Deborah Counsell: Postmodern Aesthetics: The Legacy of Punk.

Postmodern Aesthetics: The Legacy of Punk.

By Deborah Counsell

Introduction

In this analysis on Punk, I intend to deconstruct its social significance in the 1970s. And consider the legacy on fashion and where its influence can be found in the postmodern and 21^st century.

How did punk rock the world? My main research shall define specific aspects of punk and how it came to influence not only fashion but also popular culture in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries. These aspects are anti-fashion, subversives, Dada, expressions of isolation, and magpie, bricolage.

What is Punk?

At a time of civil unrest and high youth unemployment, adolescents with time and no money hung together in areas such as the Kings Road, London, dissatisfied with the previous “hippy culture and ageing rock stars” (Polhemus: 1994: 14) young people sought a new sound and look to express the feelings of disquiet and unrest. Instead of civil unrest the revolt took the form of anti-fashion and subversives, an aggressive look and attitude, which began on the kings road and the ‘Bromley set’ (Figure 1). This small clique of a couple of hundred people were served and swayed by SEX a clothing shop opened by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren in 1975. The shop sold clothing and experimental sex items for fetish and bondage. These influenced the youths that hung there. The Punk look of slashed t-shirts, ripped trousers, safety-pin piercings, brightly coloured Mohican hair was re-enforced when Malcolm McLaren’s “Sex Pistols” gave its infamous TV interview during which they swore. Popularity of the group increased when their first album was banned from TV and shop windows for its offensive title of “Never Mind the Bollocks”. The album cover used a distinct Dada style of lettering looking like type tor from a newspaper as in the works of Dada artist Kurt Schwitters, ‘Kleine Dada Soirée’, (1922).

The late 70s and 80s will be remembered as a time of riots and vandalism; strikes and poverty. As part of the ‘Winter of Discontent’ my father, a mature student at the time, turned away a beer lorry at a picket line this almost caused a riot.

Punk appeared in our village in the early 80s in the form of one brave individual. The funny man, my mum explained, he had green or orange spiky hair and wore a kilt over ripped jeans with Dr Martin boots, he looked like Johnny Rotten.

What started as a gang became a global phenomenon with rise of pop rock music the Damned were the first in the charts but were quickly out shone by the Sex Pistols. The Sex Pistols clothes were Styled and designed by Vivienne Westwood.

Street Style and Counter Culture

An interesting twist to the Punk movement came in the form of “Minor Threat” a North American Punk band. They released a song called “Out of Step (with the World)” that spoke about “self restraint, personal responsibility and social awareness” (Atkinson: 2003). This turned away from the usual nihilistic theme of punk.

Although the music and style were the same tattoos took on another meaning of group/tribal belonging. They advocated clean living, “no drink, no smoking but at least we can fucking think” (Atkinson: 2003). The movement comprised of young white urban middle class that had not experienced the tougher side of life.

This time was a melting pot of many anti-fashion styles and culture. Among the many was Biker, Ska, Skinheads, and Mods, almost all linked to music. Some embraced the multi-culture society forming in urban Britain, while others created their own sense of family such as the Bikers.

Bikers’ style took a more functional approach to clothes needing certain items to enable safe riding of their motorcycles. These were denim jeans, leather jackets and t-shirts. Other items worn were waistcoats made from leather or denim. All garments were personalized with insignia pertaining to the biker’s regional gangs. They also used body adornment such as piercing and tattoos. These groups were often seen as a family unit which comprised of loader males mainly of a working class, as bike were cheaper to run and license than cars.

Punks used clothes to express their discontent. They rebelled against the establishment in a shock and awe way using violent music and language to enforce the obscene and disturbing attire. This subculture comprised mainly of working class youth that were affected by the high unemployment rate of that time. The look took elements of Biker with its leather jackets and denim jeans. Punk also took on the personalization of deconstructing by slashing and ripping. Items were bricolaged such as straps and chains which were draped rom one area to another in swathes like a draped curtain of sash around under arms or hips. Rips in jeans or trousers were held together with safety pins these were known as bondage trousers. Garments were often written or painted on and mimicked in vandalism.

