How to Dress Indie Grunge Like
Incorporate influences from both styles (Grunge + Hippie = Indie) into your new look., Get a pair of skinny jeans., Shop vintage., Get the right tops., Accessorize with scarves., Grow your hair., Get some hats., Follow bands., Avoid the following...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Incorporate influences from both styles (Grunge + Hippie = Indie) into your new look.
Google grunge, then Google hippie to get some general, basic ideas to base your image off of.
While you're at it, you might want to look up people like Florence Welch, Kurt Cobain, Brendon Urie, Christofer Drew, and Death Cab For Cutie, to get ideas for what type of apparel you should be aiming for. -
Step 2: Get a pair of skinny jeans.
Most indie kids nowadays wear skinny jeans.
Avoid the obnoxious bright neon ones, and stick to "classic" light/dark blue ones, dark/light grey, and black jeans.
If you're a girl, or comfortable enough in whatever gender you are, you can get simple ruffled/floral printed skirts too.
If you're unsure what to look for, just google indie girls. , Look for older or older styled clothes.
Raid your parents' closets, go to your local thrift store (you can find TONS of great things there), do whatever you can to shop vintage.
Buy some of the things from Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, H&M, and Forever21.
Avoid most "clubbish" or otherwise bright and neon clothes.
Stick to dulled or darker (don't look goth or emo though, think kind of like what they were in Harry Potter and Twilight) clothes.
Look online also for websites. , Tops for guys- vintage band shirts (the Ramones, Nirvana, etc), plaid button ups (open or closed), sweaters, ugly sweaters (like the old kind of vintage ones? If you're unsure, google Christofer Drew sweaters), Henleys, vests, graphic tees (don't get the ones like "average Saturday: video games, video games, video games!" those are annoying, instead try a site like http://www.threadless.com, and get the more artsy shirts), plain shirts like simple striped tee shirts, v-necks, (H&M sells good v-necks but you can try American Apparel for more low cut, sheer v-necks), solid color hoodies (try colors like midnight blue, black, and grey, nothing like purple, etc) cardigans, and pea coats.
Tops for girls- pretty much the same idea, except you can get a little more feminine, flannel, floral tops, etc.
Like I said pretty much the same idea as guys. , You're going to need a lot of these, avoid band scarves though, or like the cheap ones with glitter stitched into them.
Instead shop for the bohemian kind of "Russian old woman" scarves, I know the Feugo in my mall has them, and the Value Village near my house has TONS.
Also infinity scarves, muffler scarves, and simple plain colored scarves work too.
Bracelets- you're going to want to pile on the bracelets, but don't go for cheap beaded "ravver" bracelets, you'll look like a scene whore.
Instead go for the "St.'s bracelets"
(even if you're not religious, you can always peel the stickers off), arrow-head friendship bracelets, peace sign bracelets, etc.
It should come about midway up your forearm.
Google "Christofer Drew" or "Christofer Drew bracelets" for more ideas on that. , You're going to want it to grow longer, if you're a guy or a girl.
For guys, don't straighten it TOO excessively, or you'll look scene.
Wash and condition it daily, then add some volume product, blow dry it straight, then kind of mess it up on the top.
It takes a lot of experimentation, but it kind of ends up looking like Christofer Drew's hair.
You could also just go natural.
It saves a lot of time if you like your natural hair, but grow it out to about shoulder length.
For girls you have a bit more options.
You could go natural, curl it (then comb through the curls so it's not so stiff) buy a crimper and crimp it. , Crazy fun hats (like were wolf hats, sailor hats, cowboy hats, sombrero hats, army helmets, etc.) are a good option also.
You can get a lot of those on ebay too.
Indian headdress are also pretty fun if your going to a show or something.
However, avoid bright neon. , Try to listen to these types of music:
Anti-folk:
Florence + The Machine, King Missile, Peggy Sue, Supercute!, Hop Along, Plain White T's, AJJ, Nevershoutnever, Musemath.
Punk:
Panic! At The Disco, Green Day, Pierce The Veil, blink-182, Black Flag, Bad Religion, Bad Brains, NOFX, Rise Against, Nirvana, Less Than Jake, Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, Imogen Heap.
Grunge:
Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, L7, Foo Fighters, Silver Chair, Bush, Tad, Mayday Parade, Hole, Sonic Youth, Local H.
Indie:
Modest Mouse, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Death Cab For Cutie, Interpol, Bright Eyes, Wilco, Blur, Oasis, MGMT, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Kills, Superchic.
Folk:
Fleet Foxes, Pentangle, Beirut, Bellowhead, Faun, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Transads, Malinky. , Screamo:
A Day To Remember, Silverstein, Underoath, Pg. 99, Blessthefall, Saetia, Alexisonfire, Circle Takes The Square.
Indie Pop:
Coldplay, Fall Out Boy, Blondie, Paramore, Simple Plan, Echosmith, All-American Rejects, twenty øne piløts, The Verve, Fun., Snow Patrol, Neon Trees. , Go shoeless whenever you can though.
And avoid obnoxious bright, checker pattern, or "ed Hurley" style shoes. , -
Step 3: Shop vintage.
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Step 4: Get the right tops.
-
Step 5: Accessorize with scarves.
-
Step 6: Grow your hair.
-
Step 7: Get some hats.
-
Step 8: Follow bands.
