Style Report: Melbourne 02/07
[ 26 February 2007 ]
Girls:
If under the age of 20, a big, black, back-combed nest with a huge combover fringe is de rigeur. Couple this with super-tight black jeans, graphic-print t-shirt in red or pink, & Converse. There is also a lot of jewellery featuring skulls, roses, bows & “antique”-looking keys which actually aren’t & cost $20. Big, round sunglasses are a must.
If over the age of 20, girls either go for dude-I’m-too-indie-for-you or a super-girly kind of ensemble.
The dude-I’m-too-indie-for-you look entails a pair of 80’s-inspired sunglasses, big hair, a top tucked into anything high-waisted (skirt or trousers), & high heels which don’t match anything else. It’s kind of androgynous & definitely different, but I wouldn’t call it stylish & it’s almost like dressing by numbers. Once you’ve seen it a bit, you could put something like it together easily. (Please see here for examples & evidence. That blog makes it look as if Melbourne exists in a graffiti’d alleyway, & it pretty much does.)
The super-girly look requires what we in the business call a “party frock”, meaning something dull & nu-floral (I just invented that but it works & you know what I mean, right?) cinched in with a vintage (or vintage-looking) belt around the waist. You must have long hair, ballet flats, a big tub of bronzer & very sparkly teeth to pull this off.
Boys:
If under the age of 20, please see above. There is less jewellery on the boys but certainly a lot of lip piercings & eyeliner.
If over the age of 20, there is some sort of “ironic kool” movement going on. Tight pants with naff sunglasses are popular, as are floppy overgrown hairstyles. Boys here wear quite good shoes which they like to shine a lot. Over all, Melbourne people are quite experimental & so it is rather exciting to see boys wearing waistcoats & hats, though at the moment it is pretty much too hot to do that. Tight, tailored suit jackets are acceptable night-time wear as well as skinny ties.
Notes:
I always thought Wellington, New Zealand was the emo capital. At least, until I moved to Melbourne. The amount of emo kids in this city absolutely blows my mind.
People here are very keen on getting tattoos on the underside of the top of their arm, near the armpit. Maybe it’s a badge of triumph, since I must tell you that getting tattooed there is quite painful.
Pointy shoes & leggings are very big here.
What’s going on style-wise where you live?
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala
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tights! so many footless tights…i dislike them, so it makes me sad.
i live in sydney, and go to uni in bansktown, where everyone dresses up as if they are going clubbing, commplete with perfectly styled hair and make-up, and stiletto heels. however i live pretty much in newtown, where everyone layers extensively and dresses a bit more ‘alternative’.
this wasn’t very detailed. but it’s a general idea!
Please come up with a plan to rid this beautiful city of the emos and I will love you forever.
I’m in transit at the moment. Came from Sydney, currently in Melbourne, soon to be in Perth. Those horrible footless tights and emos are everywhere. There’s no escape.
Not that I can talk, the amount of thought I put into my wardrobe is pretty minimal.
And yes, I’ve never seen so many emo kids as I did at Flinders Street Station.
Everything that was in fashion when I was in Melbourne last year(May-Aug)is in fashion now here in Vancouver. Skinny pants, boots..blah blah. Also add those footless tights and ballet flats & plaid wool jackets.
I live in Texas actually, and the look is pretty much solid Hollister and American Eagle here. Jeans, polos, long razor-cut hair etc. Not much variation on that theme.
I actually don’t really have anything against emo kids. I think they’re kind of cute. I was a teenage goth, I mean really, who am I to talk? Being a teenager really sucks sometimes & if dressing like that & listening to sad music helps them, then I’m all for it. I just think it’s a funny uniform. It’s like stylish goth!
Same thing with Melbourne really. I guess all of Australia is pretty much similar. Altough here in Sydney, we’d have a lot more skimpier clothing due to the weather I guess.
It’s nice to see everyone really dressing “alternatively”. Good to see everyone releasing there artistic sides, though sometimes you do have to question whether it is actually such a great thing
scene kiiiiiids.
sounds a lot like britain, actually. the yoof here seems to be split equally between the scene-kid-by-numbers look described above, & the urban-outfitted ‘vintage boho’ look.
also, far too many fat people wearing leggings as pants. not nice.
xoxo
I prefer scene kids to a t-shirt-&-jeans ensemble, but eventually a uniform is just that, & it gets boring. What amazes me is that there are so many pairs of sunglasses that survived the 80’s that are available for purchase.
