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New Romanticism was a fashion
Fashion

Fashion refers to the styles and customs prevalent at a given time. In its most common usage, "fashion" exemplifies the appearances of clothing, but the term encompasses more....
 movement that peaked in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. Originally part of the New Wave music
New Wave music

New Wave is a genre of rock music which originated from the late 1970s. It emerged from punk rock as a reaction against the popular music of the 1970s....
 movement, it has seen several revivals since then, and continues to influence popular culture. Developing in London nightclubs such as Billy's and The Blitz, the movement was associated with bands such as Visage
Visage

Visage are a British Pop Music band. Formed in 1978, the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s....
, Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants

Adam and the Ants were a New Romantic band during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were one of the bands at the time that marked the transition from the 70s punk rock era to the New Wave music/post-punk era....
, and Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet

Spandau Ballet are a popular United Kingdom band famous in the 1980s. Initially inspired by the New Romantic fashion, they quickly steered in to a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synthpop, then eventually mellowed into a mainstream pop music act....
. Brian Eno
Brian Eno

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno , is an England musician, composer, record producer, music theory and singer, who, as a solo artist, is best known as the People known as the father or mother of something of ambient music....
 and Roxy Music
Roxy Music

Roxy Music are an English art rock group founded in the early 1970s by art school graduate Bryan Ferry . The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson ....
 were also influences.

New Romantic fashions were similar to that of glam rock
Glam rock

Glam rock , is a sub-genre of rock music that developed in the UK in the post-hippie early 1970s which was "performed by singers and musicians wearing outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots." The flamboyant lyrics, costumes, and visual styles of glam performers were a camp , theatrical blend of nostalgia references t...
 during the early 1970s, in that male New Romantics often dressed in caricaturally counter-sexual or androgynous clothing, and wore cosmetics
Cosmetics

Cosmetics are substances used to enhance or protect the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care Cream , lotions, Powder , perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and gels, deodorants, baby products, bath oils, bubb...
 (such as eyeliner), frilly fop
Fop

Fop became a pejorative term for a foolish man over-concerned with his appearance and clothes in 17th century England. Some of the very many similar alternative terms are: "coxcomb", fribble, "popinjay" , fashion-monger, and "ninny"....
 shirts in the style of the English Romantic
Romanticism

Romanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution....
 period, or exaggerated versions of upscale fashion and grooming, The quiff
Quiff

The quiff is a hairstyle that combines the 1950s Pompadour hairstyle, the 50s flattop, and sometimes a Mohawk hairstyle. The etymology of the word is uncertain but may derive from the French word "coiffe" which can mean either a hairstyle or, going further back, the mail knights wore over their heads and under their helmets....
 was a common hairstyle.

Romanticism's genesis took place largely through clubs such as Billy's in Dean Street
Dean Street

Dean Street is a street in Soho, London, England, running between Oxford Street to the north and Shaftesbury Avenue to the south.The street has a rich history - in 1764 a young Mozart gave a recital at 21 Dean Street....
, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, which ran David Bowie
David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and Arrangement. Active in five decades of rock music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s....
 and Roxy Music
Roxy Music

Roxy Music are an English art rock group founded in the early 1970s by art school graduate Bryan Ferry . The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson ....
 nights in the aftermath of punk.






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Encyclopedia


New Romanticism was a fashion
Fashion

Fashion refers to the styles and customs prevalent at a given time. In its most common usage, "fashion" exemplifies the appearances of clothing, but the term encompasses more....
 movement that peaked in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. Originally part of the New Wave music
New Wave music

New Wave is a genre of rock music which originated from the late 1970s. It emerged from punk rock as a reaction against the popular music of the 1970s....
 movement, it has seen several revivals since then, and continues to influence popular culture. Developing in London nightclubs such as Billy's and The Blitz, the movement was associated with bands such as Visage
Visage

Visage are a British Pop Music band. Formed in 1978, the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s....
, Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants

Adam and the Ants were a New Romantic band during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were one of the bands at the time that marked the transition from the 70s punk rock era to the New Wave music/post-punk era....
, and Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet

Spandau Ballet are a popular United Kingdom band famous in the 1980s. Initially inspired by the New Romantic fashion, they quickly steered in to a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synthpop, then eventually mellowed into a mainstream pop music act....
. Brian Eno
Brian Eno

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno , is an England musician, composer, record producer, music theory and singer, who, as a solo artist, is best known as the People known as the father or mother of something of ambient music....
 and Roxy Music
Roxy Music

Roxy Music are an English art rock group founded in the early 1970s by art school graduate Bryan Ferry . The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson ....
 were also influences.

