fashion tips 4 baby emos (and scenes)!!!

Have you recently discovered emo/scene fashion and you want to dress like that but you don't know where to start? Then this might be helpful :D

I'm going to give you tips on how to make yourself look more emo/scene, as someone who has been dressing emo for over three years. 

⚠︎ DISCLAIMER !! ⚠︎

EMO IS A MUSIC BASED SUBCULTURE. THIS MEANS YOU CANNOT CALL YOURSELF EMO IF YOU DON'T LISTEN TO EMO MUSIC, WHICH IS NOT JUST POP PUNK. SCENE IS NOT NECESSARILY A MUSIC BASED SUBCULTURE, AND IT'S VERY DIFFERENT FROM SCENECORE. 

★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭

Now with that being said, let's go into the tips:

٭★ HAIR ★٭

Obviously, hair is the most important part of the emo/scene aesthetic. It's very layered, with bangs that sometimes cover the eyes and it usually frames your face. A lot of the times it's dyed. 
To get good looking emo/scene hair, it's very important that you understand how it works, because most people tend to think it's just a deep side part with side bangs. The hair usually goes from the top part of the back of the head to basically your face. A lot of people think emo hair just doesn't look good on them and sometimes this is because they don't have a face framing side fringe (the side part that goes from your ear to your cheek) or because they don't know how to spike, tease or apply hairspray right. Some people wear hairclips or bows too, some just for the aesthetic and others because they don't have hairspray or they don't have actual bangs. Hair extensions  sometimes with patterns on them are used by scene kids, and most of them dye them by themselves as there aren't many places that sell scene hair extensions anymore. Obviously you're not going to look perfect the first time you try this hairstyle, but from my own experience you improve over the time if you pay attention to the shape and look at references. There are lots of tutorials on YouTube too. 
If you can't get the haircut don't worry, there are also tutorials on how to do an emo hairstyle without the exact haircut. You could also go for long straight hair like Avril Lavigne or short spikey hair like Billie Joe Armstrong. 
Get yourself good quality straightener, hairspray and comb because you're going to need them. 

٭★ MAKEUP ★٭

I don't have much to say about this one as emo/scene makeup isn't too complicated. Most people just wear heavy raccoon-looking black eyeshadow, although sometimes eyeliner and different eyeshadow colors (mostly dark colors such as wine red) can be seen. In the scene subculture it's more present, with some people making their brows thin, putting concealer on their lips or using other eyeshadow colors like silver or neon colors. 

I feel that sometimes some people are too pretentious with this, to look as emo as possible they draw on their face or do complex eye looks, but it's not necessary! of course you can do your makeup the way you want, I'm just explaining how it has always been in the subculture. 

٭★ SHOES ★٭

I feel like this one is very obvious, but I am going to cover it anyways. 

In this subculture people usually wear unisex sneakers, most notably converse and vans. Knee high sneakers and osiris sport shoes are a big trend among scene kids, too. Customizing your shoes by drawing on them or getting cool shoelaces is encouraged. 

Honestly don't worry too much about the brand, some people have ugly shoes that they only bought just because they're converse or vans, and again it's not necessary to have brand shoes. If they're too expensive for you or you don't have access to them, then there's no problem in buying knockoff sneakers that look similar to chucks or vans. Most people don't even care. 

٭★ SHIRTS/TOPS ★٭

Of course, the signature emo/scene shirts are from bands that people in these subcultures usually like, for example mcr, the used or Silverstein for emos and brokencyde, I set my friends on fire or attack attack for scene kids. There are a lot of these things on hot topic, Spencer's (emp and impericon if you're european like me, although they don't have a lot of scene stuff) or thrift/second hand stores sometimes. 

A lot of scene queens in the 2000s wore spaghetti strap tops, so you could go for that if you want a more feminine look. 

Striped, checkered and animal print patterns are very popular too, but nowadays they're harder to find in mainstream stores as they're not trending anymore. But sometimes you'll find good stuff, for example I bought a grey/dark grey striped T-shirt at primark (I think?) and later I put a red heart shaped patch on it, and I think vans have cool shirts sometimes, but they're expensive as fuck T_T

In the 2010s, corny ironic or meme shirts blew up in the scene subculture, as they fitted into the "so random lol xD" personality of scene kids. 

