The Alties

SHE LOVES JOY DIVISION AND TALKING HEADS, ART AND LIVE BANDS. LUCIA TAYLOR (17) DOESN’T CONSIDER HERSELF “ALTERNATIVE” BUT OTHERS DO. “I had a friend over and she looked at my posters and my vinyl collections and said ‘you’re so altie!’ It’s weird, as I don’t really see myself in that way.”

The college student from Ponsonby has parents who lead the way in the subculture stakes. Her dad hosts an Americana-themed radio show and her mum “used to be a punk”.

She’s seen pictures of the Goths, punks, and new wavers of the 70s and 80s. And while she agrees that today’s subcultures aren’t as visible, they certainly exist.

“There are the club kids who are really into dancing to the chart music, the ‘nerds’ who are focused on their schoolwork. Then there are the kids like me, who are fully into music and art.”

She says that the fashion differences between today’s tribes are “very subtle”. For the initiated, the style of jeans and T-shirt you wear speaks volumes. Taylor recently shaved her head (which has been “quite the statement”) but choses to wear basic clothes — baggy jeans with a belt, T-shirts, Doc boots.

For Taylor, the need to stand out has visually has been eroded by the developing of a society that is more accepting of difference. She thinks the extreme style tribes of the past were a reaction to a more conformist and restrictive society. As we’ve become more open and accepting, the need for such rebellion has lessened.

“Most parents aren’t judgmental and we don’t have to prove anything. I think people are more confident with their identities and don’t have the need to be so obviously different.”