The 3 ideas run from a single lavender T-shirt to a salon visit for bleached hair, so the choice comes down to how much of the look you want to carry on your body versus your head.
A closet that already runs black needs only one addition: a lavender button-up worn over a black long-sleeved tee.
If you’d rather keep your clothes dark, hair streaks or an ombre fade do the pastel work, and dark hair needs bleaching before the color shows.
Skull-charm chains sit in the middle and work on a cotton tee in any color.
1. Lavender Shirt with Black Cargo Pants
Lavender only needs one job here: it is the single soft color, and everything around it stays black. A basic lavender T-shirt layered over a black long-sleeved undershirt keeps the pastel from looking sweet.
Black cargo pants and black boots finish it, and they mix with nearly anything else in my closet. I like silver chains on top, because the metal ties the pale shirt to the dark pieces.
Skip a second pastel; one is enough.
2. Chunky Chains and Chokers with Skulls
A silver necklace with small skull charms joined by bone-shaped links is the easiest way into pastel goth that I know. It works on a simple cotton tee in any color, so the outfit planning is already done.
Wear it against a pastel top, since the silver reads sharper there than on black. Keep it to one statement piece at a time; a second chain is fine, but a third turns costume.
Price varies widely, and heavier chains cost more.
3. Pastel Streaks and Ombre Dyes
Hair does the pastel work when your clothes stay dark. Pink streaks or an ombre fade through dark hair, paired with eyeliner and a distressed hoodie, give the look its soft-meets-rough contrast.
Streaks suit most men better than a full dye, because the dark base keeps it from reading as too sweet.
Bleaching is needed before pastel color will show on dark hair, and it takes a salon visit or real patience at home.
A pearl necklace is a small add-on if you want one.