Things like skelanimals, the nightmare before christmas, hello kitty, emily the strange and invader zim are very popular in the subcultures so a lot of people have shirts from them. Nowadays I think people use this way too much, especially the sanrio and invader zim stuff, which makes you look more scenecore than "real" scene, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but if you are scenecore instead of emo/scene, what are you even doing here!? 

About hoodies/jackets, it's not that important either. Black and striped zipper hoodies are the most popular ones with emo kids. I have a hoodie from banned alternative which I absolutely love, it has black and white stripes, cat ears on the hood, a skull on the zipper and thumb holes. For more scene stuff, a specific gir hoodie from hot topic is owned by many scene kids, and scene kids wear striped hoodies too, but they are more colorful than emo ones (in general scene is more colorful) 

In the 2010s tumblr emo kid aesthetic, plaid flannels can be seen a lot, taking inspiration from pop punk. Personally I like wearing one around my waist. They're easy to find on stores as well. 

Anyways, similar to the makeup thing, I feel like some people are too pretentious trying to make their shirts look as "y2k emo/scene" as possible, when in reality og scenes/emos from the 2000s would buy any edgy shirt they liked without caring if it's "emo enough", as the most important and recognizable part of the aesthetic is the hair. 

٭★ PANTS/SKIRTS ★٭

Emo and scene people wear skinny ripped jeans most of the time, but here are some alternatives if you don't like them:

If you want a more feminine look, a lot of emo/scene girls wear tutus and mini skirts, even sometimes over jeans. Those Halloween tutus they sell on Halloween in almost every store are a perfect fit. Plaid skirts were popularized by Avril Lavigne, so you could go for that too. Basically the same goes for dresses, striped ones with a tutu skirt and spaghetti straps were popular in the 2000s.

If you don't like skirts, in summer you can wear shorts lol. Low waisted mini denim shorts are popular in the subculture too. 

Modern emos sometimes wear baggy jeans or tripp pants, and again nothing wrong with that but it makes you look more mall goth/scenecore/y2k than emo/scene. You don't need to wear the tightest jeans ever if you don't want to, I have a pair of ripped grey jeans that fit kind of loose on me that I sometimes incorporate into my emo outfits, especially on the more (pop) punk inspired ones. Bootcut jeans are a good option too, and you can find them at thrift stores or even at mainstream stores with the y2k comeback. 

DIY is also encouraged here, with most emo/scene kids ripping their own jeans (myself included), and some even drawing on them or putting patches. 

٭★ GLOVES/ARM WARMERS ★٭

Most emo/scene people wear arm warmers or fingerless gloves. 

Fishnet ones are pretty easy to find at any Halloween store, and they're not too expensive. You can get striped fingerless gloves on Amazon, I bought a pack of 3 for a pretty reasonable price there. 

A big trend among emo kids is skeleton fingerless gloves, I have a pair of them. Basically I just bought a pair of regular skeleton gloves on the Halloween season at a mall and I cut the fingers off. I'm sure they're on Amazon too, and you could also buy regular black gloves and cut them, and also paint the bones with bleach if you want. 

You can also make fingerless gloves using socks, there are lots of tutorials out there. 

٭★ BELTS ★٭

Emo and scene people wear belts a lot, sometimes even more than one at the same time, and especially studded belts. They usually put them through only one belt hole on the side and make them fit loose, and sometimes even over their shirts. 

You can find studded belts on Amazon, I used to think they didn't have them but you just have to look hard enough. I bought a red and black checkered studded belt for pretty cheap and it looks good, the only issue is that it's too thin and the studs can fall out. 

The belts don't necessarily need to be studded, though. A lot of scene people wear those rhinestone belts with big buckles which again you can find on Amazon, thrift stores or I think even at some mainstream stores like bershka. I also have a non studded black and white checkered belt from emp, and it costed 10€ which is pretty cheap considering the price of other belts from the same web. I think vans sells them too. 

٭★ NECKLACES/CHOKERS ★٭

People tend to think emos only wear spiked chokers, but that's just wrong. Even though they're more of a goth thing, it's true that a lot of emos wear them sometimes. In the 2010s, tattoo chokers were popular among scene and emo kids, sometimes with charms on them. They're very accessible and cheap, and you can customize them yourself. For example, I have one with a pentagram charm that I made myself. Again, there are lots of chokers that fit the emo style on hot topic. 

