it is so wild to me the fashions that are called “emo” today. especially given the fact that probably 80-90% of it is actually scene, not emo. this would have started full on wars 15 years ago
whenever people call this
emo it drives me BANANAS. no! this is not how emos did their hair. this was a scene look!!! some people might have gone from emo to scene depending on their age when new trends happened but they’re DISTINCT
this is getting more popular so i want to clarify, the above are obv scene queens and were what all scene kids aspired to HOWEVER. all of this⤵️? absolutely would have been considered scene in the late 00s (all photos from searching “emo” on pinterest)
whereas these are more emo⤵️
you will note that the scene kids wear brighter pops of color, especially neon pink and green. there’s a lot of pop culture references, patterns and texture. miniskirts very popular, the more layered the better. the emo kids are more simple, the black skinny jeans are a staple obv and usually dark hair and a band shirt, maybe some stripes but not anything crazier than that in terms of patterns. maybe a few accessories, but not so many that you hear them coming from a few miles away.
now THESE three are more in the middle. personally, i would categorize the first as scene, and the #1 giveaway there is the domo necklace- a scene icon- and the multitude/stacking of accessories backs it up. the middle is harder- the front of the hair and band shirt suggest emo, but the pink, layering, and the hair bow are decidedly scene. i think you could probably call it either way but i would lean scene. the last one is also hard- the hair highlights and amount of accessories are more scene, but the color scheme, especially the silver and black for the accessories as opposed to patterns, make me lean emo.
(source: i was in middle school in 2008)
extremely important addition from @death-g-reaper:
[screenshotted tags: #a key trait of emo is a certain kind of androgyny it’s why emos were getting hate crimed for being gnc in the 2000s #it sounds silly now but there was a moral panic about the boys shopping in the girls section for pants #my partner was a 2000s emo/goth kid and he says that before the term skinny jeans came out #they just called them girl pants because they were getting them from the girls section #i feel like scene is way more girly than emo is traditionally like you can have girly emo but it’s more scene’s schtick]
very important and true!! a huge huge part of the hate that “emo” got was because instead of the popular skater style/oversized fashion they were opting for tighter clothes and specifically women’s jeans (which, before jean companies realized they could profit off of it and started selling skinny jeans for men, were just from the women’s section) and it was a WHOLE thing. the long styled hair and occasional makeup AND talking about your feelings?? this is why so much of the emo scene was written off by larger culture and even within hardcore/punk culture as, essentially, faggot music, for girls, stupid, etc.
