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From Michael Jackson's glove, Alice Cooper's makeup, and the grunge scene, it's easy to see the connection between the music and fashion industries. But how does this connection work? Do the masses pick up on the fashion cues of the band du jour, or is it the other way around? Before I attempt to answer these questions, let's take a look at some of the more prominent rock fashion influences throughout the decades. Beginning in the 1960s, we look to the Beatles for our first signs of fashion influence.
Not only did the Fab Four's music take America by storm, but their appearance did as well. Across the nation, "teenage audiences were mesmerized by this fresh new group with the long hair" (Smith).
This long hair craze swept the nation and teenage males grew 'mop tops.' At first, this seemed rebellious, but soon long haired boys were the norm. Think about it: the hippies grew their hair long, in the 1970s guys grew long shags., and even now, long hair is quite the norm not only for teens, but for some main rock groups now in the spotlight like Eddie Veder and Gavin Rossdale.
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On to the 1970s, where I think perhaps Alice Cooper and other related artists set the stage for the industrial music fashion scene today. With his highly dramatized makeup, Cooper seemed to spark a whole series of related rock looks, including Kiss and recently, Marilyn Manson.
The pale face, black eyeliner, and red lipstick combo seems to be a staple in the fashion scene of today's industrial and Gothic music followers.
Ahhh... the 1980s. Perhaps because I'm a child of the 1980s, I can see the most influence on fads and fashion from music in this decade. Madonna is probably the largest influence of this period. Her innovative style showed in her music and in her clothing. Fluffy, crinoline-type skirts worn over leggings reflected Madonna's early career. Soon, teenage girls everywhere were wearing her skirt/leggings combo and had big lace tied in their hair to boot. A later contribution of Madonna's were her "Gaultier-inspired metal bras" (Turner 3).
Surely everyone remembers the cone-shaped halter that became a staple in Madonna's concert tour. Soon, more and more women were taking to the notion that it was okay to wear undergarments without anything over them. Evidence of this trend can still be seen today; skimpy halters and camisole-inspired tops have become almost a mainstay in our world of fashion. The 1990s saw the emergence of a new form of music, grunge, that launched its own fashion movement of the same name. Early groups of this genre such as Nirvana and Pearljam seemed to have launched the whole alternative look. An early video of Pearljam's "Evenflow" shows Veder jumping around on stage in long, surfer-style shorts and a t-shirt. Soon after, the teen generation took to this casual, baggy look. Long hair, baggy pants and velvet sneakers are now the fashion staple of the grunge followers.
The 1990s have also seen the emergence of a trend that reaches beyond any one band, the concert t-shirt. Not only are concert shirts becoming popular among the masses that attend, but they are being seen more and more on the bands performing. Some bands wear their own shirts, however, many bands don't. Other band's shirts are worn, perhaps in recognition or in respect. For example, soon after Kurt Cobain's death, alternative bands began wearing Nirvana shirts in homage to the artist. Some bands are even wearing their shirtsfor promotional reasons. At The Smashing Pumpkins concert in Cincinnati this past January, part of the band sported the "Zero" shirt that was on sale on the concourse.
It was as if they were saying, "Look how cool these shirts are, we even wear them." Whether it is for promotional reasons, respect and recognition, or because the band may really like the shirts, concert tees have become very popular. Need more proof? Just look around at school the day after a big concert. Probably 90% of the people who were there the night before are wearing some sort of concert shirt to let everyone know what band they had the privilege of seeing. Now that we've looked at a bit of the history behind music and fashion, let's take a different approach to this link dealing with genres of music. In today's pop culture there is a growing number of different genres of music; everything from rap to classical, from modern rock to country and easy listening. Along with these different styles of music are distinctive styles of clothing. For example, when you see someone dressed in jeans and boots walking down the street you probably think, "Oh, I bet he's a country music fan."
How can we assume someone's music preference simply by observing how (s)he dresses? The answer is simple: the jeans and boots getup is widely accepted as being part of the country-western music culture. The same goes for modern rock with the grunge look, hip-hop with the inner city look, and industrial rock with the Gothic look (bear in mind that these are all stereotypes; you still can't judge a record by its album cover). So, there is not only a connection between artist style and fashion, but also between music genre and fashion. The third area we can examine on our trip through musical fashion is the new phenomenon of crossovers: rock is creeping into country, R&B into rap, and hip-hop into modern rock. The result is a cross over in fashion genres as well as music genres. Perhaps the most prevalent example of this lis in country.
Rock has had a profound influence on country music in the past few decades, affecting everything from musical structure to videos to clothing. Perhaps a culmination of the country crossover into rock can be found in a country video I saw the other day by Kevin Sharp. Sharp was wearing the standard cowboy boots, but bore a strong resemblance to Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins. The video was not the typical shoot-me-while I'm-singing type that country had once been known for, but instead was strikingly similar to a recent video by a jazz/ modern rock band named Jamiroquai. Now perhaps we can take another look at the question raised earlier.
Does rock and roll affect fashion or does it merely reflect it? My first instinct says that it is the former of these two theories. Big names in the rock industry seem to have an enormous effect on the fashion of the times because fans emulate their 'rock gods,' and many influences from these artists have carried on throughout the years. However, nothing is ever strictly black and white, so I'm sure that some of the more recent fashion movements, like grunge, are also a reflection of growing fashion trends in society. Fashion is also victim to the style and saturation of the many different types of music available these days. With the crossover phenomenon, even this seemingly apparent answer to the question of how fashion and music are connected is easily debunked. In short, fashion and music are connected by many different factors, each contributing something different to the entire idea of 'fashionable' music.
The Connection Between Fashion and Music. (2022, Nov 16). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-connection-between-fashion-and-music-essay
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