From a thread on MetaFilter is this analysis of the emo fashion look. In case you’re not familiar with it, emo is a fairly clean-cut look featuring sweaters, ties, and the like.
On a recent shopping trip the father of an emo high school student was surprised (and delighted) when his formerly goth son wanted a V-neck sweater, white button-down shirt and fitted jeans. And for Christmas? He asked for a narrow necktie. […]
I can’t say that I’d try this myself, but it’s still much more tolerable than some recent boneheaded fashion trends (pilgrim-style shoes with buckles as one example).
I think that the emo “trend” has been a phenomenon just waiting to happen. In a society and culture whithered with people who are trying their hardest to be “cool” or “popular”, emo saved the day. It’s a way to find coolness out of absolute nerdiness and i say God bless it! There are, however, those out there who follow emo only for it’s trends and fashions, and this i resent, for there is so much more to it. The entire scene is wonderful, and there are so many great bands to listen to. I give emo a 10!
I think that the emo “trend” has been a phenomenon just waiting to happen. In a society and culture whithered with people who are trying their hardest to be “cool” or “popular”, emo saved the day. It’s a way to find coolness out of absolute nerdiness and i say God bless it! There are, however, those out there who follow emo only for it’s trends and fashions, and this i resent, for there is so much more to it. The entire scene is wonderful, and there are so many great bands to listen to. I give emo a 10!
Emo saved nothing. It just shifted the popular lens off one style and onto another. And this time it comes with general pretentiousness and music elitism!
Emo,well its all Really about the music like soft hard punk or something. its really just happy stoner music. Im not really sure about style, my band mates and me have been told we’re emo for how we appear, emo is short for emotional at leats im pretty sure , we all wear good-will tees and jeans “Juliann’s mom loves to volunteer”. i think people are makeing alot outta nothing “its just going from weed to acid”.
Cord-anally Daria V
A lot of people are confused about the emo trend and what it is. It’s not really about the clothes as much as the music. If you talk to “emo’s” they will tell you they all like the same bands yet they all dress differently. They like the screaming whining emotional music, although there is no exact “emo” label on bands. Emotional music..Emo.. The clothes are just what the big bands wear so the kids wear it to gain that popularity. The whole emo fad is just an attention grabber. “I want to be different… So I dress the same as all these other people.”
i just stumbled upon this, i see the ’emo’ look everyday, im also part of it, i mean im labeled it and crap, but emo isnt about the clothes, or even the music, i think its just a way of expressing ones self in a more, nerdish way, its bringing out the nerdeness in us. i think alot of people dress like it now cause they like the clothes and they see people getting away with it and not being laughed at or pushed around. i like the emo style, its comfortable and cool to me. as for the music, it can be screamo to soft rock, for me i like ‘THE USED’ as much as i like ‘FALL OUT BOY’ and also ‘IN FLAMES’ so i kinda have my own taste. but hey, i see this emo thing staying for a while, it just came a little fast. People will get over it. It isnt a trend. Its a way of self expression.
well im struggling with an aspect of emo which people keep bringing up which is making nerdiness cool.for a start nerds are by definition uncool so if you’re taking the standard stereotypical nerdy look and style and making them a fashion trend they become cool, thus making them un-nerdy.true nerds will always exist except now they have to deal with the systematic invasion from fashionable types of their sub culture.o well,nihilo sanctum estne.
I honestly think that emo’s are goths gone wrong. They have mixed up punk music with these trends that really ruin the whole punk rock image. its no longer about the music – its about being a rebel and making a statement – just another fad that’ll be over and done with in a couple of years.
no, no, none of you even know what emo is. emo is short for emotional and it is a kind of music. but that’s not even scratching the surface. it has become one of the biggest trends in the sense that people want to fit in. i don’t understand why anyone would WANT to be emo. who honestly WANTS to feel that way ]:. i’ve seen all these stupid websites about ‘how to be emo’ and it’s completely mind-blowing. you want to know what emo is.., then so be it: emo is;
-:crying myself to sleep everynight.
-:cutting/starving myself of food&&sleep just to feel .s o m e t h i n g.
-:still looking like, acting like, and liking the same things as little kids, because i’m too afraid of growing up + responsibility.
-:not wanting to care or feel or love. being so uninterested with the world that has turned it’s back on me. [even tho i know i turned my back on the world].
-:being sad day to day and not knowing why.
