Rockabilly fashion is one of the most intriguing alternative styles around. It’s a strange combination that fuses both 50’s and 60’s clothing with goth and punk. This is what differentiates it from the classic “retro” look.
Rockabilly is hugely popular in the southern states of America, and like most forms of fashion, spawned from the underground music scene. Throughout the last two years interest the genre has significantly increased, partly due to the rise of steampunk, which often features rockabilly themed attire in a more satirical manner.
Common Features
Identifying rockabilly followers can be difficult, especially when there are so many different alternative styles out there; however, while many of the features may look similar to the untrained eye, there are a number ofaspects that aren’t usually associated with other scenes.
Rockabilly women commonly wear clothing that clings to their bodies. This shows off their curves and creates the “pinup” silhouette, which is synonymous with the style. In addition, polka dot dresses in combinations of black and white, red and white, and red and black are also regularly worn. Sailor themed tattoos are also very common among the more serious and hardcore followers.
Men often tend to move towards the Greaser look. Popularized by John Travolta in the movie Grease, this style provides a sense of attitude. Common features include pompadour haircuts, white t-shirts and socks, tight jeans and leather jackets. Other variants of the style include the “hot rod,” which is very similar to the greaser image, but with flaming motifs and American bomber jackets.
Sub Styles
The rockabilly moniker has spawned various other sub styles, including gothabilly, punkabilly and trashabilly. These styles always retain the traditional 50’s and 60’s themes, but subsidises it with features more prominent with other styles. For example, punkabilly will often use a retro base, but add Mohawk haircuts, tight leather jackets and punk-themed tattoos. These sub-styles all have a darker edge, which often makes people mistake followers for goths, emos and punks.
Buying Rockabilly Clothing
No matter what style you aim for, changing your wardrobe is always a difficult and somewhat expensive affair. However, when it comes to dressing rockabilly you certainly don’t have to break the bank. One of the benefits of retro style is that you can literally hunt for clothing anywhere – from your grandpa’s attic to your local second-hand store.
Online Shopping
If you don’t like the idea of wearing old tattered clothing that’s survived the ages, there are plenty of specialist stores on the web where you can find excellent quality rockabilly clothing at good prices. Soho’s Clothing is one of the most popular alternative fashion stores in the UK and has an entire section dedicated to the genre.
If you’d prefer to buy authentic rockabilly attire, but don’t know where to shop, try hunting for rockabilly clothing on auction sites such as Ebay. There are always plenty of bargains available and most people will be more than happy to let go of their old clothes if you make a modest offer.
