Monthly Archives: December 2008

It seems that more and more these days new subcultures are popping up all over the world. So, it was only fitting that I explore the question that I have been wondering lately, Is the Hipster culture replacing what the Grunge scene was to Generation X?

Every generation has the aspiration to find someplace where they belong. Now, I can’t say that grunge music and fashion was that for me because I was about 4 years too young to actually enjoy everything about it. I’ve always felt like I have been late on everything. The punk movement seemed so expressive and new and of course I wasn’t around to live that. Then when America had its pulse on a new movement yet again I was too young. Now that the music industry is churning out more of the same thing it seems that the youth has turned more to the fashion industry.

Grunge was always about the music. The fashion just came last and as a method of expression on what music you listened to. Now, it seems to be just the opposite. There are more young people posting their daily outfits instead of record reviews. I happen to be addicted to checking out people’s Chictopia pages regularly too.

Grunge was this:

I like to call it unconscious dressing… They didn’t know it at the time but they were creating a revolution still discussed two decades later. This trend or influence has somehow spilled over into the 2000s.

Hipsters or Scenesters (whichever you prefer) are mostly identified by young people in their 20s who live in metropolitan cities with access to many fashion labels and cool new lounges or places to hang out..Misshapes (which is/was a party created by three new york DJs) was the first time the outside world saw young people who were learning more about fashion and creating their own look of personal style radically different than ever seen before. Having your photo taken there was even more important than going there for the music and atmosphere. This became so popular that a book was published of photos taken at this famous gathering:

I don’t want to say that I am part of the scene but I am a bit of a floater in it. I have attended the parties a few times and most of the time I end up looking at the outfits than the music…

Any thoughts on this observation?

oh and merry christmas!

all photos  taken from stylescout,stockholmstreetstyle,facehunter and brgnstil streetstyle blogs…

Bless, Dutch fashion house has been making waves for quite a while. I guess it’s about time I took notice. To tell you the truth I never read an article about them or anything like that, I was browsing around the Oak website and it was one of the few things that I managed to find I could afford. There it was: a beautiful draped black sweatshirt poncho with a gigantic hood. I came close to maxing out yet another credit card but when I got it in the mail it was beyond worth it.

While I realize that some people might say that this doesn’t fit in with the while grunge theme of my blog, this is the essence of my personal style. I think that my fashion style is best described as a streetstyle version of the avant garde and grunge aesthetic so that’s why Bless is featured here. Hopefully I have shown people a new designer out there! Goodness knows there are so many!

Bless is a mostly conceptual based fashion house much like Maison Martin Margiela. They name each of their collections by numbers i.e. No26 and so forth. Most of the the collections are described as “themeless” but it’s very clear that each piece seamlessly fit together beautifully. The concept of their design philosophy is best described from their site:

Stay glued for my Global Street Style Inspirations!

L.

So, in the interest of keeping things consistent and fair I promised that I would write an entry about the male side to the grunge look. In the interest of writing something semi-original I am not going to include Kurt Cobain in my wrap up. I feel that everyone knows so much about his style so I wanted to expose readers to something else.

Dave Grohl, drummer of Nirvana

For most people they think of the male version of grunge as just flannel shirts and torn jeans with long johns.Which granted might be true but, there is just something about Dave Grohl that I always admired. He sort of a had a more metal approach to the grunge look. I realize that most of the men in this time period had no idea that they were creating such a phenomenon that would indeed carry on decades, however there are great points in Dave’s choices. About 90% of the time he was on stage he had no shirt on, though the times he did he wore torn up muscle tees of old punkbands. I always thought that it was genius that those were the guys they were influenced by and yet they were becoming one of the most amazing bands in the last 50 years of rock music. Nowadays Dave is making music with the Foo Fighters..Another incredible band and even though his style has toned down a but he still has a place in rock history, and not just for being the drummer of Nirvana.

Chris Cornell, singer of Soundgarden

Chris Cornell always had such beautiful hair. To this day I use major product to get my hair this flowy…Also hailing from the pacific northwest he was never without his flannel shirts thrifted from various locations. He doesn’t look too bad now either.

Johnny Depp, actor

I have always loved a man who marches to the beat of his own drum. Back when he was trashing hotel rooms he remained one of the bad-ass actors around in the early 90s. Even to this day Johnny embraces the grunge look and lifestyle..and I will always love him for it…

Michael Pitt, actor

Ever since he played an uncanny resemblence to Kurt Cobain in the semi bio-pic, Last Days I have followed this kids style. I adore his style almost as much as his film work. He maintains one of the most grunge lifestyles today; living in Brooklyn and singing for his band, Pagoda. He always looks dissheffled but in a very put together way and not always by accident either. Just the way I like to dress everyday.

thanks for reading..stay tuned for more updates on my style findings!