-
Step 9: Avoid the following genres that could be indie
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Step 10: but aren't punk or grungy enough for most indie grunge people to listen to: Mainstream Rock Bands: The Who
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Step 11: Radiohead
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Step 12: Deep Purple
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Step 13: Led Zeppelin
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Step 14: Red Hot Chili Peppers
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Step 15: Boston
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Step 16: Badfinger
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Step 17: White Lion
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Step 18: Get some shoes like Vans
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Step 19: Converse
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Step 20: air walks
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Step 21: moccasins
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Step 22: plain boots (no spikes or anything) flip flops
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Step 23: simple high heels
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Step 24: and pumps.
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Step 25: Try to be retro and vintage over all.
Detailed Guide
Google grunge, then Google hippie to get some general, basic ideas to base your image off of.
While you're at it, you might want to look up people like Florence Welch, Kurt Cobain, Brendon Urie, Christofer Drew, and Death Cab For Cutie, to get ideas for what type of apparel you should be aiming for.
Most indie kids nowadays wear skinny jeans.
Avoid the obnoxious bright neon ones, and stick to "classic" light/dark blue ones, dark/light grey, and black jeans.
If you're a girl, or comfortable enough in whatever gender you are, you can get simple ruffled/floral printed skirts too.
If you're unsure what to look for, just google indie girls. , Look for older or older styled clothes.
Raid your parents' closets, go to your local thrift store (you can find TONS of great things there), do whatever you can to shop vintage.
Buy some of the things from Urban Outfitters, American Apparel, H&M, and Forever21.
Avoid most "clubbish" or otherwise bright and neon clothes.
Stick to dulled or darker (don't look goth or emo though, think kind of like what they were in Harry Potter and Twilight) clothes.
Look online also for websites. , Tops for guys- vintage band shirts (the Ramones, Nirvana, etc), plaid button ups (open or closed), sweaters, ugly sweaters (like the old kind of vintage ones? If you're unsure, google Christofer Drew sweaters), Henleys, vests, graphic tees (don't get the ones like "average Saturday: video games, video games, video games!" those are annoying, instead try a site like http://www.threadless.com, and get the more artsy shirts), plain shirts like simple striped tee shirts, v-necks, (H&M sells good v-necks but you can try American Apparel for more low cut, sheer v-necks), solid color hoodies (try colors like midnight blue, black, and grey, nothing like purple, etc) cardigans, and pea coats.
Tops for girls- pretty much the same idea, except you can get a little more feminine, flannel, floral tops, etc.
Like I said pretty much the same idea as guys. , You're going to need a lot of these, avoid band scarves though, or like the cheap ones with glitter stitched into them.
Instead shop for the bohemian kind of "Russian old woman" scarves, I know the Feugo in my mall has them, and the Value Village near my house has TONS.
Also infinity scarves, muffler scarves, and simple plain colored scarves work too.
Bracelets- you're going to want to pile on the bracelets, but don't go for cheap beaded "ravver" bracelets, you'll look like a scene whore.
Instead go for the "St.'s bracelets"
(even if you're not religious, you can always peel the stickers off), arrow-head friendship bracelets, peace sign bracelets, etc.
It should come about midway up your forearm.
Google "Christofer Drew" or "Christofer Drew bracelets" for more ideas on that. , You're going to want it to grow longer, if you're a guy or a girl.
For guys, don't straighten it TOO excessively, or you'll look scene.
Wash and condition it daily, then add some volume product, blow dry it straight, then kind of mess it up on the top.
It takes a lot of experimentation, but it kind of ends up looking like Christofer Drew's hair.
You could also just go natural.
It saves a lot of time if you like your natural hair, but grow it out to about shoulder length.
For girls you have a bit more options.
You could go natural, curl it (then comb through the curls so it's not so stiff) buy a crimper and crimp it. , Crazy fun hats (like were wolf hats, sailor hats, cowboy hats, sombrero hats, army helmets, etc.) are a good option also.
You can get a lot of those on ebay too.
Indian headdress are also pretty fun if your going to a show or something.
However, avoid bright neon. , Try to listen to these types of music:
Anti-folk:
Florence + The Machine, King Missile, Peggy Sue, Supercute!, Hop Along, Plain White T's, AJJ, Nevershoutnever, Musemath.
Punk:
Panic! At The Disco, Green Day, Pierce The Veil, blink-182, Black Flag, Bad Religion, Bad Brains, NOFX, Rise Against, Nirvana, Less Than Jake, Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, Imogen Heap.
Grunge:
Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, L7, Foo Fighters, Silver Chair, Bush, Tad, Mayday Parade, Hole, Sonic Youth, Local H.
Indie:
Modest Mouse, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Death Cab For Cutie, Interpol, Bright Eyes, Wilco, Blur, Oasis, MGMT, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Kills, Superchic.
Folk:
Fleet Foxes, Pentangle, Beirut, Bellowhead, Faun, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Transads, Malinky. , Screamo:
A Day To Remember, Silverstein, Underoath, Pg. 99, Blessthefall, Saetia, Alexisonfire, Circle Takes The Square.
Indie Pop:
Coldplay, Fall Out Boy, Blondie, Paramore, Simple Plan, Echosmith, All-American Rejects, twenty øne piløts, The Verve, Fun., Snow Patrol, Neon Trees. , Go shoeless whenever you can though.
And avoid obnoxious bright, checker pattern, or "ed Hurley" style shoes. ,
About the Author
Susan Thomas
Brings years of experience writing about creative arts and related subjects.
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