Was it the music or the fashion that defined Punk?

Fig 1. Unconventional hair styles and theatrical make up.

Research suggest that the origins of Punk (rock) can not be defined exactly, there appears to be  many variations of the definition. This could be because its foundations are spread across several countries each having its own Punk origin. However, being British, my definition of "Punk" will always be the Sex Pistols, Malcolm McLaren and Viviene Westwood.

McLaren was obsessed with fashion and music, he saw them as inseparable parts of a Rock N Roll outlaw spirit. His first attempts at mixing the two was in the early 70's when he unsuccessfully tried to reinvent the band the" New York Dolls " by designing provocative and  politicalyl provocative stage costumes as a way of promoting them. He returned to Britain with his girlfriend Viviene Westwood and was determined to do it again. However, this time he looked towards the youth who worked and hung out in his shop on Kings Road, West London, which he had recently renamed SEX, for further inspiration.  

Britain in the 1970's was a time of economical and political unrest, unemployment was an all time high with inflation running at 30%.  The youth of the day where angry, rebellious, with strong opinions and a lot of free time. Such disgruntlement and anti establishment attitudes together with, according to the V&A (2004), McLarens "idea of using culture as a way of making trouble", could possibly have been the foundations of British Punk.

There are two definitions of the word Punk in the Oxford English dictionary. The first being (Punk Rock) a loud fast moving aggressive form of rock music popular in the 1970's. Whilst, the second meaning is a worthless person often used as a general term of abuse. If you look at the young men of the time and the context of their lives, low self esteem and a lack of percieved future, then it is possible that the adoption of the word "punk" to identify their culture with, is more than understandable.

Westwood was deeply inspired by the the shock value of punk. In an interview the Independent (London) (2002) Westwood was quoted as saying "It changed the way people looked. I was messianic about Punk, seeing if one could put a spoke in the system in someway".

Fig 2. Sex Pistols T-shirt, designed by Vivienne Westwood and Jamie Reid, customised by Johnny Rotten, late 1970s. Museum no. S.794-1990

It appears that the punk style was mostly about the shock factor as Westwood combined fetish and provocative wear with tartan and everyday household items such as safety pins, bicycle or lavatory chains, razor blades etc. One of the reasons she used such everyday household items was because money was tight and Westwood utilised things that were readily available at very little cost. She transformed the humble t-shirt (Fig 2) into a platform to communicate her political causes, such as the campaign for nuclear disarmament, climate changes and the civil rights group, Liberty. It didn't just stop at the clothes she introduce dog collars as a form of jewellery and theatrical make, brightly coloured hair and unconventional hair styles such has the mohican finished the look.