Favorite Music
Emo Style
The emo scene has a certain style associated with it, that is much more subtle in some cases than punk or goth, and incorporates a much broader fashion base. Emo styles do vary, some like to dress it up all the time and plan outfits, whereas others are happy being more casual and going with the flow. Here are some tips on how you can create a great emo style.
Basically emos wear a lot of black, but unlike goths this is usually paired up with some bright and funky colours, for example if you were wearing dark jeans and a black shirt, you might wear a bright crimson red tie and white jacket, with matching or contrasting accessories. Band t-shirts are also popular, but make sure you buy a band you actually like and know a bit about, and not just some popular band like 'My Chemical Romance' just because you think they might be cool. For emos being clued up to music is a must, and you will look totally shallow and fake if you wear a band name that you don't know anything about. Hoodies are also a must, especially as jackets are not really in the emo fashion picture, so think about motifs such as skulls, stars and crosses. If you are very confident with your style you might also get away with some printed ironic catchphrases and logos, but you should stay away from anything that actually says 'emo' as you will look like a major wannabe. Layers are also a good emo look, such as a t-shirt over a long sleeve shirt, or a long sleeve stretch top under a vest top. Scarves are great for creating a layered look as well, and also brightening up dark outfits. You can get thin silk and linen scarves to wear in the summer, just loosely draped around the neck purely as an accessory. Those big long stripy winter scarves are very cool and you can also get cute matching mittens or even better fingerless gloves which are very much part of the emo look.
Emos never wear sports logos such as Adidas or Nike - way too mainstream, but the odd article of designer clothing is acceptable, such as a really nice pair of tight jeans or a super stylish black shirt, as long as it doesn't have the label in a really obvious place. Jeans of course as mentioned should be tight for an emo look, and also well cut. The emo style usually stays well away from scruffy, so make sure all your trousers are the right length so they are not dragging on the ground and getting tatty, and also the right fit for your legs.
Shoes should be flat, think funky pumps for girls and Converse or Vans trainers for girls and boys. Stay away from big chunky boots as this will look at little too punk, especially when teemed with skirts and tights for the girls. High heels are acceptable in some cases, especially if matched with an appropriate emo outfit, such as killer glossy red high heels matched with a black skirt and fitted sexy shirt, fishnet tights, and red accessories.
Accessories are not vital, but they can help to jazz up a dark outfit. Layering accessories is a popular emo look, such as having lots of bangles on your wrists, or lots of necklaces. Cute tote bags and little backpacks are good too, but stay away from designer or leather handbags, as they look way to formal and showy for this emo style. Piercing and tattoos are also popular, but in moderation otherwise you are straying into punk/goth/metalhead territory.
Makeup is a key part of the emo fashion. The emphasis is on the eyes, maybe because these are said to be the windows to the soul, and emos love to delve into the human psyche and express their emotions. Highlight the eyes with plenty of black eyeliner and smoky eye shadows. The odd bright colour is okay, but keep it simple and striking to avoid looking like a goth or eighties pop reject! Boys can wear a little eyeliner too, but they should keep it rough and ready and stay way from eye shadow, foundation or lip gloss to avoid looking too high maintenance. Nail polish should be dark and nails kept short, for boys and girls.
Goths Style
The Goths (Gothic: , Gutans) were a heterogeneous East Germanic tribe. Originating in semi-legendary Scandza, believed to be somewhere in modern Götaland, Sweden, a Gothic population had crossed the Baltic Sea before the 2nd century, lending their name to the region of Gothiscandza, believed to be the lower Vistula region in modern Pomerelia, Poland. The archaeological Wielbark (Willenberg) culture is associated with the arrival of the Goths and their subsequent agglomeration with the indigenous population. From the mid-second century onward, groups of these Goths started migrating to the southeast along the River Vistula, reaching Scythia at the coast of the Black Sea in modern Ukraine where they left their archaeological traces in the Chernyakhov culture.
