It’s a gig at a small and cozy venue. I am standing and chatting with my friend. Suddenly a guy I don’t know appears and gives my mate a hug and greets him. The guy is gone. My friend turns to me, “this guy is my neighbor, I see him very often but this is actually the first time he said hello. I guess that’s just because I am wearing these shoes,” he says and looks down at his converse trainers, something that may identify his belonging to “punk” movement.

There is a Russian saying which may be translated as “they meet you according to your dressing”.  The guy who greeted my friend is not a rare case. People who identify themselves with different movements appreciate when you adopt their style and the outfit is the most direct and easiest way to do so.

Punks and post punks may like converse shoes, metal likers would definitely appreciate some metal bracelets, goths like to be painted in dark colours, hipsters have a taste for glasses and slim jeans… we may continue the list for a very long time, but the important question to ask here is “how much does it really matter to be somebody you want to be?”

The music fashion did not appear from nowhere, in each case it had separate roots, but if back in the period it was just a part of the factors you had to satisfy in order to belong to a certain group, today it might  not be the case. It became just a fashion and a cliché.

Most of us at some point want to be different, but different to a certain degree of level, by separating from others we don’t want to feel abandoned as well, instead we create small groups. And this seems to be especially true when talking about different stylish music movements.

But how does it really make you cool? Does the pair of converse trainers bought for 70 euros in some hipster shop make you punk?

The days when you had to live crappy and unbearable life in order to be considered a punk, hippie or whatever have gone. You may wear converse sneakers, have a tattoo and piercing, but at the same time own iphone and drive a good car. It does not really matter, as long as you wear “proper” outfit the niche society is ready to accept and say hello to you, just like it happened to my friend.

After all, you may chose your style, depending on your music or any other taste, you may try to look cooler to make friends in the circle you really like, but in the end does the clothes make you really cool? And are they are really your friends? Why don’t you check out with some neighbor who is not dressed in “your style?” You never know how cool he can be.