Punk Rock Music & Fashion

Punk rock is a style of music that represents the hard-edged, aggressive musicians who wanted to separate themselves from the sentimentality of rock music. Sick of the toned-down versions of rock and roll, bands like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and the Clash set out to make music that was edgy, fast, raw, and stripped down to the bare minimum to provide fans with what they believed the modern rock scene was missing: pure, unadulterated rock.

The origins of punk rock can be traced back to New York's underground rock movement with the Ramones and the New York Dolls, Radio Birdman from Australia, and the Sex Pistols from the United Kingdom, all of which came to prominence in the mid 1970's. A leading figure in the punk scene and guitarist for the Sex Pistols, Steve Jones, claimed that his band was not as much about music as it was about chaos, a trait that came to be associated with the punk rock attitude. Chaos plays a crucial part in the punk scene, urging youths to reject mainstream ideals and embrace rebellion.

Musicians and fans involved in the punk rock style appreciate the concept of do-it-yourself clothing and accessories, and perhaps the most infamous element of the punk "costume" is the safety pin. Credited to Richard Hell, front man for Richard Hell & The Voidoids, the safety pin played a part in creating the ragamuffin exterior associated with punk rock. Oftentimes, the pins held the ripped fabric of jeans and t-shirts together, a look also credited to Hell.

Punk rock fashions aimed to make bold statements. The typical punk rocker's wardrobe was not complete without a pair of drainpipe jeans, metal studs, heavy boots, and plenty of black. The genre in general embraces the idea of nonconformity and rebellion, so for women, the idea was to shatter female stereotypes by combining feminine clothing like skirts with leather jackets and biker boots. Absolutely nothing was considered taboo - except the mainstream.

As music styles tend to do, punk rock eventually hit its peak; it topped the charts in the late 1970's and its heyday was over by the early 1980's. Nonetheless, the punk ideal lived on and continued to influence bands like Bad Religion and Screeching Weasel, eventually evolving (or at least influencing) the alternative rock genre of the 1980's and continuing to infuse its free-spirited ideals all the way into the 2010's.