Now about necklaces, almost anything goes. Kandi necklaces are a big thing because you can make them yourself, but I'm going to leave the whole Kandi thing for the bracelet section. Some necklaces that are popular in the subculture are plastic diamond necklaces, razor blade necklaces and brass knuckle necklaces. Here you can be more creative and still look emo/scene, basically anything that looks edgy goes. 

In the 2000s, emo kids wore ties around their neck sometimes, mimicking Gerard Way or Avril Lavigne, mostly red ones. Just grab them from your dad's closet lmfao. 

٭★ SOCKS/TIGHTS ★٭

Similar to gloves, the most popular long socks or tights are striped ones, although fishnets, ripped tights or even sometimes different patterns like skeletons, stars or skulls can be seen too. 

There are lots of them on Amazon, and from experience they're good quality and not too expensive. Fishnets are easy to get too, and you can rip you tights by yourself using a fork. 

Halloween stores sometimes sell this kind of things too, but they're not very good quality. The brand Pamela Mann sometimes has good stuff, I have a pair of striped black and white tights from them and even though they're kind of thin they're pretty good. 

٭★ HATS/CAPS/GLASSES ★٭

A lot of people wear beanies, cartoon hats and caps in the subculture. They sell beanies basically everywhere, and they're good if you're feeling lazy and don't want to put a lot of effort into your hair. There's not much to say about this, again basically anything that looks edgy or has things that emo/scene kids usually like works. Some of the biggest trends are black or striped beanies and those animal and cartoon hats with the long strings on the side and flat caps. 

A lot of scene queens in the 2000s wore plastic tiaras too, and you can get them for pretty cheap on the birthday section of a lot of stores. 

I'm including glasses here too because I don't know where else to add them. Shutter shades and thick rimmed glasses, sometimes with a hello kitty bow, patterns or other things are a common accessory on emo/scene kids. 

٭★ BRACELETS ★٭

I left this section for the last part on purpose, because it's very long as emo and scene people tend to wear lots of bracelets. 

The most obvious trend here is Kandi. I've already talked about it before, but now I'm going more in depth. In case you don't know, Kandi is DIY jewelry usually made out of pony beads. They started on rave culture in the 90s, and the most common Kandi accessory is bracelets. Scene kids adopted them too and there's some overlap in scene and rave culture. There's different kinds of bracelets you can make, and there are lots of video tutorials out there. I especially recommend vickymuffins, I learned most of the things I know about Kandi from that channel, and the videos are very well explained and slow so you can follow them, but they're kinda long. Although raver scene kids wear Kandi, if you don't want to look scenecore I recommend not wearing obnoxious amounts of it as it's practically the easiest way to differentiate a scene kid from a scenecore. 

Another popular type of bracelets is rubber bracelets with band names, cartoon characters or the phrase "i ♡ boobies" on them. Sadly I don't really know where to get them, I guess at second hand stores; I've been to lots of alternative stores and they never seem to have them. The only place where I've found them is anime conventions, as sometimes they sell alternative accessories there. I have a pierce the veil one and a jack skellington one too from there, and I want to buy more but they're quite expensive. 

Those sweatbands made of fabric are sometimes worn by emo kids too, specifically checkered ones. I have a black and white one with Jack skellington's face which I also bought at an anime convention, and it's not that expensive compared to other things there. 

Obviously since goth influenced emo a lot, spiked leather bracelets can be seen on emo/scene kids too, but it's basically the same as spiked chokers, even though it's more of a goth/punk thing emos wear them a lot too. 

Again DIY and creativity are encouraged here, most emo/scene kids make some of their bracelets by themselves or just buy anything that looks emo/scene it doesn't really matter. 

٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭

Since this is a pretty common feeling, don't feel pressured to look 100% scene/emo all the time. I don't even dress emo everyday myself, as I am a mall goth and a metalhead too. Some people are so quick on calling people new to the subculture posers, and that is harmful. Don't forget that you're more than a style label, and that you're allowed to have your own style even if it's inspired by others. 

★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭★٭

I hope this was helpful for people who are starting to get into emo and/or scene, and I'd love to solve any doubts you have or answer your questions, so if you have any feel free to leave a comment! :)