Clothes within subcultures

Clothing is a very important part of culture. Different clothing is appropriate in certain situations and what we wear determines people’s perceptions of us.  One important type of clothing is uniform. Beck, Bennett and Wall say that ‘it could be argued that we all wear some sort of uniform’. This is true because different subcultures often have a set uniform; there are many different examples of this.

Simnel (1971) looked at the conflicting needs of people to both be part of a social group, or subculture, and to be individuals. Fashion and clothing are ways in which these desires may be negotiated. When youth subcultures first emerged, people joined them depending on their class and status. For example, the skinheads emerged as a way of working class youth to bring back working class communities. Often other people would join subcultures to make a statement. For example, the punks dressed in a way that was seen as ‘abnormal’ and were therefore seen as deviant due to them breaking social norms. Clothing plays an important role in most subcultures. It helps people to identify one subculture from another. The clothing many subcultures where can often also make a statement to the public. Sub cultural clothing such as punk are examples of clothing used as a rejection of class and authority.

When you go shopping, you are able to spot different subcultures among the people that are around you. I often see up to 6 different types of subcultures in one day. I can see this by how people are dressed. In the past subcultures have been more about beliefs but nowadays it is a lot more about fashion and 'fitting in'. People tend to dress in a way that their peers do, so that they feel a sense of belonging. Raver’s tend to wear bright colours to attract attention, however although they try and be 'unique' and to make a statement, they fail to do so as they are still part of a subculture and they are not completely individual. Not many people dress completely how they want to. Everyone is influenced to dress the way they do in one way or another. People that don’t fit into any spectacular subculture are often referred to as 'normal'. I wear clothes which are comfortable and I feel I look good in, but I admit that I am also influenced by my peers and fashion as I don’t want to stand out from the crowd. It comes naturally to people to make judgements about others when seeing them. Beck, Bennett and Wall say that ‘people we meet will interpret our appearance as though we had deliberately constructed a message’. This is true. People tend to dress in way that they know that when people look at them, they will be percieved in a way they want people to perceieve them.