Photo:
Courtesy of Versace; Courtesy of Blumarine; Imaxtree/Reveligion; Courtesy of Roberto Cavalli; Imaxtree/Fernando Claro
Considering the recent return of all things Y2K-related, it was only a matter of time before low-rise jeans and butterfly-embellished pieces gave way to darker throwbacks from the past—aka, the return of emo fashion. Anyone who came close to being a teenager or was a full-on teenager between mid-2003 and 2014 can remember when the only bands anyone cared about were Panic! At the disco, Simple Plan and Avril Lavigne. Or how, after school (or if you happened to skip math class), the place to shop for emo essentials was Hot Topic – skinny jeans, tulle jumpsuits, hair bows, studded belts, vans and rubber band bracelets. While this alt movement may catch on more compared to others, it is no less impactful.
Emo music goes back to the 80s and took off as other alternative movements did. But unlike other movements, musicians regularly stigmatized this label because they didn’t want their music to be seen as “soft” or too “feminine” with their often hyper-emotional lyrics. This stigma, in a way, also carried over to how the culture at large reacted to the emo fashion aesthetic taking over everything—wearing this look wasn’t going to land you on any “best dressed” lists. in that time. But things change, and a search through the latest runway collections or celebrity looks can tell you that, like it or not, this alternative aesthetic continues to be popular.
