Dressing Contemporary Hardcore
Wear the clothing. The basic hardcore look consists of hoodies and skinny jeans with your keys on a carabiner around your belt loop. Other options include flannel skate shirts and band tees. Any skate brand is popular. Contemporary hardcore styles are fairly androgynous - the look works equally well for girls and boys. For girls, hardcore pants trends are very simple. Plain skinny jeans with a typical dark wash are a good bet, as well as versatile colors like gray or dark purple. Layered camis or tank tops are popular. Some of the classic zebra and cheetah prints are acceptable, but limited because those are more trendy for the scene style. Shirts with words are okay, but only select phrases.
Wear the accessories. More fashion-centered than idea-centered, contemporary hardcore culture is often closely linked to certain strains of pop-metal and emo music. Bandannas, New Era athletic caps, and studded belts are all common. Plugs or gauges are popular across the board in contemporary hardcore culture. Consider getting your ears pierced if you don't already and slowly stretching them with plugs. Popular necklaces are sparrows, guns, brass knuckles, and various random objects are the most popular. Bracelets usually are chunky plastic bangles, hemp, or brown chunky beads. Rings aren't a big trend, but cheap plastic rings, and class rings are the best bet for girls. Skate shoes like Vans or Airwalks are common, but Nike dunks and 6.0 shoes are the most popular. Make sure your shoes fit snugly for moshing and hardcore dancing. For girls, black ballet flats or Converse are also common.
Choose a style you like. Hair, make-up, and tattoos are variable depending upon the particular strain of hardcore you're interested in. Sleeve tattoos can sometimes be seen on everyone at a hardcore show, and sometimes they're rare. Like traditional hardcore, the contemporary scene is theoretically more about individuality than fulfilling a particular image you can cultivate by shopping at the mall. If you're not interested in a swooped haircut but love going to hardcore shows, don't feel any pressure. Look and listen to other hardcore kids for pointers and see what parts of the subculture appeal to you. Makeup for hardcore girls is very different than scene girls. Use cover-up, that is a good match too your skin tone. Eyeliner is a must, but not raccoon style. Keep it light. Smokey gray eyeshadow is the best, no bright colors or black. Heavy mascara. Pale or natural lips, and no blush. This makeup style should be very simple.
Learn the history of hardcore. Developing your taste of music by appreciating a list is often subjective and difficult. When exploring hardcore music, always have an open mind. appreciate the music for what it is. Often, sub-genres spring up at an alarming rate, oftentimes in direct response or opposition to other strains of music you may like. Old-school hardcore bands like Minor Threat, Youth of Today, Agnostic Front, Black Flag, Gorilla Biscuits, Bad Brains, Sick of it All, Earth Crisis are a good place to start, but you can expand your taste when you hear things you like. Good hardcore labels include Bridge Nine, Rivalry, Revelation, Deathwish, Eulogy, and Seventh Dagger, a militant straight edge label.
Go to shows. If you're starting out, go to a show and watch for people, don't just jump in to the middle of a mosh pit and start thrashing. Go with someone who is familiar with the unwritten rules of hardcore. The Friends Stand United is a group (some call a gang) affiliated with hardcore scenes who will sometimes violently confront people they perceive as "doing it wrong," whether that be selling drugs at a straight edge show or moshing incorrectly. Be very careful at your first shows before you get the hang of what's appropriate.
Being Traditionally Hardcore
Dress for utility, not style. Henry Rollins says that dressing up for him when he was the singer of Black Flag, one of the most respected hardcore bands of all time, meant putting on a black t-shirt and black pants. Traditional hardcore was the music of the working class and was spawned in direct response to the popularity of New Wave and traditional punk music in the late 70s. Hardcore is heavier and more aggressive than other strains of punk rock and the attire should reflect that. While contemporary hardcore style is much bigger and includes elements of emo, goth, and hip-hop clothing, it's important to understand that identifying as "hardcore" is a loaded thing. You need to understand the history and significance of that term.
Think military. Artillery-style work pants, work boots, and close-cropped haircuts all signify traditional hardcore culture. Black Flag practiced with military-like precision and work ethic, and hardcore music often uses military imagery as part of its aesthetic and style. There's a lot of crossover between British-style "Oi" punk fashion and early hardcore style. Shaved heads, leather and denim jackets, and tight-fitting jeans could be considered common hardcore styles as well.
