Gothic dreadlocks

Goth women and their fashion sense have fascinated me for several years. Lately I’ve been looking at pictures of the 'dreadlocks' worn by some Goth women, which if I understand correctly are often made of standard knitting yarn or similar fibers. Personally I think this looks rather cool, albeit a bit strange, in a uniquely different way.

Now at the risk of sounding like a smart ass, which I’m really not trying to be (at least not this time), I’ll just throw this out. Probably others have already expanded on the basic design, but my thought is why stop with yarn. Why not add some other things into the braids such as beads, wire, feathers, bells, charms, etc.

I'm also a bit curious as to the correlation of this styles direction and the development of headdresses in various earlier tribal cultures. If you have any ideas or observations feel free to post your viewpoint.