Swedish Metallers Manimal – AFM Records
Since my return to the US and most recently after the partial lifting of Covid-19 social distancing restrictions, I’ve become aware of subculture groups in my community. I live in an Oregon college town where there’s a large, diverse youth population. The “style” within each subculture is unique and striking, and although I’ve wanted to take photos while waiting in shopping and take-out lines, thought it unwise.
Sneakerheads + Hypebeasts – highsnobiety.com
Haul Girl – atwcweb.wordpress.com
I must have seemed like a relic to most of these young people, as they clearly eyed me with caution…. A couple I stood in line with recently didn’t appear to have any visible areas left on their body not covered with tattoos or piercings. I wondered if the nose and tongue piercings were painful and remember squirming when I got my ears pierced in college. I overheard their loud discussion of a body “cutting” practice, and tried not to flinch, although that may have been the idea. I’m not a prude or stranger to the punk subculture which first emerged in the UK and US in the mid-1970s when I was young and living in San Francisco. Not wishing to sound judgmental, today’s version seems more severe, but so are the times in which we live. sigh
Youth Subculture China – qumin.co.uk
Lagos Youth Culture – Highsnobiety
Even during a recent visit to Berlin, I didn’t notice subculture attire that rivaled what I’ve seen recently here in Oregon – a unique place in its own right. I confess to purchasing a pair of studded black leather boots during my time in Berlin, but stopped short of shaving my head or getting a bizarre hairstyle. Over the past year, Berlin fashion has tamed considerably – not so on “the other side of the pond”.
Internet Artish Milly Soda – wearedrome.com
Seapunk Fashion – Wikipedia
Some of the articles I read expounded on the process of “examining youth subcultures online”. They discussed how “things became blurred and confusing, compounded by the fact that online subcultures seem to come cloaked in layers of knowing irony”. I felt the same, and at the end of the process also wondered if what I was reading and looking at was “meant to be serious or a joke”. Their conclusion was that “there’s plenty of stuff that seems weird and striking and creative out there, but there’s something oddly self-conscious and non-committal about it: perhaps that’s the result of living in a world dominated by social media, where you’re under constant surveillance by your peers”.
1970s Punk Fashion – Pinterest
At any rate, it appears these may be the five major subcultures, at least at the moment – and I apologize in advance if this list is already outdated. Some may have come and gone before I heard of them. Click on the categories if you want to learn more.
Metallers
Goth
Molly Soda
Haul Girl
Seapunks
EMO Youth Subculture – ResrearchGate
Urban Youth Subculture Fashion – pittimmagine .com
EMO and Scene Culture – lseclarion.com
Clockwise – Metallers, Goth, Molly Soda, Haul Girl, Seapunks Photograph Rex Christopher Furlong Public Domain
Steampunk – radicalz
1970s Punk Fashion – Preloved
Dior 2019-2020 – moderncultureoftomorrow
Youth Subcultures 2020 Since my return to the US and most recently after the partial lifting of Covid-19 social distancing restrictions, I’ve become aware of subculture groups in my community.
