The Year is 2014
The year is 2014 and your Tumblr feed is flooded with black and white pictures and depressing quotes of film and T.V shows. It wasn’t exactly a happy year. During this time young adults and teens were taking cues from cool bands like The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, and Twenty One Pilots to recreate the grunge look and feeling o f the 1980s and 90s.
Want to interact with your favorite artist or band? You should’ve been there during the 2014 Tumblr era. Strong communities o f fans formed o n Tumblr, engaging in conversations about their love for artists. Artists even after they went mainstream, like Taylor Swift, Beyonce and Lorde used Tumblr t o talk to fans, share personal stories, and share photos. You just had to be there.
Unfortunately, this era wasn’t exactly edgy clothing and meeting your favorite celebrities. There was a huge culture of glamorizing cigarettes and other substances. This glamorization stemmed from a common pattern of aesthetic appeal, counterculture, and pop culture influence. Tumblr users were drawn to the aesthetic of vintage photography that included smoking. But smoking was viewed as a symbol of non conformity which was common amongst Tumblr users. Not to mention, the alternative/rock bands who had a big influence on Tumblr culture were smokers, and this grunge movement was all about capturing the aesthetic of their favorite artists.
Angsty Grunge
Some say it al started with rock icon and lead singer of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, who paved the way for grunge. Not only his fashion style, but his songs as wel evoked a sense of angst into an entire generation. There is no specific way to be grunge, but the look is typicaly characterized by a laid back or disheveled look to defy the conventional norms of the time where people dressed in more proper and bright clothing. Grunge fashion started as a more fan central movement that consisted of thrifted and DIY (do it yourself clothing instead of trend seting designers. However designers such as Marc Jacobs and Vivienne Westwood were closely associated and helped catapult this movement. In 1993, Jacobs was working as the creative director for Pery Elis, he released a colection that both got him fired and made his career. The colection looked more thrifted than properly designed, and it was recived with criticism and confused by critics.
But in the long term, the colection was seen as groundbreaking as it paved the way for a more diverse and inclusive approach to fashion. Grunge wasn’t about folowing the rules; it was about breaking them.
Don’t go wasting your money shopping for something new, if you do want to spend your money go rummage through your local Goodwil. Grunge is al about self expression, and doing it yourself. Now go dig up those old baggy jeans that are collecting dust and your closet and unleash your inner artist: distress them, doodle on them, hel maybe even embroider your favorite lyrics on them. Get creative, there is no limit to what you can do when it comes to self expression. You can do the same thing with a shirt, cut it up to give it that rebelious vibe, realy make that one old woman at the family function question why you bought clothing that was ‘damaged.’
We can’t forget your makeup. Grunge makeup has usualy consisted of some messy black eyeliner, once again, there are no limits. You really want that’l just rolled out of bed’ vibe, roll that eyeliner on your lid and smudge it. But maybe throw in some glitter to give it a more 2024 look. After al, who says grunge can’t sparkle?
Lana del ray
Lana is this generation’s god, queen, and mother. She went from underground to a sensation with “Born t o Die”, featuring hot hits “Video Games” and “National Anthem”. Her career continued as she released albums “Honeymoon” in 2015, “Lust for Life” in 2017, and a fan favorite “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard” in 2023. Her discography grew and so did her cult following. Her lyrics hit hard with the brokenhearted and the hopeless romantics as well as the average hormonal teen. Her look resembles that o f other female icons, drawing inspiration from Amy Winehouse and Priscilla Presley. The dramatic eyeliner and dark hair paired with romantic, flowy, ultra feminine clothing defined her look. She’s the face of the “sad lover girl” fan club and has fueled the want for a passionate love affair amongst her fans. Her aesthetic draws o n her own personality and styling, with floral prints, lace detailing, a fresh curl in her hair, and a vape i n her back pocket. She’s iconic in every way from the way she dresses t o her intimate performances where everyone i n the crowd i s sobbing. Her fan following has fallen i n love with her idolizing her as their queen. Fans wear similar babydoll dresses with long flowing sleeves, flowers in their hair, and a long messy braid.
Lana is neither the clean girl or messy girl aesthetics, she is ethereal and angelic and belongs in another category entirely. Her name has even become an adjective t o describe a quality of outfit as being “so Lana”. She has faced criticism from media that claims her songs “glamorize abuse”, but she responded to this by saying in reality “I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent emotionally abusive relationships all over the world.” She is real and true t o herself and a generation of people have been drawn to this, praising her Americana and vintage aesthetic, calling her timeless and a total icon. Lana makes people feel beautiful, heard, and free with her music but also with a style that allows people to look to the past for inspiration and the future for imagination. She’s always been an inspiration but 2024 is the year we needed her the most. A leader to represent all things feminine, passion, emotion. It’s a year of feeling all those emotions, smoking on your fire escape, putting flowers in your hair, and calling yourself a Lana stan with pride.
Written by: Aashin Singhal, Gabi Admi, Ailbhe Killalea