Clothing meanings are often intangible in words but when compared with each other as style of clothing as in Hippy and Punk we know that the two are very different and stood for different things. Hippy – peace and harmony. Punk – offensive language and anarchy. Also when we compare Punk and Biker as in figures 1& 2 noticeable differences are apparent even though descriptively they have similarities.

“When we dress we wear inscribed upon our bodies the often obscure relationship of art, personal psychology and social order.” (Wilson: 2003: 210)

Young adult/adolescents form gangs as a reaction to a social gap created by the lack of community. As young people reach an age ready to leave the family home but not yet ready to form families of their own. There is a void left and gangs fill the vacuum.

A form of attire usually denotes gangs and all members are known to each other and within a certain location of territory. When a look becomes popular it moves form gang to style tribe as numbers are increased and personal awareness within the social group is lost, clothing and music are the links between its members. Style tribes can become national and global as in the Punk era.

“Construction of identity is based on leisure rather than business clothes. Popular culture redefines social phenomena and social identities.” (English: 2007: 78)

Many groups or gangs use clothing as a uniform and not a fashion statement clothes become a symbol of whom they associate themselves with as in Bikers. Often using tattoos and piercings are used as a rite of passages and an initiation into the group. In figures 1 & 2 we can see each group has a distinct style, which is used with in each group. Giving each a symbol to each other as well as society. Their clothes state I’m with you guys and guys I’m part of this group.

To choose to dress differently is a brave one that often incurs prejudice, threats and abuse from people frightened of difference.

The Influence of Vivienne Westwood on Postmodern Fashion.

Westwood said, “I am never more happy than when I parody the British in context of a classical perspective”. (Hennessy: 2012: 390)

Initially selling Teddy boy clothes Vivienne West, partners with Malcolm McLaren rebranded their shop on the Kings Road in 1975 to SEX. This shop became a hub for local youths and sold fetish and bondage items as well as clothes.

As well as selling her Punk clothes in figure 3 we can see Vivienne wearing a tartan coat with straps hanging from it in homage to the bondage sex items she sold.

Westwood’s finger was on the pulse of the time and met with the youth cultures demand of unrest and disquiet. She learned from her surroundings and launched a collection of punk clothing of slashed trousers and porn t-shirts with offensive images and language.

Westwood bases her designs on research into the past using classical British garment and construction to inform her designs. As a Postmodernist she regularly copies from the past to parody it on the catwalk with collections such as the Pirate dubbed the New Romantic look, and Anglomania.

On the feminist front Vivienne has also had her opinions in the mid 80s she produce a series of ‘mini-crini’ (Hennessy: 2012: 78) a shortened version of the 19^th century crinolines that were styled with tailored jackets in reaction to the masculine power dressing suits. Westwood is also credited for reclaiming the corset using it emphasise women’s figures rather than imprisoning them within it.

Alexander McQueen also uses historical items in his collection especially in ‘Highland Rape’ collection where he uses Westwood’s influence and mixes tartan and leather, in appropriation of the past and fetish wear.

Why do we wear clothes and how we see ourselves?

“Humans as well as other species of animals, were consistently motivated by novelty and newness. Thus it is constitutionally hard wired human behaviour to be attracted to the novel, to adopt it, and also to move on after only a short period of stability.” (Wilson: 2003: 205).

Freud tells us that there are three parts to human personality the ego, super ego and the id. The ego is the part we present to the world in the conscious where as the super ego and id is our unconscious selves. The super ego good and modest the id that has wanton desires and easily tempted, each in balance controlling each other. Super ego wants us to dress modestly whilst id wants us to wear more erotic attire while ego listens to social environs. These personality traits coupled with our basic instinct for the novel governs our desire for change and novelty in the fashion world.

