and a small padlock charm at the front. It is $30.44.
Cross and pendant chokers
A pendant turns a choker into a focal point, and it has to hang in open skin. If the edge of your neckline cuts across the pendant, one of them has to go. A V-neck or a scoop frames it best.
The Inverted Cross Choker drops an inverted cross and two swags of chain from a studded, buckled strap, $28.99. In our photographs it sits inside a deep scoop neck. For a cross on a longer chain to layer beneath a plain choker, see our gothic cross necklaces.
Chain chokers
A chain choker has no band at all, so it reads as jewellery first. It sits lower, on the collarbone, and it is the easiest kind to layer or to wear inside an open shirt collar.
The Silver Choker with Iron Wire is a chain of barbed-wire links on a clasp and an extension chain, $19.99. One of our photographs shows it layered beneath a black lace choker.
Check the length before buying a chain by its name. Our Ecstatic Padlock Choker Chain Necklace, $19.99, is titled a choker, but on the model it hangs below the collarbone like a necklace.
Day collars, worn as fashion
A day collar is the quietest piece in the family: a slim band or fine chain, often with one small ring, discreet enough to pass as everyday jewellery. Worn as fashion, it is a choker that suits an office.
We sell nothing named a day collar. The closest shapes we carry are the single O-ring choker above and the Silver Beads Choker, a ball chain with a horseshoe ring at the front, $19.99.
How do you measure your neck for a choker?
Wrap a soft tape measure around your neck at the height the choker will sit, snug but not tight, and read the number. With no tape to hand, use a ribbon or a strip of paper, mark where it meets and lay it against a ruler.
Chokers are usually sold at 14 to 16 inches, which is about 36 to 41 cm. For a piece with a fixed length, necklace sizing guides suggest adding 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) to your neck measurement.
What do the numbers on a listing mean?
Listings state size in four different ways, and ours use all four.
- A range, such as the 60 to 90 cm given for the belt of our "MY" Choker Body Harness. The piece fits anything between the two figures.
- A length plus an extension, such as the 55 cm + 7 cm printed on the padlock chain's photographs. It fastens anywhere from 55 to 62 cm, which is necklace length.
- A single figure: The "MY" Heart Leather Choker is listed at 40 cm, the O-ring choker at 32 cm and the Midnight Steam Choker at 60 cm. One figure is a length of the piece, and it does not say which stud or buckle hole it was measured to. Sixty centimetres is far more than a choker is worn at, so that one reads as the whole strap, tip to tip.
- "One size (adjustable)" with no figure, as on the Noir Spike Choker and the Noir Heart Necklace. It tells you the piece adjusts, not how far.
Then look at the fastening in the photographs. An extension chain adjusts link by link, a buckle hole by hole, and press studs only at the few points where the studs sit.
Apart from the padlock chain, no piece named here states the largest neck it fits. If your measurement is above 41 cm, ask us for the longest setting before you order. Clasps, and how snug a choker should feel, are covered in our guide to gothic rings, necklaces and earrings, along with a choker of ours whose listing gives a full range.
Which goth chokers do we sell right now?
As of 1 October 2026, our Goth Chokers, Harnesses & Garters collection holds four chokers and one choker harness, alongside garters and body harnesses:
- "MY" Heart Leather Choker, $19.99
- Midnight Steam Choker, $19.99
- Noir Heart Necklace, $19.99
- Noir Spike Choker, $30.44
- "MY" Choker Body Harness, $30.44
The last of those joins a choker to chains across the chest and a belt at the waist, and our guide on how to wear a leather or body harness takes over from there.
The other eight chokers in this guide are sold from their own pages: six at $19.99, the Ruffled Cross Choker at $27.99 and the Inverted Cross Choker at $28.99. Every piece here comes in a single size. For the rest of the outfit, our goth accessories guide covers belts, tights and gloves.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a choker and a collar?
A choker is any necklace short enough to sit on the neck itself. In alternative fashion a collar is a choker built like a strap: wider, firmer, and closed with a buckle or press studs where a necklace would have a clasp. The words overlap, and our own Noir Heart Necklace is called both in the same listing, so go by the photographs and the measurements.
Will a goth choker fit a larger neck?
Often, and the fastening decides it. The usual choker runs 36 to 41 cm long. If your neck measures more than that, choose a buckle or an extension chain over press studs, and ask the seller how long the piece is at its loosest.
What is a day collar?
It is a discreet collar made to be worn all day: a narrow band or chain that passes for ordinary jewellery, sometimes with one ring at the front. The name comes from the kink community, where a collar can carry a private meaning between two people. As a fashion piece it is simply a minimal choker.
