Punk Rock “How To Look Punk” – US Punk

Punk Rock – How To Look Punk! by Mary Elizabeth Norton, also known as “Marliz,” is a strange affair as little is known about the reasons behind this US fanzine like guide to Punk fashion that came out in late 1977 or who it was marketed to. That said as we’ve discovered with punk books from the time, nearly all were authored by people outside the scene like Julie Davis and Virginia Boston who’d got interested in punk enough to pitch an idea for a book.

By mid 1977 there were healthy local scenes developing in centres across America and LA was one of them with Punk there taking more influence from the UK (fashion and sound) than the earlier New York scene of Patti Smith etc.

Stating her punk name as Marliznt and not holding back on bigging herself up by describing herself as “… internationally known for her marketing ability in current trend perception and “how to” help it explode on the scene. She wisely brought in the now legendary photographer Jenny Lens who captured a lot of the early LA punk scene on film. The magazine uses for its examples her shots of The Weirdos, Alice Bag, Darby Crash and Belinda Carlisle (yes THAT Belinda Carlisle!) from The Germs and Helen Killer (Keller) who would be captured in the legendary shot by Ruby Ray by the side of a drugs and drink comatose Sid Vicious backstage post a Germs gig in San Francisco.

There’s also a band I’d not heard of called Shock who were on the scene who had blonde feather cuts and were punk dresssed from the neck down. And even more bizarrely a whole page on an all-girl punk funk group called LA Knockers who were in fact a dance troupe. Their appearance in the magazine seems totally random.

L.A. Knockers, created by Jennifer Stace in 1974. Described as “Los Angeles’ hottest, flashiest, all-female dance experience.” Jennifer believes that disco dancing is a direct reflection of the ever-changing fashions of today’s styles and attitudes. In her choreography, she introduces a variety of disco styles which include: partnering, poses, freezes, punking, locking, gymnastics, robot or mime, S&M theatrical satire, and high camp attitudes. Her choreography uses ballet and jazz as a necessary technique in the development of disco as an art-form.

As to the book, you can’t argue with the tips, but the commentary is as you’d expect from people outside of punk and sometimes a little off the mark – “Everything goes if you want to look wild, Star Wars is as good a guide as any”. Errr really?! Mind you compare it to the UK’s 1976 guide in the Sunday Mirror by Eve Pollard and I think the US win hands down.

Here’s the blurb from Amazon on Marliz.

Mary Elizabeth Norton, also known as “Marliz,” was an award-winning fashion and cosmetics expert who specialized in trend forecasting. She worked with many famous names including Max Factor, Charles Revson, Vidal Sassoon, and Halston before spending the last 20 years of her life as a professor with FIDM and other prestigious schools.

In 1977, when the punk rock scene broke in Los Angeles, Marliz interviewed early pioneers of the music (The Germs, Shock, Alice Bag, Belinda Carlyle and others) and combined their input on the punk scene with her fashion expertise. The result is How To Look Punk, a cutting-edge snapshot of the fashion of punk rock at its very conception. With many ideas on how to take ordinary items and go punk, the booklet also covers make-up, hairstyles, and accessories. With vivid photos of the punk rockers that were setting the trend, this 16-page magazine style booklet is a must-have for anyone interested in punk rock fashion.