Top 10 Youth Subcultures
The way we dress now is an amalgamation of years of experimenting with cloth and leather. Here’s a look at those past-time youth cultures that helped inspire the styles of people today.
10. Dandys / Flappers
Way back when the US was young and looked like something from Bugsy Malone with grown-ups, Dandy men and Flapper girls prevailed. Red lipstick, hair plastered to the head with lacquer and sequined dresses were the order of the day for girls, and the men wouldn’t be seen dead in anything but a pressed tweed suit with a bowler hat. The youth of that day hung out in back-street jazz clubs drinking moonshine and playing cards. Knowwhaddamean?
9. Greasers
The Greaser look – which was an product of the British Teddy Boy culture – can be summed up by saying the title of one popular film: Grease. Tight jeans, tight t-shits and slicked back hair was the über cool look for the boys, whereas the girls’ had large but perfectly coiffured hair, ra-ra skirts and lots of girly bows. Back then, it was all about looking cool, juke boxes, milkshake bars and smooching in cars.
8. New Romantic / Glam Rock
All hail the eighties, where hair was big, bangles were bountiful and synthesizers rocked the airwaves. The Glam Rockers were all about colored leggings and leg-warmers, a la Fame, Cyndi Lauper and Paula Abdul, whereas the New Romantics preferred a darker look, complete with black denim, make-up for boys and shiny shoes, like The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.
7. Gangsta
The emergence of rap music saw throngs of young people’s jeans get baggier and baggier, and bling increased so much it’s a wonder there aren’t more neck problems. The Gangsta look is still going strong, with clothing lines such as FUBU and Rocawear feeding the need to wear all things ‘street’, and icons such as 50 Cent and Jay-Z carrying on the walk-with-a-limp, show-off-boxers, plaster-on-the-face look like it’ll never go out of fashion.
6. Rockers
In the early sixties, rockers were the rougher, dirtier version of Greasers, but the antithesis to hippies. To be part of this club, you need a mean-looking motorbike, long hair, tattoos and a curled lip. Indeed, this was the era where the Hell’s Angels were born – a subculture still going strong today, with all ages and creeds welcome.
5. Geek Chic
This style has a resurgence every few years, with the latest one still in full swing – think Travis from Gym Class Heroes, Andre 3000, Johnny Depp or Justin Timberlake. You too can achieve this interesting look, designed to make the wearer look intelligent yet interesting, by teaming thick-framed glasses (it doesn’t matter if you need them or not), drain-piped checked trousers with sneakers, and a tucked-in t-shirt.
4. Punks
Some say punk was born in a small specialist London boutique owned by the eccentric Vivienne Westwood back in the seventies. In an extreme reaction to the other popular, neatly groomed and tidy style of the time – mods – the punk look aimed to shock by combining mismatched patterns, ‘work’ boots, ripped denim and lots and lots of safety pins. Combine with a brightly-colored, starched mo-hawk and a bad attitude, and there you have one of the most infamous subcultures of all time.
3. Emo
Radical youth subcultures seem to have died out over time, as there are so many ‘types’ of people that almost every combo has been done. Nevertheless, it would seem the emo look could be classed as the latest new look, even though it does draw comparisons from the Goth and New Romantic looks. Inspired by bands with long names such as The Day My Dog Went to Town or Fire Eat Boy Eat Lamppost, morbid youths all over the world decided to wear their hair in extreme side-partings, don neckerchiefs, black eyeliner, and jeans so tight that they can no longer feel their legs
2. Grunge
The nineties brought us nu-wave rave, complete with neon trousers and shell-suits, which people soon realized was a stupid look. However, it also brought us Kurt Cobain, and with that, a look that was adopted by millions of people for years following. Long, lank hair, knitted jumpers with holes in and scruffy jeans became the uniform of choice for grunge-lovers.
