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I'm poor hahah, let's clear that out. I almost exclusively wear second hand clothing and hand me downs, so I look more vintage and grungy than many people on the street.
Yesterday, I was talking with a friend about fashion and (since he knows I'm into metal/punk/emo music and also fashion) he asked me why I never dressed alternative. He told me that I should try, that nothing is stopping me and it would be fun (so true).
The fun thing, is that I have selective self-awareness and thought that it was pretty obvious that I was alternative and that liking the music and knowing the subcultures made my clothes alternative. But no, people don't notice I'm alternative cause' I don't wear all black or fishnets and I never thought about it. Clothing pieces are seen as alternative, but not cause' only alt people wear them anymore.
I would still like to try cause' why not.
From other perspective, how can a garment be alternative? Clothes don't have ideas of their own or have ears to enjoy music... So when I buy a skater fit shirt, what makes the garment "skater" if I don't skate? Cause the shirt is an inanimate object.
How much of it has become empty signifiers that sell people the image of a lifestyle and ideals they don't actually have? We are told me can curate our desired identity through consumption, so it would make sense.
What do you think?
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chiyuuusss
there is definitely a lot to consider in this conversation, however, on a more general level i feel like theres a difference between BEING alternative and DRESSING alternative, though they go hand in hand. depending on the subculture, you can BE alternative without DRESSING alternative by immersing yourself in the culture of the subculture, whatever that may include differs between subcultures. but BEING alternative yourself doesnt automatically make your clothes alternative, plenty of people dress basic but are alternative, nothing about their fashion sense is inherently alternative just because they are. but also, i saw you mentioned looking more grungey, is that not a form alternative?? alternative, from a fashion perspective, describes any non-mainstream fashion styles - not just limited to styles like goth, emo and punk - it also includes styles like gyaru, decora kei and uchuu kei. there isnt one way to be or dress alternative, it all depends on circumstances and subcultures.
You are right, it depends on the values of each subculture. The J-Fashion community basically pioneered having fashion based subcultures, which is something different from the music based subcultures I mostly refer to (emo, punk, goth, grunge...).
The thing is, many music and activity based subcultures have become manufactured under capitalism, which creates a "uniform" for many of them. Yes, I do look grungy and take inspiration from Grunge, but many people wouldn't see me that way just cause' I don't wear the grunge uniform (flannel, ripped jeans, long sleeve shirt and converse).
Alternative fashion used to be based on what the alternative kids wore, so the clothes became alternative just in association to them, which is so different from now (not including fashion based subcultures)
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