I would hipsters is the biggest subculture of the current day as the full world became obsessed with men with long well groomed and square glasses appearing in coffee shops everywhere. Hipsters are young vibrant youths who enjoy vintage clothing and have to have a constant I’m so cool vibe about them.

Hipsters are known for having beards and well groomed moustaches, wearing vintage clothing that shouldn’t be put together but always end up looking very good, tartan shirts and braces.

Hipsters have been a subculture that have thrived from a social media as instagraming  cool pics and latest new bar or coffee shop thats open  is one of the traits of being a hipster.

Grunge is a famous subculture that started in Seattle, America in the mid 80- 90’s, however over the recent years it has a come back within fashion and youths. It has been seen to be a cool alternative style to. have. Grunge came about from young middle class youths who wanted to rebel against their parents.

They usually wore second hand clothing and gave off a tired/ I don’t care look about them. This allowed them to prove to people they were not materialistic. Items of clothing associated with grunge is ripped jeans, baggy skirts and ripped tights, hoodies, leather jackets and boots.

Grunge music was very deep and had a lot of meaning, legends such as Kurt Cobain from Nirvana was an icon to the youths. His music was a mix of heavy metal and punk.

Goths began in the early 1980s. It  grew from the club scenes which mainly stared in The Batcave in London Leicester Square and therefor later spreading across Britain. Goths were the subculture that took the disco age in the 1970’s. blocking out any bright colures that saw a rise within that generation.

 

Goths took their inspiration from gothic literature and horror films. Their beliefs were also from non noir science fiction and pagan and cult imagery. Goths  clothing is very controversial as it stands out from the norm.

Usually they would wear Victorian or medieval period dresses, black clothing and very pale skin skin against the black clothing.

Casuals became a subculture in the late 70’s/80’s in Britain starting of in Liverpool and then spreading throughout the UK. Casual are known as the football hooligans and are notorious for starting fights at football games. They got the name casuals as they dress in European leisure wear. The big brands they usually wear are Lacoste, Fila and Fred Perry and Stone Island

The items of clothing are usually a Fred Perry polo shirt, Pringle sweatshirts, Burberry check pieces and Adidas trainers with white socks. Every team of clothing they wear is sports branded which is extremely important to the football casual culture

The casuals music icons were The Jam and The Specials.

Teddy’s boys is the first known sub culture to to arise in Britain. It started in London in the 1950’s. These were the youths of post war that didn’t have ti fight in the army therefor they created their own style that was different from the everyday working class war outfits

They also didn’t want to live a life like their parents did so they dressed and acted differently in everyday they could. teddy Boys got its inspiration from Edwardian Dandies, these were men who cared about there appearance and wanted to look smart at all times. Dandies dressed immaculately with precision. The main style of a teddy boy was drainpipe trousers, long jackets and waistcoats, bootlace ties, brothel creepers velvet collars, and swing coats. they also wore Hubble skirts, rolled up jeans and tailored jackets.  they wanted a look that was different from the norm and they got a name for themselves as their look was seen as shocking as it was so different from the normal people of society

The teddy boys had many music icons such as Elvis, Bill Haley and Eddie Cochran. Their music consisted of rock n roll, jazz and skiffle.

Punk is a subculture that began in the mid 1970s in Britain. Punk let people express themselves in a way britain had never seen before. It let people people express themselves through fashion, visual arts, dance, literature and film.

It has a strong belief for anti establishment views and thrives of the freedom of being able to express yourself in any way you feel.  It’s mainly centred around the loud and aggressive genre of music which is Punk Rock. Punk fashion is also very loud and aggressive causing a shocked reaction from passers by usually.

They will wear deliberately offensive t-shirts in hope to make a statement. They also wear leather studded jackets, Dr. Martens boots and scruffy tartan trousers or jeans. Punks take the extreme of their hair to high levels with them usually have massive spiked mohawks and brightly coloured hair. Women and men typically dress the same. The sex pistols and The Clash were massive within the Punk Rock music scene. Vivienne Westwood is also very famous for her punk fashion.

 

 

 

After watching the british movie This is england and the then the tv show following on from the movie, I have always loved the style of skinheads however they as a political group have very controversial views. Skinheads are a working class group that evolved from the Mods in 1967. They stared out in London and then spread across britain.  Skin heads lived in poor neighborhoods with many caribbean immigrants  which exposed them to the fashion and sounds of soul and reggie.