New Romantic fashions were similar to that of glam rock
Glam rock

Glam rock , is a sub-genre of rock music that developed in the UK in the post-hippie early 1970s which was "performed by singers and musicians wearing outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots." The flamboyant lyrics, costumes, and visual styles of glam performers were a camp , theatrical blend of nostalgia references t...
 during the early 1970s, in that male New Romantics often dressed in caricaturally counter-sexual or androgynous clothing, and wore cosmetics
Cosmetics

Cosmetics are substances used to enhance or protect the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care Cream , lotions, Powder , perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and gels, deodorants, baby products, bath oils, bubb...
 (such as eyeliner), frilly fop
Fop

Fop became a pejorative term for a foolish man over-concerned with his appearance and clothes in 17th century England. Some of the very many similar alternative terms are: "coxcomb", fribble, "popinjay" , fashion-monger, and "ninny"....
 shirts in the style of the English Romantic
Romanticism

Romanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution....
 period, or exaggerated versions of upscale fashion and grooming, The quiff
Quiff

The quiff is a hairstyle that combines the 1950s Pompadour hairstyle, the 50s flattop, and sometimes a Mohawk hairstyle. The etymology of the word is uncertain but may derive from the French word "coiffe" which can mean either a hairstyle or, going further back, the mail knights wore over their heads and under their helmets....
 was a common hairstyle.

History

New Romanticism's genesis took place largely through clubs such as Billy's in Dean Street
Dean Street

Dean Street is a street in Soho, London, England, running between Oxford Street to the north and Shaftesbury Avenue to the south.The street has a rich history - in 1764 a young Mozart gave a recital at 21 Dean Street....
, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, which ran David Bowie
David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and Arrangement. Active in five decades of rock music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s....
 and Roxy Music
Roxy Music

Roxy Music are an English art rock group founded in the early 1970s by art school graduate Bryan Ferry . The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson ....
 nights in the aftermath of punk. This evolved into the Blitz Club
Blitz Kids

The Blitz Kids were a short- lived group of then-unknown people who frequented the Blitz nightclub in Covent Garden, London in the very early 1980s....
 in Great Queen Street
Great Queen Street

Great Queen Street is a street in central London, England in the West End. It is a continuation of Long Acre from Drury Lane to Kingsway . It runs from 1 to 44 along the north side, east to west, and 45 to about 80 along the south side, west to east....
, and later Hell, which were hosted by Steve Strange
Steve Strange

Steve Strange is a United Kingdom popular music singer, best known as the lead singer and frontman of the 1980s pop group Visage. Since the late 1970s, he was also a prominent nightclub host and promoter....
, who was also the doorman, and Rusty Egan
Rusty Egan

Rusty Egan was the drummer for the United Kingdom New Wave music music band, The Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistols, Glen Matlock, bass guitarist and backing vocalist, occasional lead vocals; with Steve New guitarist and backing vocalist, occasional lead vocals; and frontman by Midge Ure guitarist, singer and occasional backi...
 who was the DJ. These two, together with Billy Currie and Midge Ure (both from Ultravox
Ultravox

Ultravox are a British New Wave music band that rose to prominence in the late 1970s/early 1980s. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the early 1980s....
) formed the band Visage. Boy George
Boy George

Boy George is an England singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s....
 was the cloakroom
Cloakroom

A cloakroom, or sometimes coatroom, is a room for people to hang their coat s. Typically found inside a large building, such as a gymnasium, classroom or meeting hall, it is long and narrow with plenty of pegs on which to hang coats, umbrellas, and hats....
 attendant until he got fired. Singer Marilyn also worked as a cloakroom attendant, doing impersonations of Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model, and a sex symbol.After spending much of her childhood in foster homes, Monroe began a career as a model, which led to a film contract in 1946....
. The club spawned several spin-offs, in London and in the surrounding area, including Croc's in Rayleigh, Essex
Rayleigh, Essex

Rayleigh is a market town and civil parish in the Rochford in Essex, England, located between Chelmsford, Essex and Southend-on-Sea. It lies 30 miles to the east of London....
, and The Regency in Chadwell Heath
Chadwell Heath

Chadwell Heath is a place in the London Borough of Redbridge and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in Greater London although is also known as traditionally being part of Essex....
, where Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode is an electronic music band formed in 1980, in Basildon, Essex, England. The group's original line-up was Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andrew Fletcher and Vince Clarke ....
 and Culture Club
Culture Club

Culture Club were a Grammy Award-winning United Kingdom Pop music group that formed in the early 1980s. The band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay , and Jon Moss ....
 had their debut gigs.

David Bowie has been cited as a major influence of the movement and his 1980 single "Ashes to Ashes
Ashes to Ashes (song)

"Ashes to Ashes" is a single by David Bowie, released in 1980. It made #1 in the UK and was the first cut from the Scary Monsters album, also a #1 hit....
" was influenced by, and was simultaneously considered to be an anthem for the New Romantics. However, as with many art school-based youth movements, by the time this anthem was pronounced, many commentators felt that the movement had been excessively commercialized and lost its original glamour.

Further reading