Introduction

The paper discusses the subcultures which are mostly associated with fashion and how they have changed diversely over the past decades.  Subcultures are the group sharing rules, norms or values that are believed by the majority of a particular society. The current technologies have even made it easier for fashion enthusiast to be able to take pictures of their cultures and fashions and share them to others who in most cases get to like and practice them as well.  A lot of people have also taken advantage of the technologies and provide the fashion attires through the online platforms where people get to order, and their goods are shipped to them. Gone are the days when people had to walk to shops and get clothes or inquire about the fashions is long gone. The online platforms bring various buyers and sellers together as well as fashion enthusiasts who get to interact remotely. Every of the mentioned group has their intentions of using social media platform like buyers are looking for clothes and latest fashions, sellers seem for buyers as they use their various tactics while the fashion enthusiasts are eager to showcase their cultures and even make others to like and practice them.

This papers discusses some of the new subcultures and modern cultures, how the modern cultures are borrowing from the old days’ fashions and even give examples of some fashions that were regarded popular in the past as well as those that are trending today. Subcultures allow the identification of a person and relate them to a given group in society. This can be behaviorally, semiotically and philosophically. It provides different views and values to the inferior status hence interpreting the social world. Subcultures formulate their regulations and rules. Various pieces of research show that music and clothing attachment symbolizes people to particular subcultures. It can also show beliefs, ethnicity, interest, economic and social status (Bennett, 1999). Even though some early response has associated different behaviors with the dressing style, music or even use of various cosmetic, this is currently changing as the subcultures also get modified to suit the current generation. The modification has though created a gap between the old and the young people in the society where the old view the contemporary subculture to be out of rules and is not suit for people as they do not adhere to the social norms.

Early day Fashion subcultures

As described earlier, various fashions identify a group of people or community as it communicates their norms and values. These practices were prevalent in the early days and were highly appreciated (Vale & Andrea, 1989). Some societies have remained to be known due to their subculture practices in the past years. The fashion subcultures in the early days seemed so persuasive and were decent making them be appreciated all over the society by people of all ages. Several societal subcultures from the older days like the Rockers and MODs have been researched on in this paper and discusses.

The MODs and the Rockers subcultures

Various subcultures have been studied for the past years with the most visited being MODs. This is a subculture that started in 1958 to influence the trends of fashion in various countries. Styles of choice recognized the MODs subculture for instant men would wear suits and only be seen on scooters while ladies could wear short skirts or dresses with a short haircut. The MODs subculture was associated with music and bands like The Kinks and The Beatles and many others. This period was when the subculture fashions were iconic and free. The chief purpose of these subcultures was to show the identity by the use of clothes while expressing their feelings and enhanced speech. It could also change with time making the fashion more passionate providing huge creative approaches the groups have. It was also to inspire and motivate other people to join the subculture.

Unlike the MODs, the rockers subcultures were centered on the motorcycles. The rockers attire also reflected that at any moment they were out on the streets. Their attire was majorly protective clothes like jackets and motorcycle boots. And like the MODs, they also had their music of choice that matched their fashion trends which were1960s rock and roll.

Early fashion trend example.

In the 20^th century, that was in the early 1990s; various fashion trends came into existence most of which were considered elegant. Though, among all the fashions that trended at that age, jam suits became more popular making it the attire of the time. Worn by most celebrities, jam suits were the trend in the 20^th century. An outfit that was regarded to fit any occasion be it casual or official because of its design and materials in which it was tailored (Vale & Andrea, 1989). Legging tried to beat it out as it was also popularly worn at the time as a pant with the long boots by the ladies, but jam suit stood out. Actually, jam suits are still worn till to date.

Causes to change in subcultures

Various factors have resulted in the present change in fashion trends. Among them is technology. The technology has come with multiple social media in which people get to connect and exchange information photos and even ideas. Currently, also doing shopping can be done online and shipped to your home. All these have changed fashion and how fashion trends. The current fashion subcultures in most cases, more so for the ladies, do not portray the societal values or norms but what celebrity they like their fashion or style, the desire of looking good and appealing as the other person applying the fashion. This has however turned to be unhealthy in most cases. Though, still there exist fashion enthusiasts who blend the old-day style with that of today to get an elegant look.

