With tonight’s Met Gala and the opening of the new Punk: Chaos to Couture exhibit, I decided to put together a topical punk-inspired outfit for today’s post. When I first approached my closet with the “punk” mindset — Sex Pistols, Siouxsie & the Banshees, and Iggy Pop playing on full blast much to my neighbor’s dismay (the girl who lived in my apartment before me actually got kicked out because she held punk rock shows in my living room) — I was pretty surprised by how easily I put the look together. My initial outfit however was much more like a costume than something I would actually wear. Black jeans, ripped t-shirt, leather jacket, red plaid shirt tied around my waist, spiked bracelets, Doc Martens, thick black eyeliner and oxblood lipstick. It’s not that I didn’t like the outfit, I actually think I looked pretty awesome and hardcore, but I also looked like I was going to punch someone. So, I toned everything down to make it more Sonia appropriate since something tells me you don’t come here to see me dressed up in costumes, and if you do then I must really be letting you down.

I wiped off the lipstick, removed a good half inch of black eyeliner, and took off the red plaid shirt and spiked bracelets. I then added a pile of edgy necklaces and a safety pin cuff since the punks may as well have invented safety pins (fun fact: apparently a man named Walter Hunt invented the safety pin, but Sid Vicious made them cool). I also opted for my go-to black Acne boots instead of the Doc Martens. Even though I wear Docs from time to time, I just felt over the top. Like I was trying too hard. Which is probably what a lot of people think about punks. But that’s also what I kind of love about them. Here are these grungy, angsty kids with an I don’t give a hoot attitude, when actually it takes a really really long time to do a perfectly spiked mohawk. It’s also a serious DIY project to put safety pins all over your jacket — something I started and never finished doing in high school. So really, they give a lot of hoots. More than your average owl.

When I decided on a look that didn’t feel more appropriate for Halloween party than a jaunt around my neighborhood, I met up with Emily to take pics (duh) and she told me I looked pissed off in the photos. That’s the point, I replied. I was getting into character! Upon looking through them later however, I couldn’t help but notice that me looking pissed off also looks like I might throw up on you. But who knows, throwing up on fans could have been a party trick back in the day of hardcore garage bands where bloody noses were souvenirs because you weren’t afraid of a mosh pit.

So really, along with emulating the punk style aesthetic — with maybe too few safety pins — I also could be mimicking an artist’s signature performance trick and I didn’t even have to think about it! I feel so badass. Maybe I’ll go take a walk down St. Mark’s Place.

Schott jacket | Vintage t-shirt | Rag & Bone jeans | Acne boots | Alexander Wang bag | BaubleBar x Honestly WTF, Tom Binns, Pamela Love jewelry | Knockaround sunglasses

// photos by Emily Malan