New Romantic

ニュー・ロマンティック / 1979–1983 / Style / Subculture Style

Born around London's Blitz club, New Romantic dress turned punk's black destruction into theatrical self-invention by mixing pirates, Regency dress, cabaret and futuristic materials. A look was built as a character for the night, not bought complete.

New Romantic — Tallulah and Steve Strange at the Circus Circus opening, 1983 — New Romantic dress — Eurovisa — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Tallulah and Steve Strange at the Circus Circus opening, 1983 — New Romantic dress — Eurovisa — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0
New Romantic — AI-generated interpretation 1
AI-generated interpretation, not a reference work
New Romantic — AI-generated interpretation 2
AI-generated interpretation, not a reference work

At a glance

Visual cues

  • Frilled shirts, sashes and quotations of military or pirate dress
  • Whitened face, strong blush and asymmetric makeup
  • Large head silhouette built from hats, feathers and jewelry
  • Historic costume mixed with synthetics and futuristic shine

Best used for

  • Costume for live performance, stage or photography that remakes a performer as a historical fantasy
  • Creating a club's shared world through the dress code at its door

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Dictionary entry

Type
Use a narrow serif or ornamental capital that points to one quoted period.
Composition
Center face and head, extending shoulders and sleeves sideways and hat or hair upward.
Material
Mix velvet, satin, frill, feather and metallic shine; design the makeup at equal strength.
Caution
Frills and heavy makeup alone become costume. Carry one historical character and its translation into the club present through the whole figure.
Further study
Blitz club dress code / Leigh Bowery and Stephen Jones / The route from punk to synth-pop image

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Cite this entry

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Link
https://indexstyle.org/styles/new-romantic
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[New Romantic — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/new-romantic)
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<a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/new-romantic">New Romantic — IndexStyle</a>

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