Also have I mentioned that I CAN’T WAIT for skinny jeans to go out of fashion?!&*^(@))
Unfortunately, I live in a college town in the US mid-west. For girls, the way to go is either 80s retro chic (lots of footless tights, metallic leather, and hair that keeps getting bigger) or art student grunge (jeans or broomstick skirt with paint on it, vintage kids t-shirt, and over-sized zip-front hoodie).
Boys either wear the “Bro” look (pants that are too baggy and fall down, over-sized polo shirt with a popped collar and a visor, which may or may not be turned to the side and upside down) or the I’m-kind-of-emo-but-not-really look (tight jeans, sideswept emo hair, thick-framed glasses, an obscure band shirt, and, oddly, a smile).
I’m studying in Spain right now, and a lot of the girls are wearing puffy metallic jackets with fake fur trim on the hoods, short jean skirts, black leggings, with black stiletto boots and lots of jewelry.
That look is pretty uniform actually . . .
i live in dearborn heights, which is sortakindabutnotquite near detroit. there seems to be an increasing flood ov those who desperately want to be emo, but refuse to go all the way! a girl i keep seeing on the street has the top ov her hair honey brown and the underneath bright yellow, with emo bangs. also, it’s like mid-back.
all i can think to myself is “WHY?!”
clothing wise, they still shop at hollister, but now with added 80’s influence and a bizarre rabid liking for led zeppelin. (again; why?)
the basic girl under 20 uniform: messy ponytail updo. long singlet. tight jeans with ugg boots. and, oddly, a random emo or alt rock hoodie.
it is either this, or flat out emo. they also tend to try to pierce themselves, and end up with crooked labrets and blow-outs. it is not pretty.
basic boy under 20 uniform is:
a facial piercing which he takes out for class. he thinks this makes him exceedingly hardcore.
from this point it can go either to the “i wish i was ghetto”, “i am emo”, or “weird pseudo emo”.
the first generally has everything being too big. they also tend to spend too much money on a polo shirt that is 3X, when they wear a medium.
the second is your basic emo kid. around here, that means it’s essentially a gay male stripper, with a black tshirt and glasses. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=145933244
louis is a pretty good example ov this. hopefully he doesn’t kill me for blogging him, haha. =_=
the last one includes those who date the pseudo emo girls. they have light brown floppy razor cut hair, listen to “retro bands”, and essentially live in tight jeans and vintage tshirts.
past the age ov 20, they don’t seem to have ditched the teenage goth look yet. it does end up being pretty cute on the guys, because they wear waistcoats and suits all the time. ditto for the girls, who are going for retro flouncy black dresses and fishnets. (admittedly, this gets boring, butttt…it’s better than the BLACK HAIR IN UR EYES look seemingly stolen from japanese horror movies…)
I’m in a large urban setting, but around university I have to say my pet peeve for ‘way of dress’ is oversized sweatpants rolled up & the ends tucked within Uggs. Even if you’re going ‘casual’, there are better ways than that!
In Wellington at the moment we have pretty much the same as described with an addition of the ‘Fluro kids’ as a piece of bathroom graffiti informed me (http://www.flickr.com/photos/annarose7/324434655/) Like the toilet dispenser says I think it’s just a rebellion against the ‘emo’ look… so lots of colour, huge baggy printed t-shirt… very 80s… here’s an example: http://neonsleep.com/partyphoto/wellington/crackcrackthief/DSC03817.jpg
Ahaahahah you guys crack me up!
I want belts over dresses and cardis to go away!
i don’t live in helsinki, but i have been there. check out their style on this site: www.hel-looks.com it’s constantly updated and offers hours of browsing pleasure!
la la
i actually have a correction for you….the girls and boys under 20, sound like their scene, not emo.
scene is a LOT happier than emo….meaning they wear color haha. theyre into hardcore music (AKA screamo) and they tease their hair like crazyyyyyy…or this may just be in america, i dont know. but i just thought i should throw that out there.