Punk style never died. Of course, some may not yet wear condom earrings or hypodermic needle necklaces, like the streets of London in 1977, but the rebellious spirit of fashion trends has completely disappeared. there is no. T-shirts, leather jackets and bondage pants have become a staple of alternative styles since Sex Pistols managers Malcolm Clarence and Vivienne West wood began creating (and sharing) styles at London-based sex boutiques. increase.
“Just looking at how a leather jacket intersects from one subculture to another, both in functional use and fashion, is one of the biggest influences on clothing and music. I think, “says Josh McConnell, Founder and Creative Director of Straight. Hell, clothes. A line inspired by movement. “One of the best ways to combine clothes and music is to use a black leather jacket.”
Since then, partly because of the Sex Pistols, punk-style elements have been alive not only in Hot Topic, but also in the work of designers from Deena Visalia to Dior. So, are the glorious days of Kings Road, the birthplace of youth anarchy, really left? And what is it like today? Dig with McConnell to investigate.
What makes the Sex Pistols dress style so unique?
The Sex Pistols style is largely due to Malcolm Clarence and Vivienne West wood. Without these two designers and the Kings road sex shop, I wouldn’t have had the Sex Pistols. It can be said that Vivienne West wood and Malcolm Clarence invented British-style punk.
How about an Englishman?
Bondage Pants: Plaid pants and suspenders are British punk style. All clothes, T-shirts and people have safety pins on their cheeks. The safety pin design was made famous by the Sex Pistols, but may have been imported from New York. Malcolm Clarence was in New York in the mid-1970s and saw Richard Hell. Richard Hell took off his clothes and pinned them. I think Malcolm Clarence brought this look to London at the right time and put it on the Sex Pistols. This caused a wave of the first young punk rockers in London to strip their clothes and stab them again with a safety pin. I think it can also contribute to the expression of Richard Hell’s sharp hair. Malcolm Clarence probably brought this pointed hairstyle to London and attached it to Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious.
I think the first wave of punk was London, so I think 1976 and 1977 were more experimental styles.
There were no clear rules about what was punk and what was not. Since it was invented back then, you can see many styles that were never in fashion.
with what?
Therefore, there are many experiments with clothes that are not reflected in real life. A 1976 punk show features an image of a child wrapped in bloody gauze. There were a lot of torn, stitched and tightly buttoned clothes, but probably unused, except for punk shows. They probably took it once. This is the vibe I get from most of the actual experimental stuff. Many of these children had no money. They were working class. In fact, their parents were working class, we are talking about kids who have probably been between 14 and 19 years old in the last couple of years. Her parents were working class people, probably in Dollars. The lack of resources likely contributed to the art and creativity of DIE, do-it-yourself, change of clothes.
Vivienne Westwood wasn’t cheap, was she?
Loyal. Probably most people sewed and altered their clothes. Apparently, these are the clothes worn by the Sex Pistols. But if you look at all the old photographs, you will not see a normal person, a normal punk boy in these clothes.
Let’s talk about leather jackets.
Leather jackets play an important role in the punk world, but not at first. I think that leather jackets became popular a little later. Probably 1977, 1978.
Is that what the Sex Pistols brought you?
Sid Vicious certainly made leather jackets popular. He had several variations of different leather jackets. When the Sex Pistols signed [A&M Record], they looked like a public signature. In these photos, he is wearing a black leather jacket, which I think caused a lot of kids to look for a leather jacket.
But thanks to the Ramon’s, leather jackets became popular. In 1976 they wore leather jackets when the Ramon’s went on their first tour of England. And when they returned for their second tour the following year, all the guys at the beginning of the show formed their own band. Lots of inspiration for this: “Oh, we can do it too!” I just saw the Ramon’s in London. So I think a lot of these kids were probably wearing leather jackets at the time.
I don’t think it was Sid Vicious.
Sid Vicious, I think your leather jacket came out a little later. At least for a year. In other words, it doesn’t make much sense to us right now. However, looking back at the history of things, it is difficult to define photographs and times. Advertising singer Gay Threader is known for wearing the leather jacket in the late 70s, but it’s probably interesting to see the Ramon’s wear it first. This is my guess.
So how did the images we know now come about? The Sex Pistols themselves were experimental, and Clarence and West wood were eyeing them too. After that, did the children imitate you in different ways in your DIY style?
Yeah. London is a very trendy city. It can’t be that this trendy city ends up making this new musical move with these people on stage in really boring clothes. So the people in the group will definitely wear expensive clothes from the sex shops and wear better clothes. But I don’t think the fans, the kids have the best equipment.
