103,658 Wikipedia Articles Preserved

Black metal fashion refers to the style of dress preferred by some performers and listeners of black metal music.
Clothing is generally composed of black leather jackets, black band shirts, black pants (either tight black jeans or leather pants) and combat boots. Accessories are usually occult, paganistic and anti-christian jewelry, including pentagrams, , inverted crosses, and bullet belts. There tends to be also a focus on spikes or studs on leather, often worn on the forearms, arms and (sometimes) legs.

The style is inspired on the classic heavy metal look, with added black metal symbology. Hair is usually long (e.g.: Fenriz and Nocturno Culto, from Darkthrone), but completely shaved heads have been seen, though this is rare (Naglfar, Melechesh).

Corpsepaint was very common on the second wave of Black Metal (early 90's), and was meant to simulate a corpse-like appearance and separate black metal from other types of metal. The practice is becoming increasingly uncommon but it's still used on band photos and performances. This look was inspired mostly by King Diamond of Mercyful Fate fame and Sarcofago, the pioneers of the distinct look that most later black metal bands adopted.

When posing for photos or on stage appearances, many bands (e.g.: Immortal, Gorgoroth) often use heavy medieval weaponry and armory, usually accompanied by corpsepaint. Other bands outside of the Scandinavian area have been known to pose with their ancestral weapons and armament as opposed to the neo-medieval look of the Scandinavian bands, such as Sigh's Shinichi holding a katana. Photos are usually taken in the wilderness.