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GRUNGE Fashion Culture & Society
Joseline Ortiz
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Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. History 3. Origin 4. Riot Grrrl 5. Representation Through Social Media 6. Defining the Dress 7. Lifestyle 8. Language 9. Infograph 10. Conclusion 11. Bibliography
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INTRODUCTION The pure definition go Grunge is grime and dirt, but after the 1990s when we hear the word grunge, we automatically think the musical genre and culture that came along with it. Seattle is the home of grunge and was accepted by a big population in the city. It quickly grew and became a popular phenomenon in the United States in 1991. The culture was spun of the Generation X and college students that were into punk rock and underground. In Seattle, the movement was more localized as melodies filtered through the mist, inspired and tempered by that city's three principal drugs: espresso, beer, and heroin. It is a public level on the sense that they did not hide who they were or what they thought and valued.
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HISTORY Grunge was born in the home of Seattle, Washington in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Seattle was not typically known for its originally on music, but it was known for being some what of a culturally isolated place. Then, Sub Pop Records Label emerged in 1988 by co-founders, Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop Records is a medium-sized record label based in Seattle and is known for being apart of the “grunge movement.” Sub Pop also sent a catalogue to the nation's alternative-rock intelligentsia describing its bands' punk-metal guitar noise as "grunge," the first documented use of the term. The label launched their Single Pop Singles Club, which had early released singles to artist like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, and other local bands. In September 1991 they released Nirvana's second album, "Nevermind". Nirvana was still a small scale local act, mainly recognised for emerging from Aberdeen. The song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was on replay on MTV and reached to the younger generation and consumer. From this the phenomenon gre big around the United States and reached out to a bigger audience and a mass culture was created.
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ORIGIN The grunge subculture grew up on Heavy Metal, Punk, Hardcore Punk, and Indie cultures in the late 1980s. The subculture came from the musical genre Grunge that took elements of each of the genre/cultures mentioned, to create and define its sound, by artist like the U-Men, Fastbacks, The Melvins, Mudhoney, Black Sabbath. The individualistic subculture tended to reject the latest fashions and projected a feeling of indifference that was reflected in their individual expression from their lyrics and music to their disheveled appearance.
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Riot grrrl Within the Grunge culture, gender equality was known to be more acceptable and the number of youths having friends of the opposite sex was rising. This had an influence on the rise of the Riot Grrrls, which was a women's collective, organized around the music scene, that produced fanzines and recordings, and commentary on the position of females in society at large. It was centered around Seattle and Olympia, Washington and grew at the same time grunge did, in the late 1980s. Bikini Kill, an all girl punk band from Olympia, were heavy advocates and starters of the movement. Along with them, more mainstream artist, like Alanis Morissette and Courtney Love joined the movement at its later years. The Riot Grrrls mainly focused on supporting and receiving support from one another. They also problematized the issues of rape and degrading women by talking about females desires, body parts, and more taboo subjects. The Grrrls used their bodies as message boards by writing provocative words like slut or whore on their arms, legs, and abdomens. They also encouraged participants to express anger that they felt at the way that they had been treated or victimized due to their gender. The Riot Grrrl also became a label, and mainly denied male bands and consisted of females groups.
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Representation on Social Media Instagram
Twitter (Tweet Reach)
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Wanelo
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DEFINING THE DRESS Grunge dress is not much different from Hardcore Punk, except with less dark colors heavy overtones, and more corporation of color and lighter tones into the wardrobe. Some adopted a bohemian look into their wardrobe with a popularity of suede jackets, others borrowed styles from rural influences, like plaid flannel shirts and work clothes. The dress is eclectic because it was influenced through punk, bohemian, and indie styles. The generally culture did not try to make a statement with their attire, but was a public self form of dress because they let everyone see it and their “uniform� was cohesive under everyone in the culture. The dress can be considered a private self and secret self form because they wore the same attire at home with family and friends and wore piercings and tattoos to modify the attire as well. "Thrifting" is a verb in Seattle and is how many of these youths got their clothing from because it was cheap and easy, much of the shopping was hedonic shopping, instead of going to shop with a purpose. Flannel and leatherette, the boho-hobo staples of
Ortiz 11 second-hand attire, are the basics of a non fashion statement. A flannel shirt or sweater worn around the waist was a precaution against the unexpected climate. Army boots, Doc Martens, or old sneakers were primarily worn. A typical everyday attire would be a flannel t-shirt worn tied around the waist, pearl jam shirt, stocking cap, torn and worn out Long John shorts (pants worn because its cold), Doc Martens, and their messy unwashed long hair. There was no certain message the youths in this subculture tried to portray, but with everything they wore, there was message they were giving off without realizing it. Sock caps, yes were worn because of the cold weather, but wearing the sock caps indicate bonding among the youth and show what group they are apart. Wearing black or black cherry Doc Martens gave off an aggressive message, and this style was brought down from the Punks dress. Tattoos and piercings were a modification to the body, for men and woman it was a sign of rebellion against society and control over their body.
