They`re on the scene: at SuHu art openings, at such clubs as Berlin and the Orbit Room, at Facets screenings, at Link`s Hall art performances and even at Scoozi restaurant.
At first glance, they might look downright square. But there`s something about the way they put themselves together and then carry it off that makes them stylish.
They`re young men who have graduated from the punk scene to create a look all their own. You could call it post-punk vintage, or maybe radical conservative.
”I was pretty extreme with a mohawk and earrings and different-colored hair–blue and green and yellow–but then I just sort of mellowed,” says 25- year-old James Wilson (right in photo), now an accountant. He likes the
”clean lines and cut” of some vintage wear that affords him a style reminiscent of ”the British thing they were doing back in the early `60s with trim pants and jackets with nice silhouettes.
”The real wild clothes are still in places like Medusa`s, where the kids 18 to 20 don`t have to worry about fitting into any kind of job market,” he says. ”When you`re that age you can do whatever you want, but it`s also as if you`re trying to find yourself, prove something or make a statement. Now I can just relax and be myself.”
Just being yourself means it`s also okay to wear glasses again
–especially interesting vintage frames, which are so vogue that even people who don`t need glasses are wearing the frames with plain lenses.
It`s all part of a new look that swings so far to the conservative side that it`s radical.
Even hair is becoming streamlined, either cropped close or slicked back.
But beyond that, post-punk style really is a matter of mix and match and personal preference.
”I beg, borrow and steal from all the eras,” explains 25-year-old Louis D`Angelo (center), a bartender at Berlin and a frequent face on the city`s young art scene. Even though this post-punker still decorates his army boots with tacks, he now looks to designers for his style inspiration.
”I really like designs like Comme des Garcons`,” he says. ”If I could afford to buy them I would, but I can`t. So I go vintage.”
Ditto for freelance photographer Jorge Garcia (left), 23, who also combs vintage shops to put together a personal style, without focusing on one particular era.
But Garcia, a real fan of zoot suits, opts for a baggy look with loose pants held up by suspenders and oversized jackets with sleeves he can roll up. ”I used to punk out in black T-shirts and all,” says Garcia, ”but I guess I just grew up.” —