1. Hippies
One of the most iconic looks of all time would have to be that of the hippy. Immortalized by The Beatles, Twiggy, and anyone that went to Woodstock, this look was all about color, flower power, corduroys and looking laid back, man.
Honorary Mentions
Goths
Nobody really knows where Goths came from – they just happened. They’ve always been around in some shape of form and they probably always will be. Just look for the black nail polish, crucifix, bat tattoos, long dark hair and Cradle of Filth t-shirt.
Metallers
Metallers are a bit smarter than grunge, and more colorful than Goths. They love to thrash out at rock concerts, only ever wear band t-shirts, have very long hair and wear a chain on their jeans. They started out in the 80s and early 90s thanks to ACDC and Metallica, and you’ll find them at the front of most mosh pits round the world, drinking – and spilling – cheap beer from a plastic cup.
Written by KATHERINE WATT
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Twiggy was never a Hippie, she was a Mod.
love your site, but this article really is so hugely incompetent. you better check out wikipedia atleast.
but anyway, great site 
Twiggy was a model, who sported both ‘hippy’ and ‘mod’ styles. As with all subcultures, boundaries were blurred over time and the definition of specific styles only truly came years later, when looking back.
Apart from this discrepancy, I really can’t see what else is incompetent about this list. It’s a great look at sociology throughout history.
I’m looking forward to seeing more weird and wonderful subcultures in the future!
What, no Ravers? I’m offended. The electronic dance movement is a HUGE subculture.
This article is very lacking. All your information seems to have been collected from what you assume on sight, or what you’ve been told from other misinformed folk. Shame, really. If the research was done, this could’ve been one of the best articles on here.
who writes this bollocks? Glam Rock is 70s, not 80s.
At least get the fatcs straight, geez.
it started in the 70s but was still massive in the 80s with bands like poison and motley crue
I was noticing that too! And to lump Glam Rock in with the New Romantics is totally wrong.
The picture that they have up illustrates 70’s glam rock – David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Gary Glitter, Queen, etc. 80’s Glam in America took some of the same fashion but morphed into its own disaster. Paula Abdul?? Give me a break
I would say that the “emo” subculuture is by far the most obnoxious.
And I don’t know why all of you are getting so upset, it’s meant to be a fun list, not something that should be taken so seriously!
Oh come on.. how can it be “meant to be a fun list” where so many facts are wrong? shame on you! you shouldn’t have made this list.. or at least you shouldn’t have made those 2 honorary mentions … now they are full of ….
Industrial would have been a neat one to hit up.
You are a fool, nothing right in any them 1-10
In short 1/10 see sir
Goth’s an offshoot of punk really.
When punk first started in the 70’s it wasn’t ‘punk’ as we know it NOW. It was basically ‘hey this is new, this is different this IS NOT mainstream so join us’
ala siouxsie and the banshees, palled around w/the sex pistols and siouxsie are regarded as one of the founding bands for the ‘goth’ genre/style etc. (so not punk in any sense of the word NOW but definently not regular mainstream music either.)
all started because of knowing the pistols, one of the first influential punk bands of the time.
mod culture blurred with hippy culture for awhile. true mods simply embraced what was “modern.” mod isnt simply wallabees fishtail parkas and scooter culture… also emo is a sub genre of punk it started with punk bands like husker du and rites of spring. in the mid 80’s. it stood for emotional hardcore. i love lists like this that are put together by people who have some sort of weird outside knowledge of s*** but never actually lived it. like those vhi documentaries about metal and punk…i d say almost all of this is garbage. glam was started by bands like new york dolls, roxy music, gary glitter, t rex, s*** like that…in the 70’s. you are so far off on that it made me actually laugh out loud. and “metallers” seriously? i have never heard someone referred to as a “metaller.” i think you could say goth came from punk but really it sort of became its own thing after darkwave etc etc…also ramones were pre sex pistols. the term punk actually came from a new york zine in he 70’s documenting the new york post glam scene. malcolm mcclaren just ripped it off.