Just as shows like Top of the Pops teleported Halford’s biker-clad image into the homes of Brits everywhere, hair metal’s entire existence was thanks to the likes of MTV, where the sex-drugs and rock and roll image went airborne. Inspired by the androgynous glam rockof the 70s, bands like Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Poison, and countless others would dominate the Sunset Stripand MTV with flammable hairdos, drag-inspired makeup, and codpieces for days. Like warriors preparing for battle, makeup would play a key role in the birth of glam/hair metal stage bravado.Ĭlick to load video Spandex and the Strip The occult and old horror films would also influence metal fashion, from Ozzy Osbourne’s black robes to the corpse paint of KISS, Alice Cooper, and later, nearly every black metal band. Like bikers, metal bands also shared a similar fascination with Germanic and Pagan symbols like the Iron Cross and adopting Viking-like grooming habits with thick beards and long hair in the late 80s. The biker look would continue to evolve with NWHMB Iron Maiden frontman Paul Di’Anno adding studded belts and spiked bracelets or “gauntlets” to his look in the early 80s. Depending on what you wore, you could be assigned to the various scenes from thrash metal, death metal, black metal, glam metal groove metal, and later nu metal. Patches not only served to bring fans together but they also operated as free advertising in the pre-Internet era.Īs metal began to gain prominence in the 80s, it also began to splinter into innumerable subgenres, each with its own strict sense of visual presentation. With just one patch, fans could communicate their entire social scene. Just as punks and bikers swore the allegiances to different bands or outlaw gangs through patches, metalheads would take it one step further and turn these “knits” into an art form. Motörhead was especially influential when it came to incorporating punk styles like spikes, studs bullet belts, and battle jackets in the late 70s. Punk influenceĪt a time when metal was still considered a fledgling genre, there was a lot of cross-pollinating both musically and stylistically from punk, as the scene drew heavily from punk’s studded and military uniforms. As costume designer Laurie Greenan put it, “S&M was heavy metal long before heavy metal was.” Greenan was responsible for creating most of the legendary KISS costumes and was a long-time designer for Priest, earning her the nickname “Gloria Vanderbilt of heavy metal haute couture.” Greenan would later design costumes for Manowar and Billy Idol. Halford would later be one of the first openly gay artists in the scene, but at the time it was seen as just an extension of the macho-biker image that represented the toughness of the music. While bands and fans appropriated many elements from the bondage world including leather, chains, studs, and skulls – no one associated it with the homosexual connotations it was intricately tied to. Soon every heavy metal outfit in the UK and across the pond would be sporting studs and military caps with bullwhips in hand. This would come in handy later with the development of mosh pits, where a pair of boots would double as protective gear. In the Post-Vietnam era and after Easy Rider brought biker culture to the big screen, bands like Thin Lizzy, Steppenwolf,and Motörheadadopted the biker uniform, borrowing heavily from military uniforms, including bullet belts, cut-off or “kutte vests” adorned with patches, leather pants, and motorcycle boots. While bands like Black Sabbath started out in the blues-rock fashions of bellbottoms and leather jackets, the real origins of heavy metal fashion came from biker and leather subcultures in the late 60s and 70s. Like punk, metal grew out of a rejection of the mainstream and used fashion to create a sense of identity. Has there ever been a genre of music so attuned to font and logos? Rejection of the mainstream Visual presentation ties into all musical genres, but no music scene values graphic design as much as metal bands do. From bullet belts and military garb to the studded leather, vivid imagery, and undecipherable logos – each subgenre comes with its own coded set of visual cues that act as a litmus test to bewildered outsiders. The extremity of heavy metal, both visually and as a lifestyle, both peaks curiosity and intimidates outsiders. A simple black band tee acts as an unspoken declaration of loyalty to the band and the metal scene at large. With such a polarizing genre, aesthetic is the primary way one can find others in their metal tribe.
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