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LIFESTYLE The youth in Seattle spent their formative years watching television, inhaling beer or pot, listening to old Black Sabbath albums and dreaming of the day they would trade in their air guitars for the real thing, so that they, too, could become famous rock-and-roll heroes. This culture of Generation X was highly known for drug experimentation. In 1992, music critic Simon Reynolds said about Generation X, “there’s a feeling of burnout in the culture at large. Kids are depressed about the future.” These were the “latchkey kids” and came home to an empty house or a home with divorced and splitting parents. They tended to have anxiety and dealt with it through drugs, alcohol, and heroin. During the cold weather, the youth like to stay home and take out their frustrations through noise and went down to their basement to play music. Going to shows and underground clubs were what the teens did during their time. The Central Saloon was a popular venue that they liked to hang out, drink, listen to music, play billiards, and pinball machines. At these shows, they liked to get drunk and throw themselves around the venue and onto the stage. Local bands would rent out a hall and play there
Ortiz 13 music there. The culture liked listening to these local bands like, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, U-Men, The Fastbacks, Gas Huffer, Love Battery and many more. When Grunge became mainstream and local bands began to become popular, the youth hated listening to bands that began to be overplayed and became “popular” because they felt it took away from the true meaning and style of the music. While they weren't at show, they were addicted to getting coffee and espresso at local coffee shops and watching movies like The Clerks, Waynes World, Singles, and Dazed and Confused. Watched the Music Television Network (MTV), some television show that are included are Beavis and Butthead and Daria for teens who couldn’t get over the “death” of grunge. Reading local magazines like the Backlash, the only magazine in Seattle devoted to local music, which was also free, was also a pastime of the youth. The youth listened to music and watched media that they could relate to and escape with. Since the culture suffered from depression, the activities they did, including drugs they practiced, were what they felt that had control over and were able escape with.
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LANGUAGE The youth in this era did not really care about they way they interacted to each other and just went with the flow, because they were so laid back. During an interview with Megan Jasper, who worked for Sub Pop Records, stated words that were their slang, but in reality, this was a huge prank on the media. The youth and people in the industry thought it was a great prank while the New York times demanded an apology. Theses are some of the words said to be their slang, but wasn’t. WACK SLACKS: Old ripped jeans FUZZ: Heavy wool sweaters PLATS: Platform shoes KICKERS: Heavy boots SWINGIN' ON THE FLIPPITY-FLOP: Hanging out BOUND-AND-HAGGED: Staying home on Friday or Saturday night SCORE: Great HARSH REALM: Bummer COB NOBBLER: Loser DISH: Desirable guy BLOATED, BIG BAG OF BLOATATION: Drunk LAMESTAIN: Uncool person TOM-TOM CLUB: Uncool outsiders ROCK ON: A happy goodbye
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Infograph
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Conclusion Grunge has made a lasting impact on those who were apart of the subculture, and those who saw rise when it became a popular phenomenon. The grunge movement was shorter than other rock movements, but the sounds, images, and style from the movement have became a big part in rock history. The Seattle Sounds influenced other movements and created an outlet for the youth, Generation X. It was an outlet for those struggling with depression and household issues, and they used drugs and alcohol as another outlet along with grunge. With the way that they dressed, it was recognizable what cohort they were part of, grunge. People early on started to adapt the fashion, but the true grungers did not care what they looked like or what everyone else was wearing. This aggressive, but laid back culture was a small but impactful movement on society yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
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bibliography Drug use by teens edges lower overall, numbers rise during 1990s. (1999, Aug 19). Telegram & Gazette Retrieved from http://ezproxy.woodbury.edu:880/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/268724638?a ccountid=25364 Hilfiger, T. (1999). Rock Style How Fashion Moves to Music. New York, NY: Universe Publishing. McDowell, C. (2013). The Anatomy of Fashion. New York, NY: Phaidon Press Limited. Miller, J. (2011). Fashion and Music. New York, NY: Berg. Miller-Spillman, K. A., Reily, A., & Hunt-Hurst, P. (2012). The Meanings of Dress (Third ed.). New York, NY: Fairchild Books Inc More young students report drug use. (1994, Jun 29). Telegram & Gazette Retrieved from http://ezproxy.woodbury.edu:880/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/268548970?a ccountid=25364 Strong, C. (2011). Grunge: Music and Memory. West Court East, England: Ashgate.