Music and fashion are interconnected on several levels: one influences the other and vice versa, in an endless renewal of trends. Did you know that the big fashion trends were born because of music? And that certain fashion trends influence the way artists write their music? Let’s take a closer look!

Does fashion influence music?

Well, whether you like it or not – it’s a fact, and it goes back even long before the MTV revolution. As Jon Batiste said: “People see you before they hear you and when they look at you, it must look like something.” Having a strong image can help the musician or band to stand out among their peers, to convey a certain message that should complement their musical offering.

Legendary artists have a distinctive and rather unique “image” associated with them (Slash’s top hat, curly hair, and sunglasses, David Bowie’s quirky designer outfits, Prince’s elegant purple costumes – it’s the image that forms in your head when you think of them) that helps make them recognizable by everyone.

On the other hand, as a music listener, you are naturally inclined to dress in a certain way to adapt to the scene you find yourself on—the desire to mingle with other people who share the same tastes and interests that are naturally written in our DNA.

The 1950s

The Second World War has just ended, clothes are running out and fashion designers are in trouble. Slowly but surely, as early as the late 1940s, a plethora of new musical genres and fashion trends began to appear and develop in the 1950s.

Rock’n’roll was born and the “Bobby-soxers”, American teenagers obsessed by male crooners like Frank Sinatra, began to adopt their style. Socks, hair ribbons, rolled-up jeans, poodle skirts, sloppy sweaters, and elements borrowed from the French fashion of the time. It was also the decade of Teen Pop fashion, by Elvis Presley: the little revolution that preceded the biggest revolution of the 60s: the Beatles.

The 1960s

The 60s are commonly associated with 3 major fashion trends: hippies, mods, and … The Beatles. The Fab Four’s influence on people’s style is profound and unrivaled as much as their musical works have evolved, their outfits and their impact on the fashion trends of the relative era among teenagers (and adults!) have also evolved.

Mods, on the other hand, are perhaps less well known to young audiences: it all began in the 1950s when Londoners listened to a “modernized” version of jazz music and called themselves “modernists”. The musical side finally expanded to ska, R-B, and soul in the 1960s, while maintaining the bohemian lifestyle of the Beatnik generation. Mod fashion remains, to this day, one of the greatest influences on modern trends.

Finally, the hippie movement: a peaceful but visually striking reaction to the Vietnam War. The lyrics began to deal with the reality of things, both in a positive and negative connotation, while the growing popularity of LSD, peyote, and recreational drugs, in general, contributed to the formation of new sounds. Everything has become trippy, and you can certainly hear it.

The 1970s

We could fill out at least 10 articles on the importance of the cultural factors that led to the punk movement. The genre began as a musical movement derived from Mod culture, but with a harder and more aggressive turn on the musical side of things, which eventually began to be reflected on the “official” outfit of the genre.

Punk is about highlighting how different you are from the “rest,” with bold visual statements and controversial lyrics directly to your face. After all, punk is considered the first and most original musical subculture that exists.

On the other hand, glam was the result of the continued demand for “larger and more impressive” visual effects, performances, and appearances in the mainstream scene. To put this in perspective, Star Wars could be one of the catalysts of the glam rock movement, which is heavily influenced by science fiction.

David Bowie, KISS, and Gary Glitter: the visual and narrative part accompanied the musical offering, generating the glam rock genre. That said, the fashion side of glam did not really develop in modern society because it was considered a bit too exaggerated.

The 80s and 90s

The 80s were a period of transition, in which glam rockers and heavy metal fans inherited the fashion trends of the 70s but began to challenge them and turn them into something else. One of the “original” movements born in the 80s is certainly the goth movement, which was deeply related to the deathrock scene. The Cure is a perfect example. As for the glam rock scene, the goth has not really become as popular as other fashion trends because of the extreme nature of their outfits.

In the 1990s, Grunge music took over and immortalized the sense of anguish of an entire generation. The American dream was beginning to fade as people lived in the suburbs, struggling with recessions and global economic changes. 

Finally, the 1990s also saw a huge spike in interest in hip hop and urban neighborhood culture. New York, LA, and Detroit were the hotbeds of the first rap battles, breakdance, scratch, and everything that went with it. Needless to say, hip-hop culture has taken the world by storm and people have begun to imitate the looks and trends of rappers. Hip hop is, to date, one of the most popular genres and trends, both in music and fashion.

From 2000 to the present day

As the new century brought new trends, fashion began to build on the past, continually bringing back clothing collections from decades past, while each new subculture and genre reinterpreted the old trends with a modern/different twist.

Music is an ever-changing animal, so will fashion: the two will continue to walk towards the future, sometimes together, sometimes in the opposite direction, and that’s pretty cool, right?

And lastly….

With Olivia Rodrigo’s Driver’s License making changing history books, the emergence of bedroom pop is inevitable and will only become stronger as we enter the first quarter of the 2020’s decade.