The most headline-grabbing event in recent years related to alternative fashion was the wave of anti-Gothic policies and commentary that flooded through common culture in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre. Simon, Leslie. : dress styles, traditional and modern, from other cultures (such as, various forms of visual and performance art, including painting, sculpture, film and television. underground meaning: 1. below the surface of the earth; below ground: 2. Learn more. Though still popular, these type of small, specialized retailers have become displaced much like mainstream retail outlets by the Internet. Smith,Courney & Topham,Sean. Sartre and Camus were members of Combat, a French resistance group formed in 1942 by Henri Frenay. Hall,Stuart. [2] The meaning behind a certain style, or said style even having a meaning, is up for debate between individual wearers and those outside the style. Dictionary entry overview: What does underground mean? Underground culture, or simply underground, is a term to describe various alternative cultures which either consider themselves different from the mainstream of society and culture, or are considered so by others. The French underground culture which inspired Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg in America in the 1940s was steeped in socialist thinking before the cold war began. Love from LiNa . When a previously non-mainstream style becomes popular the core group of a certain alternative niche may be watered down with dozens or even hundreds of individuals who are not genuinely invested in the advancement of alternative culture or its precepts of individuality and present an image of the subculture not at all related to its traditional members' behaviors. [12] While the qualities of individuality and open-mindedness are associated with alternative fashion, levels of conformity within subcultures, judgemental behaviors and expressions of feelings of superiority exist within certain alternative fashion communities just as they exist in aspects of mainstream fashion and culture. Underground definition, beneath the surface of the ground: traveling underground by subway. Haenfler,Ross. Items from thrift & vintage shops, altered and DIY fashions have also long held a place in alternative fashion to the point where the use of mismatched second-hand clothing is considered cliche to alternative and liberal ideologies. For example, the Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes by which African slaves in the 19th century United States attempted to escape to freedom. "Who's a Hipster?" [6] Alternative fashion generally lays down a challenge to accepted norms, though the reactions received by wearers of alternative fashion from those who adhere to more conventional stylings can be as diverse as the wearers themselves. (2007) A Cultural History of Fashion in the Twentieth Century: From the Catwalk to the Sidewalk. Thank you once again for everyone who has supported Underground Fashion Boutique! (2004)The Post-Subcultures Reader. Often it is the mass social perceptions of the meaning of certain fashions and their relation to a particular niche group that is important in understanding the interaction of alternative fashion with mass culture - a fashion is often more remembered for what it is related to in the popular consciousness than what its wearer's intended it to stand for. The crime, perpetrated by two young men dressed in black trench coats who were known to be fans of heavy, dark themed music, was immediately associated with the Gothic subculture in the media despite the teens' lack of any concrete affiliation with the dress or musical style usually given this label. Underground culture, or simply underground, is a term to describe various alternative cultures which either consider themselves different from the mainstream of society and culture, or are considered so by others. See more. (2004) Subculture: The Fragmentation of the Social. Alternative fashion's influence on mainstream fashion. It can be a visual language that people employ to communicate with each other [7][8] indicating common interests or involvement with similar activities, a challenge to modern conceptions of aesthetic beauty and/or a basic form of self-expression, like painting or writing. An underground activity is secret and usually…. St.John, Graham. Un•der•ground (un’der ground’), n., adj. • UNDERGROUND (noun) The noun UNDERGROUND has 2 senses:. As covered in Ken Gelder's exploration of the history of alternative culture patterns in Western society, "Subcultures: Cultural Histories and Social Practice," alternative fashions have often been used to identify, and even stereotype, members of groups with value systems that diverged from common culture. The 1960s and 1970s underground cultural movements had some connections to the "beat generation" which had, in turn, been inspired by the philosophers, artists and poets of the Paris Existentialist movement which gathered around Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus in the years after World War II. Jack Kerouac (In Esquire magazine in 1958) [3] said: History of subcultures in the 20th century, Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) Poems, Terebess Asia Online (TAO), Children of Albion: Poetry of the Underground in Britain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Underground_culture&oldid=978792943, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 16 September 2020, at 23:55. Hodkinson, Paul. For the first time the printed term "underground" used art-critic Manny Farber (1957). (2007) Goth: Undead Subculture. [20] Some in the alternative community view this as flattering and as a positive expansion of what is socially acceptable, and easily available, fashion. personal attitudes towards concepts such as individuality, consumerism, social constructs on behavior, self-expression, and/or disenfranchisement with what is viewed as "normal" society, considerations of availability and utilitarianism, This page was last edited on 18 September 2020, at 07:14. (See Wounded Knee).[2]. Alternative fashion is expressed, discussed, viewed and proliferated through many of the same channels as mainstream fashion, such as fashion shows, websites, blogs and magazines. This, however, was not the monolithic socialism of the totalitarian Soviet state, but rather the free-thinking and expressive socialism of artists and dreamers attempting to re-think society. Some prominent examples of influences, regardless of genre or label, are: Like many other aspects of alternative culture, alt fashion is often heavily influenced by music and the dress style of individual bands or musicians. Brake,Mike. notable personalities - authors, models, musicians, actors, etc. Many individuals who dressed in any way related to Gothic style, whether or not they associated with this subculture, were targets of fear, anger and suspicion. It is common for projects related to alternative fashion to be independently run by individuals or small groups and to be offered to the public cheaply or free of charge. The commodification of rave fashions in chain outlets and internet boutiques coincided with a media frenzy focusing on drug use in the rave community. The use of subculture terminology in the 21st century to categorize or interpret dress style is often inaccurate, or at the least does not provide a complete picture of the individual being assessed by their 'look,' due to the constant evolution in the meaning, relevance and cohesion of certain subcultures and even the term 'subculture' itself.