Throughout the third and fourth centuries, the Scythian Goths were divided into at least two distinct entities, the Thervingi and the Greuthungi, divided by the Dniester River. They repeatedly harried the Roman Empire during the Gothic Wars and later adopted Arian Christianity. In the late 4th century, the Huns invaded the Gothic reign from the east. While many Goths were subdued and integrated into the Hunnic Empire, others were pushed toward the Roman one.
In the fifth and sixth centuries, they became divided as the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, they established powerful successor-states of the Roman Empire in the Iberian peninsula and Italy.
The Goths were converted to Christianity by the Arian (half-)Gothic missionary, Wulfila, who then found it necessary to leave Gothic country for Moesia, (later the vicinity of Bulgaria) with his congregation, where he translated the Bible into Gothic, devising a script for this purpose. Although for a time masters of Italy and Iberia, the Goths were defeated by the forces of Justinian I in a final effort to restore the Roman Empire. Subsequently they were struck by the Vandals and the Lombards. Prolonged contact with the Roman population of the former Empire ultimately led to conversion to Catholicism; Reccared, late sixth-century king of Gothic Iberia, became Catholic with the remainder of the yet unconverted Goths. Assimilation of the Goths accelerated when the last of them were defeated by the Moors in the early eighth century. The language and culture disappeared except for fragments in other cultures. In the sixteenth century a small remnant of Ostrogoths may have turned up in the Crimea,[1] but this identification is not certain.
Punk Style
The first wave of punk rock aimed to be aggressively modern, distancing itself from the bombast and sentimentality of early 1970s rock. According to Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone, "In its initial form, a lot of [1960s] stuff was innovative and exciting. Unfortunately, what happens is that people who could not hold a candle to the likes of Hendrix started noodling away. Soon you had endless solos that went nowhere. By 1973, I knew that what was needed was some pure, stripped down, no bullshit rock 'n' roll." John Holmstrom, founding editor of Punk magazine, recalls feeling "punk rock had to come along because the rock scene had become so tame that [acts] like Billy Joel and Simon and Garfunkel were being called rock and roll, when to me and other fans, rock and roll meant this wild and rebellious music." In critic Robert Christgau's description, "It was also a subculture that scornfully rejected the political idealism and Californian flower-power silliness of hippie myth." Patti Smith, in contrast, suggests in the documentary 25 Years of Punk that the hippies and the punk rockers were linked by a common anti-establishment mentality.
Throughout punk rock history, technical accessibility and a DIY spirit have been prized. In the early days of punk rock, this ethic stood in marked contrast to what those in the scene regarded as the ostentatious musical effects and technological demands of many mainstream rock bands.[6] Musical virtuosity was often looked on with suspicion. According to Holmstrom, punk rock was "rock and roll by people who didn't have very much skills as musicians but still felt the need to express themselves through music". In December 1976, the English fanzine Sideburns published a now-famous illustration of three chords, captioned "This is a chord, this is another, this is a third. Now form a band." The title of a 1980 single by New York punk band The Stimulators, "Loud Fast Rules!", inscribed a catchphrase for punk's basic musical approach.
Some of British punk rock's leading figures made a show of rejecting not only contemporary mainstream rock and the broader culture it was associated with, but their own most celebrated predecessors: "No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones in 1977", declared The Clash song "1977". The previous year, when the punk rock revolution began in Great Britain, was to be both a musical and a cultural "Year Zero" Even as nostalgia was discarded, many in the scene adopted a nihilistic attitude summed up by the Sex Pistols slogan "No Future" in the later words of one observer, amid the unemployment and social unrest in 1977, "punk's nihilistic swagger was the most thrilling thing in England."[11] While "self-imposed alienation" was common among "drunk punks" and "gutter punks", there was always a tension between their nihilistic outlook and the "radical leftist utopianism" of bands such as Crass, who found positive, liberating meaning in the movement. As a Clash associate describes singer Joe Strummer's outlook, "Punk rock is meant to be our freedom. We're meant to be able to do what we want to do."
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