The Grunge Look
The inspiration for this issue came from a recent visit to my favorite restaurant, The Naam. Being located on the trendy west-end side of Vancouver, it gets a lot of volume on a daily basis. If there is one place I know I can go to and be able to spot at least three people sporting the grunge look, this restaurant would be it.
On my last visit there I happened to get a seat right next to a table of men and women all wearing the grunge look, and perhaps at its worst. They were all in their 20s, some maybe bordering 30. Call me narrow-minded, but I felt like I was sitting next to the fashion freak show.
Many, if not all of them, had dyed hair. Purple and black were the common colors. They were all wearing skinny jeans and flats (what else would they wear?) and of course every single one of them had the whole “I haven’t washed or combed my hair in a month” look going on. Most of them were perfectly dressed—if you can consider women looking like men and women looking like they’ve never been introduced to a comb or mirror “perfectly dressed”.
What exactly is the grunge look, anyway? According to trendcentral.com, the new grunge look is “a little bit rock and roll, a little bit punk, and a little bit “white trash”, but overall a little more sophisticated”. It incorporates lots of flannel and plaid, darker colors, jeans (often distressed or destroyed style) and high-top sneakers. Originally combined with straight hair in the 90’s, today’s grunge style is often found borrowing the scene kid’s hairstyle: messy, and if you’re really ‘original’, greasy too.
Back in the 90’s, this look was dubbed “anti-fashion”. However, the second time around this doesn’t seem to be the case. Considering that the grunge look has already made it to runway, I’d say that the label of “anti-fashion” is no longer applicable. It might have had its roots there, but like all things in the world of fashion, it has evolved to something different.
To me, fashion is all about portraying a certain image through the way you look. If you’re trying to land a promotion, you’re not going to show up to work in sweatpants. That’s a no-brainer. In the same way, you couldn’t pay me enough to go around portraying the image of someone who looks as if they need a good scrub down and some money for new clothes.
If anything, I’d be afraid people would come up to me, mistake me as homeless and give me their spare change saying “Take it dear… You need it more than I do.” Not exactly something I ever hope to experience in my lifetime, but you know, that’s just me.
Bottom line? Looking greasy and homeless is just not not my cup of tea. But if you want to pull it off, by all means go ahead—just don’t expect to get anywhere fast in life looking like you just crawled out of a garbage bin.
Oh lighten up. The kids who do the dark gothy skinny jean type look are harmless. I don’t like the plaid shirt, greasy hair look either but it is really not that common IMO. Besides the early 90s are never coming back. You almost got in it your post but not quite obviously. Grunge back then was actually rooted in something, it had a reality, and it only emerged in ‘92. A lot of us started our grungy look as far back as ‘87. The younger kids don’t know this and can’t be bothered of course. So there is a new army of disaffected teens who don’t want to wash or dress. Big fucking deal.
September 29th, 2008 at 1:20 am