GRUNGE
GUIDE

Okay, so let's start with the basic stuff.

GRUNGE messy!!! no plain shirts
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Grunge Guide

Okay, so let's start with the basic stuff.

With dark colors I mean that it's not only black. With grunge you can wear red, blue, black, i mean, you can wear any color, but they're mostly darker versions of that color. let me show you; Which one is more grunge?

Which one is more grunge?
A bright red plain t-shirt
too bright
A muted dark-red plain t-shirt
muted = better

Ofcourse you COULD wear the brighter version, but you would have to wear lots of other black things to make it less bright.

That brings us tooo....

Layering

Layering is pretty hard, but one you get the hang of it, it's MUCH more grunge!

So here are the basic things about layering;

So layering is a bit hard to explain, but I'll try!

So with layering, you can make an outfit so much more detailed, and without layers, it's a lot more plain. I'll show you again;

Which one is better?
Outfit without layers — plain grey raglan tee and jeans
no layers
Outfit with layering — band tee, vest, skirt, lace tights, puffy boots
layers = grunge

The Second Out fit is better, because it has layers, ALOT:

And the first one only has

Look, you could wear the first one, but as you can see, layering makes a big difference! Just like accessoires..

Accessoires

Look, accessoires make a really big difference too!

You can layer accessoires, you can put them on pants, you can make bracelets, or get belts, or make earrings!

Here's the difference:

Which one is better?
Outfit with accessories — band tee, lace tights, belt, necklaces, bracelets, boots
no accessoires
Outfit without accessories — plain band tee and shorts
accessoires = perfect

The first one is okay, but the second one is perfect! It had layers, and accessoires!

The second one has:

That's a perfect grunge fit!

Now time for..

Yes and No

It's time to play yes and no!

Light blue skinny flared jeans with platform shoes
too bright / too skinny
Dark blue baggy faded jeans
baggy + dark = grunge
Plain black short-sleeve tee
too plain
Grey Nirvana band tee with In Utero artwork
band tee = grunge
Plain black zip-up hoodie
plain = boring
Black zip-up hoodie with white skeleton ribcage print
print = grunge!

Now it's time forr..

Research

So now that you know what color scheme and about layering and accessoires, here's some stuff you'll need to know!

It started with grunge music, mostly with 'raw', 'dirty', and 'messy' style. The music started around mid- 1980's peaking in the 1990's.

Most known grunge bands were Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and more. If you listen to them, you can hear the 'messyness' of the music. That makes more sense to the clothing style, messy!

Now about clothing, it AGAIN started in the 1980's and peaked in the 1990's. Musicians were mostly ripped jeans and band shirts, which created a messy 'grunge' clothing style. It was a kind of 'rejection' to fashion trends, prioritizing comfy over looks.

And now the main Summary:

Pictures

A bright red plain t-shirt
too bright
A muted dark-red plain t-shirt
muted = better
Outfit with accessories — band tee, lace tights, belt, necklaces, bracelets, boots
no accessoires
Outfit without accessories — plain band tee and shorts
accessoires = perfect

Now it's time for the last part..

Make-up

Now look, grunge make-up is a bit new, but it's really cool! Here are some pictures of grunge make-up for reference;

Grunge make-up collage showing various smudged eye looks
reference
Grunge make-up full face with smoky smudged eye effect
full face grunge

So mostly, it's really smudgy, with black waterlines. It's supposed to look like your make-up got smudged, or you cried with mascara.

Now this is my go to make-up look:

A brown cat-eye (a cat-eye is where you make a sharp line on the inner corner of your eye, to make your eyes look more long, like I like to call it, sharp like a cat), nose make-up kind of like a deer (?), a natural lip color but make the top round and ONLY on the topper lip, then highlighter!

Close-up of grunge cat-eye makeup look on eyes
cat-eye
Close-up of smudged dark eye makeup with black waterline
smudgy waterline
Close-up of natural rounded top-lip makeup look
natural + rounded lip

Tips

So of course you cant IMMEDIATELY be good in anything, so here are some tips!

So DEAR PARENTS,

✨THIS✨
Outfit mockup showing accessories collage — necklaces, bracelets, boots, band tee, layered look
the full look
Outfit mockup showing full grunge look with backpack and headphones
backpack + headphones
Real grunge outfit photo — girl in park wearing layered grunge look
irl inspo
Grunge outfit example 5 — full styled look with layers and accessories
this is it!
Grunge outfit example 1
inspo #1
Grunge outfit example 2
inspo #2
Grunge outfit example 3
inspo #3
Grunge outfit example 4
inspo #4
Is how your Daughter/Son wants to dress!!!!
GRUNGE messy!!! no plain shirts band tees only