Listen to early hardcore music. Traditional hardcore bands like Bad Brains, DOA, Black Flag, and Minor Threat will be your go-to music. Featuring a heavy, repetitious groove and aggressive, politically-conscious lyrics, the music often sounds like "metal" to the uninitiated listener. Contemporary hardcore bands with a classic sound like Converge will also be up your alley. Research the earliest hardcore sounds and check out the forefathers of the genre.
Do it yourself. More than any other music or scene, hardcore is defined by DIY attitudes, styles, and opinions. Some hardcore members are extremely liberal in their politics and some are conservative and Christian. The scenes are united in their celebration of individual spirit. Hardcore scenes exist on the local level, with bands passing out fliers and putting on shows in loft spaces and all ages locations without the support of promoters or labels. This kind of attitude is at the center of hardcore. Make a habit of going to hardcore shows in your area and meeting other members of the community. Learn about the local hardcore bands and make connections. Adopt the philosophy that you're not going to get any help in this world. If you don't do something yourself, it won't get done, says that hardcore way of thinking. Get out there and start creating. Whether it be starting a band, getting that new job, or taking an alternate direction in life, hardcore philosophy makes it necessary for you to do it yourself.
Learn about straight edge. The Minor Threat song "Straight Edge" was not written with the intention of starting an anti-drug, anti-meat movement, but it had that effect. Many members of the hardcore community are also "straight edge," which means they abstain from alcohol, tobacco, and recreational drug use. Occasionally, straight edge practitioners will also avoid eating meat and having casual sex. Edgers are often quite militant in their beliefs. Straight edge hardcore people will sometimes signify themselves by wearing an "X" on their jacket, or on the back of their hands with marker.
Learning About Subgenres
Give post-hardcore a listen. Bands like Shellac, Glassjaw, and At The Drive-In cross lines between metal, hardcore, and noise music, often incorporating extremely harsh sounds and extremely fast technical playing into the sound with sudden pretty moments of melody. In the mid-2000s, this style of music became extremely popularized with bands like My Chemical Romance, Thursday, and Thrice breaking into the mainstream. Sometimes this kind of music is also known as screamo and will even have someone in the band specifically known as the "screamer." Often, the look was accompanied by v-neck black shirts, tight jeans, gauges, and the famous swooped bangs haircut.
Try out thugcore or "toughguy hardcore." The hardcore thug look is related to bands like Madball, Skarhead, and E-Town Concrete, bands that incorporate elements of gangster style and culture into their music. The music is often positive, despite its tough-looking image. Madball writes inspirational lyrics. Sometimes, this is referred to as "posicore." If you're into that style, bands of the genre include Youth of Today, Bane, Comeback Kid, Verse, and pretty much any band on Bridge Nine or Rivalry Records. Camouflage shorts are very popular in that genre, also. Long work shirts or tank tops paired with a pair of baggy jeans, and some Nike Cortez's (Chuck Taylors, basketball shoes, or black low-top Vans) along with a fitted New Era cap with the sticker on. Band shirts work as well, but only for local indie or underground bands.
Explore metalcore. By incorporating the breakbeats and abrupt changes from hardcore music, some bands with a more metal sound and style are now referred to as "metalcore." Deathcore and grindcore bands are also similar, with subtle differences in the sound. Stylistically, the look is similar to tough guy hardcore style. While some of the imagery in the videos of these bands looks very gothic or metal-like, the members of the bands themselves dress in pretty standard hardcore style.
Keep an open mind. Often, talking about various kinds of hardcore music will make hardcore fans say "That's not real hardcore," but it can be difficult to know what "real hardcore" even is. Avoid these kinds of arguments. Hardcore fans are defensive about their culture and want to preserve it against outside influences. Learn about the history of the genre and the culture and you'll be safe. At least give new hardcore styles a listen before deciding what you think. New and strangely popular subgenres like crunkcore and electronicore mesh hardcore sounds with EDM and pop-rap culture and are especially controversial, sometimes seen as marketing schemes more than actual music. If you don't like it, throw on an old Minor Threat record and move on.
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