Clothing has always been, ever since man began to wrap himself in various animal skins, a statement of a certain kind. Fashion, as a style popularized and excepted by many today, only deepened the importance of that statement. Choosing one style or another gave people in all cultures a way to express themselves, and since there was always one fashion followed by the majority of society, there was another, somewhere in the background, negating and rejecting it.

Alternative fashion styles are very close to the musical genres of what is also called “alternative”, such as rock and roll, punk, gothic, hardcore and all the varieties that arose from them. Many social and cultural issues arise from associating a subculture with a type of music and a style of dress, such as denying the status quo of classes, government politics, distribution of power, and identity politics that the majority popularized. Identity, in fact, is the most important aspect of alternative fashion and, as the embodiment of it, it produced a variety of styles, to show the same variety of opinion, discontent or rejection of traditional values ​​that always morph in shape. . but stable in structure in mainstream fashion.

Reimagining one’s own identity is a process that is followed by changes in personal appearance and generally by coming closer to the values ​​of a subculture that offers the individual a better vision of society. Those values ​​are reflected in the music, clothing and accessories. Influenced by vintage and retro fashion, dress styles, visual and performance art forms, personal attitudes toward concepts such as individuality, consumerism, social constructions of behavior, and considerations of availability and utilitarianism, rock and roll and punk had a very solid base to stand on when social criticism through clothing became an inseparable part of the genres.

Since the breakout years of the 1950s and 1970s, rock and roll and punk styles have multiplied by many, bringing us goth, cyber-goth (and other varieties of goth fashion, which is still one of the alternative movements stronger in creating new gender roles and identities and social boundaries), Industrial (heavily influenced by military uniforms), Beatniks, Metal, Heavy Metal, Glam Metal (and many subgenres of metal music that have their own set of clothing styles), Hippie, Riot grrrl, Lolita, Mod, Ero kawaii (and many, many, many Japanese-influenced styles with a strong Western, alternative, and mainstream fashion influence, such as Elegant Gothic Aristocrat), and many more. Individuality is an important part of alternative fashion, but there are always patterns (otherwise we wouldn’t call it fashion), and even punk fashion, as an extreme form of rejection of the social system through hairstyles, piercings, torn clothes, etc., has a certain structure. which can exempt anyone who wants to join it.

As styles change, and we go further back in time from the origins of the music genres that brought us new fashion(s), it is evident that they are still there, regardless of gender, class, age or culture, transforming and giving people a stronger voice to say “We are different, and we want more”.