-:keeping a journal for those words i have a hard time saying, or have a hard time finding the words to say.
-:also, keeping a journal for all my stupid problems.., so i don’t have to waste anyone’s time but my own.
-:mentally questioning mylf what’s really wrong with me.
-:&& sooo much more.
no-one knows shit all about it and just assume it’s to have a nerds fit in [not all nerds are emotional+sensitive] and just assume it’s an attention grabber. if you .o.n.l.y. took a chance to understand, you’d see that people lik eme have had a fucked up life, and finding emo made me ralize that there isn’t anything wrong with me bcause i feel this way all the time..because there are other people in the world who truely feel the same.
the end.[♥♥]
marissa june 2005! yeah i agree with you on that! im emo and thats the kind of music i listen to but nobody really hears the music you listen to! they see the clothes! its gay that we have the mikey taken out of us because of what we wear! it justrepresents whats inside! and thats why we’re sowing it! because we are who we are!!!
im fascinated by the whole emo trend and i want 2 bcum 1 can ne 1 help me my msn is az0984@hotmail.com give me sum tips plzzzzzzzzzz
whose to say what emo really is? for some it’s subtle rebellion. for others it’s a way of getting all there shitty feelings and stuff out. for me tho, its just this unspoken bond between my friends and i. i dont know how many times one of my friends has saved my life…literally. its kinda like we have this whole ”emo telepathy” or what ever..yeah.
johnny, emo is a state of mind, the music, the fashion is just to show how you feel, if you are depressed or quiet then be who you are, if you are a happy person you are not emo, so dont try to be, real emo’s will be able to tell the difference.
I am an emo…i hate when people go around thinking they know everything about us…you dont so shut the F*ck up…if your emo, its not about what you wear,listen to…its in a state of mind…its what you think…if you have thoughts soo deep that you cant express them,we dont try to go out and tell people our problems because we have nothing better to do…if you ask me my problems i would punch you inthe face and walk away and go in my rome get out my rozorblade turn on my black light and cd player and wait till deaths new come
dont try to fake an emo too because trust that we will know…by the way…emos can laugh and have some good times too…but we know that in the end its not what we look at that what good comes its what bads comes and you know it
omfg tyler i totaly agree with u. im 14/f and i dont really always wear dark clothes and i dont listent to lots of music. but im just like well yea like u said my thoughts r soo deeo there hard to express them and id do the same exact thing if some one asked me my problems. if u ever wanna like chat or ne thing my AIM is cornsnob and my email is corsnob@aol.com. bye
Reading this old, but enduring thread was hillarious.
Thankfully, the emo trend is finally fading due to its absolute lack of substance as quickly as it roared into pop culture. Never before has there been an entirely non-existent genre of music entirely populated by people who genuinely do not understand they are all poseurs by definition.
All music is emotional, so making an “emo” distinction is absurd and redundant. It is like saying one likes music that has sound, so they are into the genre of SOUNDISM.
Emo is nothing more than a fashion-based cringe-fad, clumsily cobbled together from easily-stolen bits of authentic, alternative music scenes. The music is nothing new, as whiny pop and tantrum metal have been around for a very long time.
Mainstream, easily-led, consumer-minded kids (and some pretentious-yet-sullen college dorks) adopted the emo badge in a collective misguided attempt to be unique and creative. Wearing studded belts, nut-rupturing girl’s pants, Converse, a backward-off-center-tilted mullet, and pretending to be troubled-yet-deep does not constitute a social/musical movement. That is sheep-minded conformity that does not recognize itself in the mirror.
The whole emo trend is significant only in that it is the first time a considerably large number of people identified with a genre that simply does not exist. We have witnessed the evolution of the poseur to the point where it has moved from an individual mistake to a large-scale, group delusion.
EMO SUCKS.
…at my school this trend just became popular. I’ve seen people completely change from what I know they are. It is all so fake it makes me sick. People out there who want to be cool listen up please!!! IF YOU WANT TO LOOK GREAT AND BE COOL WEAR CLOTHES THAT ARE COMFORTABLE BECAUSE YOU’LL BE MUCH MORE COZY AND CONFIDENT THAN IF YOU FORCE THOSE TIGHT BRIGHT JEANS ON AND REPACK YOUR WHOLE WARDROBE WITH STUFF YOU WON’T BE WEARING WHEN THE NEXT TREND HITS. If its not you it doesn’t look good no matter what!