How to Dress Punk – Tips and Advice

How to Dress Like | Jessica | May 4, 2009 at 3:12 pm

It may not be as common to dress punk anymore, but there is still plenty of great punk clothing out there to be worn. Dressing punk is all about going against the mainstream and rebelling against the normal order of things. To dress punk, there are a few basic elements to include in your outfits.

T-Shirts

T-shirts are a very punk item to wear. The most part, punk t-shirts are printed with punk band logos. These can be t-shirts from old concerts or they may be new t-shirts recently printed. The t-shirts should generally be black, white or a neon color. And if the t-shirt is torn up a little bit, that will contribute to the overall look.

Jackets

It’s hard to be punk without a leather jacket. Punk style often revolved around wearing a black leather jacket with metallic ornaments on it. These might be metal spikes that could be on the shoulder or sleeve of the jacket. You can also attach buttons that represent punk bands to the front of the jacket. If the jacket has a lot of snaps or zippers, those will work perfectly. If the jacket has no metal adornments, you can put dozens of safety pins on it to give it that metal jingle.

Boots

Some punks wear Converse All Star hi tops, but often, the punk look requires boots. Combat boots are the epitome of punk, and they are still made by several different companies. Dr. Martens makes great combat boots in punk style and in many different colors. While black combat boots are the classic punk look, red and white also work well for the look.

Women can also wear high heeled pumps as a part of their punk look if they don’t wish to wear combat boots. High heels can be very much punk if worn with fishnet stockings or with tight jeans that are rolled up at the bottom. The pumps themselves should be either black or in a bright neon color. If you can find wildly-patterned pumps, those will also work well.

Jeans

The best pants to wear when dressing punk are certainly jeans. Any type of jeans can be made to look punk, though dark blue and black jeans are generally the best types. But like everything else punk, you don’t want them to look too mainstream. That’s why slashing your jeans, cutting holes in them or even burning holes in them can make them look far more punk. Men generally wear black belts with silver studs on them that look like spikes.

Some girls wear jean shorts with torn up tights or shredded pantyhose under them as their primary punk statement. They may also wear very tight jeans with a t-shirt that is cinched with a studded belt. For women, the belt doesn’t have to be black with silver spikes. It can be a white belt with spikes or a black belt with rivets or safety pins on it. It can also be in a bright neon color with a wild pattern on it.

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14 Comments

  1. Carlos Karloff says:

    Anyone who needs to read this to work out what punk is shouldn’t be on the street in the first place. Even worse is that this gives the impression that punk is about nothing more than wearing the right clothes. OK, maybe that’s all it has become, but this advice is really only for people going to a “P” theme party.

  2. Jessica says:

    I agree Carlos, there is a LOT more to punk than clothes. This is not about living, thinking, being punk, it is just information for those who want to dress punk for some type of dress up event or Halloween.

  3. Jonathan says:

    PUnk is doing what you want.

  4. Zakky says:

    Punk is not about the clothes you wear. Punk is more of how you act and the type of punk music you listen to. There is Cyber punk/Punk Rock/Punk Pop, and many more i’m sure. Kids that listen to punk can wear what ever they please, and if they listen to punk music, then they are a punk rocker, or fit in that area of the social label

  5. anna dimento says:

    i agree with you zakky punk is also how you think and act. if you dont understand me look it up

  6. Adam says:

    I also agree with Zakky that its not about the clothes but dressing according to your music preferences. There is a lot more to punk clothing, as it is different and in some ways also a more creative style of dressing. In the case of punk t-shirts you can also opt for custom printing with various designs and your favorite punk bands and artists.

  7. xcorndogsx says:

    “punk is whatever we made it to be” – d. boon

  8. aaron says:

    umm..well first if your looking this up wouldnt you be trying to be something your not? honistly some one who listins to punk rock shouldnt have to dress punk it would be kind of like a uniform and isnt most punk music about rebeling and such (well the stuff i listion to is) then why dress punk to act apon it its like wearing a uniform to express whagt you stand for and most punk is stateing fuck the army fuck the gov basicly fuck most things in uniform and basicly being a hipocrit cause your wearing one. i love punk its my favorit thing the only thing i wear that is punk is convers (there cheap) skate shoes (i skate) tight jeans (confy) and i sow patches onto these jeans because i advertise my favorit bands also so band t,s i mean i look punk if you could say but what the hell i dont understand punk isnt a fasion it should be labled with a uniform, so fuck off dress how you want.

  9. stevie says:

    i know what punk stands for, my bf is one, he has explained. the only reason i’m on here reading this is to help make my punk costume for halloween more authentic. its something i’m not, so i’m going to try and achieve the look.

  10. caroline says:

    Yea punk is mainly about being your self and not giving a shit about all the other motherfuckers out there BUT I found this very handy, I get classified of a moxture of emo and punk and I find this quite handy for a different kind of style to wear

  11. matt says:

    haha i love reading these things

  12. stitches says:

    dude i fuckin hate how punk is classified, anyone whos reading this… dont follow it i dont even know how the fuck i came across this site… hehe im with everyone on this but matt… haha right on same same. peace out

  13. Ben says:

    screw all of you! this is about dressing punk, what if the sex pistols and the misfits and all the other ones i’m to fucking pissed to remember wore abercrombie and bitch clothing??? You’d listen to a guy in a powder blue sweater vest yell at society??? I just need to know what I can do to make myself look more punk, plain black gets boring after 3 or 4 years!

  14. dave insurgent says:

    “punk is dead” – crass

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