FIVE

Day Five is my second to last day of alternative fashion, and one of the best. It was most certainly goth, and luckily everyone I spoke to was able to identify that.

I wasn't that out of place though, in the midst of a friend's Mad Hatter's Tea Party. I spent the day speaking to smart and/or interesting people, and interviewed most of them, as well as other miscellaneous park-goers in Botanical Gardens.

1) A little girl told me that if she had to give me a rating out of ten, she would give me a five.

2) A random hipster (beer in hand) commented that parts of me were attractive but others were not. He said if I was trying to go for a sexy look I shouldn't wear the boots that I was, and should try to go for more mainstream make-up.

3) Something one of my friends said, which I really liked, though it is sad, is

"Beauty doesn't really exist anymore. It's all conformity. And even when you are beautiful, you still aren't really beautiful enough."



Learn ya damn subcultures people!

A shockingly irritating thing I've noticed in my short experience of this experiment so far is people's complete inability to tell subcultures apart. Often terms like "gothic", "punk" and "rock" are just lumped together and used interchangebly because they're all alternative when really they're nothing alike.

A subculture is a group of people with a culture that differentiates them from the larger culture which they belong to. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subculture) In the book Subculture the Meaning of Style, a subculture is described as a subversion to normalcy. Subcultures can be perceived as negative due to their nature of criticism to the dominant societal standard.

What I have been doing and will continue to do is attempt to dress convincingly to represent a specific subculture.

Let me clarify some basic ones for you:

1) PUNK is a subculture that developed predominantly in the United Kingdom in the mid-70's, possibly from the music genre punk rock, characterized by distorted guitars and noisy drums. Plaid, tartan and kilts are popular in punk fashion, as well as brothel creepers, Doc Martens, leather jackets and mohawks. Punk fashion often displays aggression, rebellion, and individualism.

2) GRUNGE is a subgenre of alternative rock music, and inspired a subculture that reached its peak in the early 90's with the popularity of bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. It originated in the United States, predominantly in Seattle. Grunge fashion usually consists of thrift-store and outdoor clothing like flannel shirts, and a generally unkempt appearance, placing importance on comfort. Grunge fashion is messy, raw and comfortable.

3) GOTH is a contemporary subculture that began in England in the 80's. It is influenced by 19th century Gothic literature and horror films. Stereotypical goth fashion is seen as dark and morbid, and usually includes dark eyeliner, painted fingernails and period-styled clothing (all black, of course). Styles often express pagan, occult or other religious imagery such as pentacles or medieval crosses. Goth is not an all-encompassing term for alternative fashion, contrary to popular belief, and is a largely feminine subculture.

4) ROCK developed from the biker subculture and rock 'n roll music in the United States in the 1950's. It is characterized by leather jackets, leather pants, ripped jeans, motorcycle boots and motorcycle goggles. Popular rock bands include Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and The Runaways.

5) HIPSTER is another contemporary subculture that is sometimes described as indie or alternative, though there are subtle differences between the three. It is generally associated with independent music, non-mainstream fashion, and alternative lifestyles. As for hipster fashion, that's hard to describe, so I'll borrow this from http://thedailycougar.com/2011/02/25/survival-guide-identify-avoid-hipsters/,

"The favorite accessory of a hipster is irony. A hipster will display his or her sense of irony through an ironic tee, a ’20s style hat worn with a pair of leggings from the ’80s and a dress from the ’70s with a pair of moccasins, a bowler hat worn with a pair of thick rimmed glasses from the ’50s and a Metallica shirt under a cardigan."