Do you remember the dawn of the punk rock era in music, when vintage punk clothes were not quite vintage yet? The genre began as a reaction to the lush sounds of disco and against the commercialism of hard and classic rock and roll. Punk rock was a very stripped-down form of raucous rock. Key features of punk rock music was that it was incredibly angry, expressed feelings of alienation and basically attacked every aspect of modern society and pop culture that it could find.
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Punk rock has certainly lived up (or down?) to its name as living life on the edge of despair and anger and along with that attitude is the all-important image. A typical punk rocker in Britain during this era sported an outrageously spiked mohawk haircut, with sides shaved down to the scalp and only a strip of long, erect hair down the center. Black Doc Marten boots, also known as Docs or Doc Martens, short, cuffed blue jeans, a black t-shirt usually adorned with the name of a favored punk rock band and a studded vintage motorcycle jacket completed the look. Today these items would be considered vintage punk clothes. It wasn’t a pretty sight and likely not too many mothers were happy when their daughters brought that boy home for Sunday dinner.
Vintage punk clothing can be purchased in a variety of places. In particular vintage punk rock clothes are much sought after in order to capture the real feel of the 1970s and 1980s movement. Try shopping non-profit discount stores for your vintage punk gear such as the Salvation Army, Goodwill, and Value Village. Bargain hunting may not exactly be a punker’s pastime, but shopping vintage and cheap actually does suit the movement. Most important to keep in mind is that rather than trying to have a traditional uniform, a unique approach to punk clothing makes sense. After all, going against the midstream society and looking extremely pissed off is what punk rock is all about.
Some notorious punk rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s included The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Clash, and The Buzzcocks achieved international notoriety for their harsh, angry sound and onstage antics. Not surprisingly, many musicians in these bands met with unhappy and premature ends. The Sex Pistols, noted mostly for its outrageous and talented lead guitarist Sid Vicious disbanded after only three years and not long after Vicious committed suicide. Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone, none of whom were related and merely adopted the surname “Ramone” in order to advertise the band, all died within eight years of the band’s breakup.
Of course, imitation vintage punk clothes would be utterly disdained by this crowd, since anything that isn’t retro and embraces modern culture is still considered to be in extremely poor taste.
Another look for punk rock that is nowhere near as politically incorrect is a look that borders on goth. Girls sport black leather mini dresses, or black corsets with red plaid mini-skirts and knee-high black stockings. This look is known as Bondage Punk. It is actually quite charming and still very popular in parts of the UK.