Our constant search for novelty and taboo breaking are seen on the international catwalk with innovative designers such as Hussein Chalayan and Rifat Ozbek. Chalayan’s use of revealing nudity by varying the length of a burka is ironic and parodies the meaning of the garment. He also objectifies the women models by keeping their faces covered with the full facial veil as can be seen in figure 7.

Through displacement our clothes serve a contradictory purpose covering up for modesty sake and the need to be sexually attractive. This can be explained through psychology where men view women as object of desire and women place themselves as desirable objects, both complementing each other. Woman wanting to look good and be desired under male gaze and man wanting women to be desired.

“Socially determined we maybe, yet we consistently search for the crevices in culture that open to us moments of freedom. Precisely because fashion is at one level a game (although not just a game), it can be played for pleasure.” (Wilson: 2003: 210)

There is no free choice we simply follow an almost predestined path that hides. We are first born with genetic heredity that is our blueprint that alters and updates along the way with environs that can affect us for good or ill. As humans we live more than on instinct alone. Our social network determines us. In figure we can see the modern social group known as Chavs, their style is denoted by cheap sports/fashion wear such as tracksuits, baseball caps, hoodies, and trainers.

Punk Influence on Youth Culture

In today’s world of a multi-media existence we are continually bombarded with imagery that is not always screened or age appropriate. These come from TV, computer gaming, film and Internet.

Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” video with its erotic imagery and Iced-T’s misogynist gang rape lyrics help promote erotica and pornographic attire (Bordo: 1993: 247) TV and computer gaming’s portrayal of subordinate women back up these images.

Madonna pushed the erotic taboos increasingly through the 90s with Jean Paul Gaultier’s help using corsets and bondage crinolines as shown in figure 6 Gaultier draws his inspiration from Britain’s street style.

The wide spread use of risqué imagery is prolific especially in what poses as innocent with the use of low cut necklines and suggestive dancing in Disney films and the styles of Bratz™ dolls

The fashion industry has answered the erotica call with skanks – “sequined, belly baring, sparkly and made of fishnet materials which reveals children’s bodies in a more adult fashion.” (Clancy: 2011: 41). Primark have marketed a padded bra thus sexualizing girls and marking them for paedophiles.

On the other hand if we consider the argument of intertextuality, that we innocently appropriate without truly understanding the meaning of what we are wearing. When using this to view children wearing skank the garments become nothing more than frilly sparkly clothes as seen in figure 5.

In Japan women wear clothes that make them look like ‘Little Bo Peep’ or ‘Little Miss Muffet’, children. They copy the anime` cartoons style of character dress as seen in figure 8. People wouldn’t accuse them of pandering to paedophiles because we know they are merely playing with fashion.

Punk has also seen its influence spread through intertextuality in Steam and Cyber Punk. Steam Punk is a vintage appropriation of Victoriana and the industrial steam age as seen during the Para Olympics closing ceremony as seen in figure 10. Cyber Punk assimilates modern technology for their style looking like “Star Trek’s” “Borg”.

Conclusion

Punk emerged from a poverty struck Britain to voice its discontent, as stated earlier Punk rose from small group of young people known as the Bromley Set at a time of great recession. It became global in its infancy but has continued as part of our culture, by some traditional Punks still existing and by reinvention and intertextuality such as Steam and Cyber Punk. Its bricolage` nature has bee adopted y mainstream fashion and haute (figure 9) couture fashion to such an extent you can now buy designed damaged goods. All ages of society has been affected by it anti-fashion ways as with skank clothes and Bratz ™ and the anime` dresser in Japan. They questioned our silence with its subversive attitude and gave us the stomach to fight as in the Poll Tax riots of 1981. Punk dared to be different as with all anti-fashion movement they give the confidence to express ourselves as we see fit.

Bibliography

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· The Civilizing of Resistance: Straightedge Tattooing, Vicheal Atkinson, Memorial of New Foundland, 2003.

· What’s Up Sisters?, Catlin Moran, Style, Sunday Times, 10^th March 2013.