All black, leather, buckles, dark eyeliner and nail polish. These are all the characteristics to follow in order to have ‘80s punk influence your fashion choices. ‘80s punk wasn’t just a trend that ended in the ‘90s, it became a revolution and a staple to cool kids everywhere who just wanted to look good and be crazy. 

 

The Ramones, The Clash, Misfits, Blondie, these are all punk rock bands who you should know, and if you don’t well you’re not punk. But don’t worry, I won’t judge. ‘80s punk became a cult classic, not only for the genre of music but for films, fashion and more. The classic black leather jacket will always be a staple piece in everyone’s closet, but if you can rock the entire look, then you’re not punk. 

Celebrities are always a huge influence when it comes to fashion, they wear the coolest clothes, have the coolest friends, and definitely go to the coolest parties, or at least throw them. Celebrities like Machine Gun Kelly, Miley Cyrus, Travis Barker and Billie Eilish are known to carry on the legendary looks from the ’80s and they do it well. 

Travis Barker might be from Blink-182, and they might have only originated in 1992, but they have been a huge influence when it comes to punk. Not only is the entire band covered head to toe in tattoos (yes Travis has his skull tattooed) but their music defined a generation. Blink-182 carried on the sound from the ’80s and made it a little more grunge. Songs like ‘All the Small Things’ will come on and everyone will belt out the lyrics while thrashing around with their friends. 

Not only are you punk if you listen to punk rock, but if you have some crazy hair colours, I’d put you in the same category. Billie Eilish may be younger than most people (19) but her sense of style has definitely been influenced by ‘80 punk. For a long time, Billie was known to wear extra baggy clothes, lots and lots of silver chains has gone through hair colours like blue and green, and is very much known to play with spiders: watch ‘You Should See Me In A Crown’ below. 

Many celebrities have gone through moments where here and there they have worn pieces that represent punk fashion, but only a few have truly committed to the aesthetic. Miley Cyrus and Machine Gun Kelly are two who really go full throttle with the trend. 

MGK started out as a rapper, but he recently released a punk rock style album that Travis Barker co-wrote. MGK is not afraid to show off his punk side, during the 2021 Billboard Awards he debuted a ‘special’ accessory, and no it was not Megan Fox, it was a black tongue. Yes, you heard it correctly, he painted his tongue black, if that doesn’t scream 80’s punk I don’t know what does. 

The only other person who truly pulls off the punk rock look like a true legend is a queen herself, Miley Cyrus. Sure she had her hippy-dippy phase, but once she cut all her loose ends, her true side came back. Over the last few years, Miley has started to cover old classic rock songs like ‘Heart of Glass’ and has even released her own punk rock sound with ‘Midnight Sky’.  Miley has been known to rock leather like nobody else, between her mullet hair cut, and her raspy voice, Miley is a true descendant of punk rock, and we are not complaining. 

‘80s punk fashion might have a lot of people who ‘grew’ out of that phase, but with a great leather jacket and some black nail polish you’ll always look punk. Punk is timeless, especially in an era where trends tend to come back, punk is that trend that keeps coming back year after year.