Patches not only served to bring fans together but they also operated as free advertising in the pre-Internet era.Īs metal began to gain prominence in the 80s, it also began to splinter into innumerable subgenres, each with its own strict sense of visual presentation. With just one patch, fans could communicate their entire social scene. Just as punks and bikers swore the allegiances to different bands or outlaw gangs through patches, metalheads would take it one step further and turn these “knits” into an art form. Motörhead was especially influential when it came to incorporating punk styles like spikes, studs bullet belts, and battle jackets in the late 70s. As costume designer Laurie Greenan put it, “S&M was heavy metal long before heavy metal was.” Greenan was responsible for creating most of the legendary KISS costumes and was a long-time designer for Priest, earning her the nickname “Gloria Vanderbilt of heavy metal haute couture.” Greenan would later design costumes for Manowar and Billy Idol.Īt a time when metal was still considered a fledgling genre, there was a lot of cross-pollinating both musically and stylistically from punk, as the scene drew heavily from punk’s studded and military uniforms. Halford would later be one of the first openly gay artists in the scene, but at the time it was seen as just an extension of the macho-biker image that represented the toughness of the music. While bands and fans appropriated many elements from the bondage world including leather, chains, studs, and skulls – no one associated it with the homosexual connotations it was intricately tied to. Soon every heavy metal outfit in the UK and across the pond would be sporting studs and military caps with bullwhips in hand. This would come in handy later with the development of mosh pits, where a pair of boots would double as protective gear.īut if you were to pinpoint the exact moment when the metal aesthetic came into being, it would be when Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford confidently rode onto stage on Top of the Pops on a Harley in head-to-toe leather gear in 1978, bringing the subculture to mainstream and changing heavy metal forever. In the Post-Vietnam era and after Easy Rider brought biker culture to the big screen, bands like Thin Lizzy, Steppenwolf,and Motörheadadopted the biker uniform, borrowing heavily from military uniforms, including bullet belts, cut-off or “kutte vests” adorned with patches, leather pants, and motorcycle boots. While bands like Black Sabbath started out in the blues-rock fashions of bellbottoms and leather jackets, the real origins of heavy metal fashion came from biker and leather subcultures in the late 60s and 70s. Like punk, metal grew out of a rejection of the mainstream and used fashion to create a sense of identity. ADVERTISEMENT Rejection of the mainstream