The skin head culture faded in the early 1970s however it came back to life in response to the rise of punk in the late 70’s and it also saw the start of skinheads  becoming  members of far right and racist political groups. Skin heads started attacking immigrants and gay people on the streets. Then then  became  associated with nazi groups as many had the swastikas symbol tattooed on them and they were seen to be Nazi salutes.

By the mid-1980s, the Skinheads had become synonymous with neo-Nazism, fascism and xenophobia.  Skinheads style was acid washed levi jeans with doc marten boots or loafers, v-neck jumpers, polo necks and harrington jackets.

Men and women would dress the same and would usually have a shaved head.

This is why they have the name of Skin heads. Their music icons were The Specials and Madness.

 

http://www.sickchirpse.com/skinhead-culture-1979-1984/

 

I have always loved the laid back, free spirited nature of hippies and what they believe in. To me it’s truly inspiring. Hippies oppose all conflict and war as they just want the world to be a peaceful place and for everyone to have the same equal rights. They didn’t agree with modern rules of the western life. They lived a life based on meditation, love and happiness

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They were inspired by eastern philosophy. Eastern philosophy is : “Eastern Philosophy is a diverse body of approaches to life and philosophizing, particularly centered on understanding the process of the Universe and the endless “becoming”. They enjoyed using drugs to give them an alternative state of consciousness. Their favourite drugs being LSD, cannabis and natural hallucinogenic drugs such as mushrooms.  Hippies began to become a popular subculture in the mid 1960s, their fashion sense was based on blurred genders with male and females dressing the same in tie dye print clothing, bell bottom trousers, peasant blouses and long skirts.

 

Hippies lived together in communal places travelling all over the world preaching about world peace. John Lennon and his partner Yoko Ono were strong icons for the hippies as they believed in what they had to say and also made the world know that they too thought the same.   Hippies listened to a lot of psychedelic rock and folk. They also loved Jimi Hendrix. Hippies in my opinion lived an amazing life where they would be happy and love everyone around them  and enjoyed music festivals such as glastonbury and woodstock.

Following on from my previous blog post its only right that my new post be about the subculture of Rockers as they were enemies of the Mods. Mods and rockers were two very big subculture groups in britain therefore they clashed in society.  Due to their hatred towards each other, other  people not involved with the groups saw them both as very violent, unruly and trouble makers amongst youths.

 

Rockers started in the 1950s and their main outlook on life was to rebel against society. Rockers main influence within fashion was the look of wearing worn out leather jackets, jeans, black boots,white t shirts, studs, patches and brothel creepers.

 

Their love for rock n roll music came from artists such as Gene Vincent, chuck berry and Eddie Cochran. The name rockers didn’t just come from their love for rock n roll but it also came from their love of motorcycles. It was influenced from the rockers found in the 4 stroke engine on the motorcycles they would ride, which was different from the 2 stroke engine on the scooters that mods used.

A film that is based on the rocker sub culture life is The Leather boys.

I have always had an interest in how fashion has changed and developed over the years to how people live their lives, such as the music they listen to, the types of places they hang out and even the type of vehicles they use to get around.  Sub Cultures has a massive part to play in the rise of fashion. Therefor i’m going to start my blog off with my personal favourite the Mods.  Mods have been a key influencer in fashion since 1958, they didn’t have a lot of money to spend however when they did they spent it in jazz clubs or buying a new slim fitting Italian suit. Mods wanted to dress and look smart and live a life different from the way their parents did. They represented a change britain from post war. Mods were very serious about their music as it influenced they way they acted and how they dressed. The Who were a very popular band amongst the mods, they were an english rock band band formed in 1964 and wrote many songs about british culture such as, Substitute and my personal favourite, My generation. The whos band logo which is a circle with the outer colour being blue the white then red. This later became the iconic symbol for mods around the world. Mods use of transport was an italian scooter in which they would cover in stickers and have multiple mirrors and lights on them

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Picture from the movie quadrophenia which is based on young adults growing up with the mod culture.

As mods dressed very smart a suit was not practical wear for when driving so they began wearing the green parkour. The green parkour is still and i think will always be associated with mod fashion. Twiggy was a fashion icon from the 60’s who was known particularly for her mod fashion look.

https://www.gq.com/story/modern-mods