Punk Fashion – Introduction

Punk Fashion – an introduction

Style in revolt: Revolting style Nothing was holy to us. Our movement was neither mystical, communistic nor anarchistic. All of these movements had some sort of programme, but ours was completely nihilistic. We spat on everything, including our-selves. Our symbol was nothingness, a vacuum, a void. (George Grosz on Dada)

 We’re so pretty, oh so pretty … vac-unt. (The Sex Pistols)

As we’ve said before, punk fashion didn’t just arrive overnight. It went through a period of development, innovation and borrowing from a number of sources over years and stayed underground till the second half of 1976. This included political theory, art school, disco and gay clubs, amphetamine as the drug of choice, fetish wear and various bands.

Key drivers of this UK side were McLaren & Westwood with SEX & Seditionaries, the Sex Pistols, Ramones & Clash and key punk faces like Jordan, Siouxsie & the Bromley Contingent and pre-Pistols Sid Vicious to name a few. But at the same DIY anti-fashion and anti punk couture exploded as the lead picture shows. The styles were provocative and confrontational; t-shirts and shirts with swastikas and slogans, rubberwear, bondage trousers, armbands, shoes and boots.

That style became progressively more abrasive and confrontational and grew to include hair, attitude, makeup and jewellery.

If the fashion hadn’t been allied to a similar type of music its highly likely it would have just died out naturally. Instead it fed and nourished each other and continues to this day with elements subsumed into common mass culture.

Like all movements, the clothes started to become more mass-produced and the look more uniform. McLaren and Westwood’s creations started to resemble haute couture with matching prices and were derided by later punks. Punk became tougher and more street as the streets became tougher. The fashions hardened and simplified to a more utilitarian look of jeans, mini-skirts, boots, t-shirts and leather jackets.

Innovation became how many studs, badges or bands you could paint or get on a leather jacket, how high or how much you could spike/colour your hair.

Right Photo Credit Janette Beckman – Kings Road Punks 1979

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