Evolution of Grunge Fashion
The Music
The term “Grunge” started off as an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the mid-1980s in Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. The grunge sound combines elements of punk rock and heavy metal, but without punk's structure and speed. Grunge was commercially successful in the early-to-mid-1990s due to releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind, Pearl Jam's Ten, Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger, Alice in Chains' Dirt, and Stone Temple Pilots' Core
The 80s & 90s
To know grunge you must know Kurt Cobain. He was THEE style icon of the late 80s and early 90s, he made the cardigan, messy long hair, striped sweaters, and flannels popular.
The look commonly worn by “grunge” musicians in Washington typically consisted of second-hand clothes or thrift store items and the typical outdoor clothing (most notably flannel shirts) of the region, as well as a generally unkempt appearance and long hair. The lumberjack attire was a common sight in the thrift stores near Seattle for the low prices that musicians could afford. Grunge style consisted of ripped and/or baggy jeans, Doc Martens or combat boots (often unlaced), band T-shirts, flannels, oversized knit sweaters (bonus points if it was striped) long and droopy skirts, cardigans, ripped tights, leather jackets, Birkenstocks, and hiking boots. Grunge fashion began to break into mainstream fashion in mid-1992 for both sexes and peaked in late 1993 and early 1994.
Courtney Love has been considered one of the top ten women who defined 1990s style by popularizing the "kinderwhore" style. The kinderwhore look consisted of torn, ripped tight or low-cut babydoll and Peter-Pan-collared dresses, slips, heavy makeup with dark eyeliner,barrettes, and leather boots or Mary–Jane shoes. Kat Bjelland of Babes in Toyland was the first to define it, while Courtney Love of Hole was the first to popularize it.
The 2000s:
Even though the grunge movement died down in 1994 after the death of Kurt Cobain, designers have continued to draw inspiration from the movement from time to time. Grunge appeared as a trend again in 2008, and for Fall/Winter 2013, Hedi Slimane at Yves Saint Laurent brought back grunge to the runway. With Courtney Love of the band “Hole” and Kim Gordon of the band “Sonic Youth” as his muses for the collection.
The grunge look evolves and present itself in the mid 2000s with trends such as low-rise jeans, denim jackets, band shirts, knee length jean shorts, crop tops, cargo pants, trench coats, leather jackets and band shirts. Grunge fashion also embraced the influence of the punk adjacent music scene during this time. Some grunge style icons at this time were Avril Lavigne and members of the band The Strokes.
The 2010s:
During the mid 2010s we started to see mainstream and large scale commercial brands like Forever 21, H&M, Urban Outfitters, and Nordstrom selling grunge basics like ripped jeans (typically skinny jeans), flannels, skirts, boots, tights, and sweaters. During this time, grunge evolved into a more chic look for women. The grunge look for men at this time didn’t change too much, it was typical for the alternative/grunge folks to wear flannels on top of a band shirt with jeans and some converse. Today, we see brands like Brandy Melville start up and embrace the grunge looks from the past during this time in a modern and dialed down way.
The 2020s:
Today, we see teens and young adults bringing back the looks from earlier decades like the late 90s and early 2000s. Some of the looks I’ve seen make a come back especially these past few years have been cargo pants and wide legged pants. A great place to look for old “90s and 2000s” inspiration are on apps like Pinterest and used clothing apps like Depop. In 2021, staple grunge pieces would be oversized cardigans or sweaters, a flannel, a few band shirts from the 90s, cargo pants, mom jeans, doc martens, and converse! If you run out of ideas, ask your parents if they have any clothes from when they were your age! And would it kill you to listen to a little bit of Nirvana today?? (And I don’t just mean smells like teen spirit)
Bring back Grunge 2021!!!
