I'm not a huge fan of punk (although I love The Ramones). I was always somewhat bothered by a culture which purported to be anarchic, yet demanded strict adherence to a dress code. They hated the poseur disco dollies and yacht rock preppies because they were too much a part of the establishment, and therefore couldn't think for themselves. Yet, their own culture had do's and don'ts that perhaps demanded more goose-stepping in line than any other group.
Of course, isn't that always the way it goes? A small set of blokes with spiked hair and nose rings, who truly are counter culture, turns into a formalized fashion line once it gets popular. The same could be said of the hippie movement, grunge, rap, heavy metal, disco or, for that matter, any fringe group that got sucked into the mainstream.
Anyway, I've come across this 1977 handbook to dressing like a punk rocker (with a young Belinda Carlisle on the front) and thought I'd share.
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