Subculture!

While small societies tend to be culturally uniform, large industrial societies are culturally diverse and involve numerous subcultures. Subcultures are values and norms distinct from those of the majority. Subcultures might include hippies, Goths, fans of hip hop or heavy metal and even bikers - the examples are endless. One area of particular interest has to do with deviant subcultures.

Although the speed of the flow of information and communication can make some subcultures a global event, it can also be a very successful means of controlling them.

It took the hippie movement almost a decade to evolve and grow from a marginal group of hallucinogen drug users to a subculture that changed American society forever. Today, subcultures evolve in weeks or months and can therefore have an immediate impact on a global scale. But at the same time, they only base their growth on online communication and mainstream media, which makes it easy for them to be controlled and transformed.

HIPPIES

The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid 1960’s then spreading to other countries around the world. The term ‘hippie’ is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks. Hippies advocated nonviolence and love, a popular phrase being “Make love, not war,” for which they were sometimes called “flower children.” They wore loose clothes and most used natural fibres like cotton and hemp.They usually used to wear skirts, bell bottoms, dashikis, mini and micro mini skirts and dresses. They used to love stripes and tie-dye. They used to make their own piece of clothing or buy it from second hand shops.

GOTHIC

It began in England during the early 1980s. The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It is often related with dark attire, makeup, and hair. Gothic fashion is stereotyped as dark, mysterious, complex and exotic. It may also feature silver jewelry.  Anything Black is associated with the Goth subculture be it black dyed hair, black nails or makeup. Present-day fashion designers such as John Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen, and John Galliano have also been described as practising "haute goth".

PUNK

The punk subculture, which basically centres on punk rock music, includes a diverse array of ideologies, fashions and forms of expression, including visual art, dance, literature and film. They loved the ripped jeans and and the studded leather jackets. black bin liner became a dress, shirt or skirt; safety pins and razor blades were used as jewellery. footwear such as Converse sneakers, skate shoes, brothel creepers, or Dr. Martens boots were their favourites. Brand buttons were a must at that time. Punks cut up old clothes from charity and thrift shops, destroyed the fabric and refashioned outfits in a manner then thought a crude construction technique, making garments designed to attract attention.