Among the social platforms that have transformed the fashion trends is Facebook and Instagram. These two platforms are accessed by nearly five million people from various parts of the world who can exchange information, pictures, and ideas and even make online purchases. The users of these platforms have therefore taken advantage of the number of users to be able to showcase their fashions to other people whom they hope to like and even practice them. To also catch up with the generation expectations on fashion trends, various modifications are continuously done on the subcultures so that they can apply them. The sellers of these fashion attires like lipsticks and other makeups as well as clothing are also using these platforms to sell their items as there exists a good market. This way, fashion companies can market their products to a broader population by just posting fashion trends. The users of these platforms Facebook/ Instagram are then able to browse the displayed images and even save the ones that interest them. The purchase can as well be made through this site from anywhere. Among the available social media platforms, Instagram seems to have a massive influence on subculture fashion. It is one of the popular and the most used social media platform to address and show fashion is Instagram. Everyone with an Instagram account can post their image where others who follow them will see their fashion and even give their comments about the posted fashion. Subcultures are currently considered to be fashions that are readily found in Instagram, and the style influencers and bloggers with the fashion influence will be giving their views according to the clothing choice, religion, attitude, and political views. And various Instagram accounts that post the subculture signified clothing for the youths had been noticed to overlook the actual quality of those clothes. They are as well taken as if they were immutably secure originality.

Current Fashion Subcultures

The modern subcultures are not being recognized as those of the past decades. According to (Haenfler, 2016.), this may be as a result of how much Britain has changed. The theory that young people are okay with just entertainments and do not care of what it feels to put on eye-catching clothing is another reason for the demise of recognition of the current subcultures (Kinzey, 2019). The next argument goes that the current fashions cannot be recognized easily since people have a lot of things to focus on and do not have time or money to explore. These and many demanding activities that several people have to attend to are the main reason that the majority are not able to recognize modern subcultures. Though, online social media, a platform liked by majority regardless of how fixed they can be, is trying to reach people with the available fashion trends. Though much negative feedback from people is likely to affect the recognition, these online media, like Instagram, are trying to embrace the feedbacks without minding other people perceptions. The older individual who could have helped in the subculture’s transformation is also very scaring making it difficult from the upcoming generation. The current fashion lacks trends as everyone is okay with their way of clothing.

Hipster, one of the clothing that borrows from the past fashion trends and still is used to identify the current subculture take the style of other culture that does not even relate or belong to. This type of subculture may be termed as a hybrid. It borrows from the past culture in which it has no relation to and is used in the current subculture to portray another subculture fashion. The significant difference from this clothing, hipster, however, is the that compared to other several subcultures, the wearer does not readily identify themselves as hipsters. The main reason for this is because, hipster have some negative views related to their wearer like arrogant, the refusal to associate with some other things but the nihilistic attitude.

Current fashion trend example

The current fashion that is trending among celebrities is the no pants trends. Various singers and actresses have fitted the attire where there is no pant underneath the dress top, and the outlook is elegant. This among many others like mixing the sportswear in the outfit borrows to the old-day fashions though modified to meet the needs of the current generation. Hipster fashion has also not been left behind, a fashion that have survived various ages. The diagram below shows a no pant fashion trend.

Conclusion

The paper aims at exploring various social media platform as the primary cause of the current changes to the subculture fashions, its influence on the subculture fashion concerning the current generation and it promotes various types of subcultures. The essay tries to show how people still value the subcultures and how much effort they make to reach others too or even influence them. Alternatively, with Instagram as one of the social media platforms that are active in subculture fashions, it shows how people have reversed their focus from fashion trends to other activities with most attending to jobs. Every section of this research paper will be explained in detail in the final research project.

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