Music & Fashion: How Does What We Hear Determine What We Wear?
By Georgia Millman-Perlah
2019 Twiddle concert in Burlington, VT - Taken by Georgia Millman-Perlah
We’re all guilty of it: the shameless Instagram stalk of our favorite musicians, the mental creation of how we would immaculately recreate their seemingly flawless style. Musicians are artists, they are influencers. As a media-hungry generation, it’s all too easy to replicate the styles of our favorite musicians.
My dad took me to my first concert when I was 9 years old: we saw Sleigh Bells, a loud noise-pop, metal duo. I was dressed to the nines: black and white striped tank top, hair slicked back, and my brand new, blister-inducing Doc Martens. I fit right in with the crowd of 20-somethings whose music tastes also influenced their style. The next concert I dragged my dad to was Lana Del Rey, a feminine indie-pop singer/songwriter. I wore a flower crown, my flowy patterned pants, and Chacos (a brave choice for a concert nevertheless).
But music and fashion have gone hand in hand for decades. Both fashion and music, style and sound, are some of the most fundamental expressions of self. From flapper dresses in the 1920s to hippie-esque bell-bottoms in the 1970s to a 2003 head full of Green Day-emulating spikes, the music of the time determines how we dress.
The emergence of jazz music in the 1920s catapulted fashion into a new domain. It gave women the freedom to dress and dance. Jazz coincided with the second wave of feminism and often had female-empowering undertones which allowed women to ditch their long, constricting frocks and opt for a shorter, more freeing flapper dress; perfect for boogying to jazz all night long.
When media became ingrained in everyday life in the 1950s, the biggest names in music became iconic and gained cult followings. With stars like Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and Chuck Berry and new media outlets to spread their influence, people across the globe began emulating the style of these rock stars. Where the styles of the 20s were more for function, the 50s saw the emergence of styles for self-expression and fun.
The 60s and 70s are defined by the classic hippie. With bands like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, and The Grateful Dead on the scene, an era of “trippy” fashion and music that was more of an experience than just a song was born. The later 70s saw the first subculture of music and fashion coalesce in the form of punk and later glam rock and 80s goth. The 90s saw grunge emerge with Kurt Cobain of Nirvana heading the movement.
Georgia as a child
From early hip-hop to EDM to K-pop to rap, new music genres from the 2000s to the present-day have created a host of fashion trends that are accessible to a wide variety of the population as everything is spread on social media and artists incentivize their followers with their own clothing brands: Tyler the Creator’s label Golf Le Fleur, Kanye West’s Yeezy, Rhianna’s Fenty. When artists create their own brands it allows their followers to emulate their styles. Most big names in music are also prominent names in fashion. Brand deals make it easy for artists to make money by spreading their personal styles, and more and more people can emulate their fashion. I can’t even count the number of times I have worn baggy clothes and been told I was wearing a “Billie Eilish Outfit.”
Fashion and music are two cornerstones of personal expression and art. You simply do not have one without the other. People dress in accordance with the music they enjoy. Music opens the door for creative representation and an escape from reality and fashion creates a physical way to express that.
Beery, Zoe. An Anachronistic Dancer in the 1949 Film The Great Gatsby. 2017. Racked, https://www.racked.com/2017/5/19/15612000/flappers-fringe-myth. (flapper dress photo) Caption: The 1949 film The Great Gatsby showcases some of the seminal fashion that was debuted during this era.
Kot, Greg. The Grateful Dead: The band that could save music. 2015. Culture, https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150701-the-grateful-dead-the-band-that-could-save-music. (grateful dead concert attire photo) A crowd at a Soldier Field Grateful Dead show exhibits the classic 70s hippie scene fashion.