Anti-fashion

Woman wearing plaid shirt and jeans, an example of anti-fashion dress

Anti-fashion is an umbrella term for various styles of dress that are explicitly contrary to the fashion of the day. Anti-fashion styles may represent an attitude of indifference or may arise from political or practical goals which make fashion a secondary priority. The term is sometimes even used for styles championed by high-profile designers, when they encourage or create trends that do not follow the mainstream fashion of the time.

Anti-fashion is considered radical creativity in apparel. It recombines a hodgepodge of details that dramatically alters current fashions. The newly transformed styles are later incorporated into the mainstream through media hype and commercial sales which reduce its stature. Grunge is an example of the oppositional style of dress while the rational dress of the Victorian era, which allowed ladies to swim or bicycle, is an example of a functional anti-fashion.[1]

  1. ^ Samantha Holland (2004). "Anti-fashion and feminism". Alternative femininities. Berg Publishers. ISBN 978-1-85973-808-5.