Punk Rock Clothing

Nowadays punk rock fashion is extremely commonplace, seeping even into parts of haute couture. Nevertheless, when the punk movement initially exploded in the mid-'70s, the styles that came with it were truly shocking for contemporaries of the period. Punk rock clothing was in great part about self-expression, but also quite a bit about shaking up the norm.

A Style Built on Creativity

Punk rock music was most appealing to a part of the youth that felt disaffected, either due to unemployment or other social issues of the time. Although the musical aspects of the punk movement began in the United States, punk rock clothing truly came from England. The Sex Pistols were one of the first bands to truly showcase what is now commonly recognized as the "punk style" of spiky hair, ripped clothes and Doc Martens.

In many ways, punk style could be described as a lack of style. Having little money, followers of the punk movement would usually buy their clothes from thrift stores, modifying them by cutting them up, tearing them and layering them in random ways. The idea was to create something that was different from what everyone else was wearing. As common as a pair of ripped jeans may be today, punks were truly creating a revolution within the world of style.

Although the origins of punk fashion lie in the creativity of its initial followers, by the mid-'70s a London store named "Sex" began catering to the burgeoning style. Later renamed "Seditionaries," it was renowned as the store where The Sex Pistols purchased their clothing and led to much of punk rock clothing's influence over style in the following decades. In fact, today punk rock clothing is no longer limited to those who follow the music and has become a part of mainstream culture, losing much of its shock value but little of its originality.