Punk Movement...

• Punk was an expression of youthful rebellion and anti-authoritarian mentality. The term punk was first used by American critics in the early ’70s to describe the new bands that had arrived on the scene.

• British youth were angry, unruly and unemployed, which provided a clash between people having very strong opinions and too much time to spare. During this period, following a short time managing the New York Dolls, Malcolm McLaren returned to London in May 1975. Together with his designer girlfriend, Vivienne Westwood, McLaren opened SEX, the clothes shop that was instrumental to the beginnings of punk fashion as we know it today. 

• By the mid ’70s, bands such as The Ramones, The Sex Pistols and The Clash were viewed and recognised as the forefront of a new musical movement. Soon, punk spread around the world and not just in music, but also within fashion, visual art, literature, dance and film.

• The original message of punk was dissident, counter-cultural, disobedient and politically outspoken, but this was lost over the years. The subculture of punk now focuses more on the music rather than the attitude. The importance of punk “can be judged by the echoes heard in music ever since, as well as the legend and clichés that have grown up around it,” according to Ian Youngs, BBC News Online arts reporter.

Fashion

• When punk was established in the mid ’70s, Britain’s youth became daring and rebellious and started to wear outrageous clothing that had never been seen before. Clothes that had previously always aimed to look clean and presentable were being torn up, frayed and printed to attract attention. Most punks wore tight drainpipe jeans, tartan trousers, kilts and leather jackets which were often decorated with painted band logos, pins, buttons and metal studs or spikes. Some early punks sometimes wore clothes displaying a Nazi swastika for shock-value, but more contemporary and anti-racist punks wore a crossed-out swastika symbol.

• Hair also played a large part in the punk aesthetic. The most popular and obvious that comes to mind the spiked Mohican hairstyle using a variety of things including sugar and water solutions, soaping, gelatin, PVA glue, hairsprays and hair gel. It was also all about having big hair that was brightly coloured with food dyes, as well as over-bleaching the hair to attract great attention.

• Another alternative and daring look was to shave areas of the scalp, which both men and women did to make themselves look intimidating. Hair was also sometimes dyed jet black or bleached white blonde and dark vampire style make-up was worn to attract more attention to the face.

• Many of these styles have seen a return to today’s society. It is now extremely fashionable to have daring rainbow style hairstyles, pink, green, blue, jet black or heavily bleached.

• Shaving areas of the scalp has also become very popular again amongst young people and celebrities. Punk fashion has seemingly made a massive comeback lately and has influenced many, but this style never faded and probably never will. We still see groups of young and fashion creative people dressed in striking ensembles, wearing iconic British military-inspired Dr. Martens boots or platform creepers.