These children are clearly unaffected by the internet. They were influenced by what happened that weekend. Let’s say they went to a punk show on Saturday and then maybe returned to high school. Maybe that week you will meet your friends and decide how to look like a punk. And the next time they go to the show, they will wear even more ridiculous clothes.
I don’t know how the vintage and resale stores were at that time, but I think there were many second-hand goods. You think there was an attack on your parents’ toilet, right? You will see a great boy look in a blazer. The blazer had a lot of chains, safety pins, or such pins and badges, or words on them. Or maybe stripping off the jacket and redesigning it with a safety pin was the way to “fuck you” in the facility.
I would like to ask you about the iconography used in clothes at that time. In particular, things like swastikas, especially considering these are the children who grew up after the bombing of London in Germany. These are symbols of hatred and polarization.
Yes, it’s complicated. Personally, I didn’t like the swastika punk style. It’s a shocking value, but to explain to those who don’t like punk, they don’t understand it and you’re shocking them the wrong way. It’s a shame that the whole punk movement was based on the swastika from the beginning. I know that the swastika was used by British Hells Angels like Remy [Kilmister, Late Motorhead]. Remy was an angel of hell, and Remy wore a swastika pin.
And I remember reading, perhaps in Johnny Lotten’s autobiography, that Sid Vicious didn’t understand what the swastika was, but he’s wearing a swastika and walking down the street to offend people. I knew that. They don’t do this because they oppose the Jews. Because it infuriates ordinary people.
This is not to justify it. This is more to explain. If you have a subculture that you don’t care about like punk, one way to show that you don’t shit is to wear clothes that are more outrageous than anyone else. So the swastika was probably very popular among those who were really offended. However, the use of the swastika ended early enough that I don’t think it was widespread.
yes. And at some point, the entire anti-Nazi scene appears.
exactly. I think you should look at the schedule, but in the late 70’s the Clash played at a music festival, an anti-national front-line festival. So, looking at this chart, the National Front began to emerge. And the National Front is recruiting for punk rock, skinheads and reggae, and they’ve been trying to recruit these young people as part of their movement. A lot of people say, “Oh, I can’t. Now is not the right political time to wear the swastika.”
From Sex Pistols style, old London style, which style do you think has had the biggest impact over the past few decades?
One of the biggest influences on the early look of punk, sex shops, and the Sex Pistols was t-shirts in general, t-shirts and t-shirts to express one’s personality. – Shirts are like clothes that you can make yourself.
So the sex shop printed its own aggressive T-shirts. There were men with roosters, and Snow White and the drawings of the seven dwarfs were carrying him. Pop culture has had a lot of different people. Marilyn Monroe, wearing a T-shirt that says “Piss Marilyn”, doused Marilyn with yellow urine. If you have the original, all of these T-shirts sell for hundreds or thousands of dollars today. But I think these shirts made punk more familiar. You can make your own aggressive t-shirt or rip your own t-shirt. So punk probably helped make the band’s T-shirts as popular as they are today.
Some of you think they’ve moved on from punk fashion, especially the Sex Pistols style, to other markets, but don’t you think it has something to do with their original work?
Perhaps this can be attributed to catchy jewelry. I mean, Sid Vicious was padlocked and a lot of these rising punks wore chains on their clothes. They put a chain on his jacket, a chain, and this, probably, instilled some fear in those who found themselves with a hole in the street. Safety pin. It also causes some fear in the general public. In short, we know that different styles of necklaces are back. Imagine a person wearing a beaded necklace or chain from the 90s. Most of them probably came from punk.
I think the safety pin is a bit trendy. In fact, we jokingly call them punk glasses. If someone shows up at a party and has a lot of safety pins, you play with them and talk about their “punk glasses”, how many points they have.
We researched leather jackets and t-shirts, could you tell us a little more about bondage pants?
The Sex Store and the Sex Pistols created bondage pants that lasted until the early 80s and became more of a hardcore punk band [under their influence]. Bands like Discharge and Chaos U.K. they became more radical as their hair got longer as the first wave of punk continued. Iroquois, Liberty spikes and large spiky hair were produced. So by 1982 a lot of punks were in decline or the new punks were wearing more clothes in that extreme punk style we call it. Today we call it street punk.
That’s why they wore bondage pants. …A pin has been added to the leather jacket. Studs have been added to the leather jacket for a more intimidating look. And today, bondage pants are quite popular in all genres. There are many hip hop artists who wear bondage pants. You will see different styles of new bondage pants. In the 90’s when someone wore bondage pants they wore them very tight like the early punks but now you see loose bondage pants. So this is something new.
