FASHION AND SUBCULTURAL GROUPS

Significance of Fashion to Sub cultural Groups

Significance of Fashion to Sub cultural Groups

Sociological study of fashion is most frequently presented within a larger, interdisciplinary framework that integrates the cultural aspects with regards to fashion. This viewpoint recognizes the complex individual and social contextual components of the relationship of people and clothing, and acknowledges the difficulty in teasing out any one aspect. This paper focuses on the subculture in the fashion industry more importantly with regards to the two fashion styles, punk and mod. In the historical times, the fashion industry with regards to fashion styles differed from what it is today. This is mainly because of social change that a change has been witnessed in fashion because of which the patterns of fashion styles have also been influenced (Asbury 2009, pp.10).

Two main subcultures that have existed in the fashion industry of the United Kingdom are punk and mod. Emergence of the punk subculture took place in the mid 1970's in the United Kingdom and since then, the culture has maintained a significant position. Punk had a lot of influences in the initial times and it was known as the most famous culture that has existed in the West since World War II. Punk fashion was mainly inspired from modern art, and various writers and literary movements play a major role in developing its aesthetics. By 1977, punk which was known as a subculture of fashion began to diversify in form of 2 Tone, New Wave, No Wave and Oi!. In the 1980's, there was a movement in Britain that was known as street punk (Breward 2003, pp.10).

Individuals who come under the punk fashion subculture are the ones who use highly dramatic clothing, tattoos, jewelry and have very dramatic hairstyles. In the initial times, the people in the UK who adopted the punk subculture in fashion were the ones who used to wear clothes that were ripped or clothes which were held together by the assistance of safety pins. Moreover, the normal clothing which was in fashion was colored with paints and markers. A blackbin liner was considered as a dress, skirts and safety pins were used and blades were also used by the people as jewelry. Leather, rubber and vinyl clothing were also popular among the people in the United Kingdom. The punks also wear drainpipe jeans decorated with brand logos, metal studs and buttons. The footwear that the people used as fashion included Converse sneakers, brothel creepers as well as shoes used for skating. Initially, the people also used to wear clothes that displayed Nazi swastika and most of the people who followed punk as fashion were anti-racist. Their hair were cut into Mohawks and different other dramatic styles. Moreover, their hair were mostly in spikes and was dyed in vibrant colours such as pink, purple and green (Bolino 2003, pp.50).

However, there were also some punks who were anti-fashion and they were the ones who argued that punk should be defined with means of ...