Goth is a subculture that first emerged in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s and spread around the world. It is a music based subculture, which I will discuss more specifically later in essentials. Simply said, a Goth is someone who sees beauty in things that are considered to be gloomy by others. Most goths like strange, gore or horror media but that is not necessary! People inside the subculture may be perceived as depressive, scary or unfriendly but it's a complete myth, we goths love a good laugh (especially if it's a dark humor ;)). Many people enjoy Gothic stuff without even realizing that they are gothic. If you feel drawn towards different, like the aesthetics and enjoy darker sounds, this subculture might be for you!
As I said earlier goth is music based subculture, which means enjoying this kind of music is necessary. What exactly goths are listening to? Well, It was developed by fans of Gothic rock, an offshoot of the post-punk music genre. The music preferred by goths includes a number of styles such as gothic rock, death rock, cold wave, dark wave, and ethereal wave. You can easily find fit for yourself since there is much diversion here.
Post punk emerged, as you can tell, from punk scene so another important thing to remember is that this subculture has certain beliefs required. Goths are open minded - any minorities, identities and sexualities or religions are welcome here, so if you discriminate or shame people for whatever reason, you are probably not.
First of all, a common misconception is that you have to dress goth to be one, which is not true. If you enjoy music that is basically all you need, not everyone can dress like that all the time since there are dress codes in certain places.
Being a punk emerged subculture, gothic fashion has certain elements from punk fashion. It is mostly based on DIY's and thrifting so it is not expensive.