Inside the Alternative Street Style of the Youth

Alternative youth fashion has always been on the street scene — have a walk around Kallio district, and you can see young people dressed in oversized fits or gothic nuances from second-hand shops, accessorized with piercings and colorful mullets. Finnish alternative street style has been famously documented by Hel-looks, a blog run by Liisa Jokinen and Sampo Karjalainen from the 2005, that has acted as a source of style inspiration for many. Through social media, alternative style has found a larger community internationally, where people who express themselves through alternative styles have found each other and a sense of belonging that comes from the way they dress. 

We sat down with five friends  – all meeting for the first time but have know each other from social media – for a shoot and talked about what dressing up in alternative styles means and feels for each of them.
 

ELIAS

( he / him ) 17

IG @ afropotter

Ⓠ  What inspires your style and way of dressing?
Ⓐ  I’d say my friends have inspired me on my style quite a lot.

Ⓠ  What kind of places do you usually shop at?
Ⓐ  I buy clothes from a lot of different places, but mostly from UFF or the secondhand shop Almost New.

Ⓠ  How does it feel to dress up in your own style?
Ⓐ  Quite good, since I think it’s nice to accessorize oneself and when someone else also notices something that hey like on my style

Ⓠ  What do you want to try next with you look?
Ⓐ  I want to get tattoos and get more piercings, also maybe one day dye my hair.

STEPHANIE

( any pronouns ) 19

IG @ dyspatriotic

Ⓠ  What kind of places do you usually shop at?
Ⓐ  I have been buying most of my clothes secondhand since about 2008. I realized that I couldn’t find the type of clothing that adhered to my fashion aesthetics as well as started questioning the ethical practices of a lot of fast-fashion retailers. I buy a lot of my clothes from thrift stores around Finland, or from online secondhand marketplaces, such as Facbook Marketplace, Ebay, Mercari etc. There are also some in-person goth/alternative stores in Helsinki that I go to every once in a while.

Ⓠ  How does it feel to dress up in your own style?
Ⓐ  I love dressing up and experimenting with my style and makeup, it’s become a rather prominent part of my identity since it’s such an easy way to express an individuals creativity. I feel most confident what I’m dressed up in ways some might consider eccentric. However, it can be frustrating dealing with feelings of alienation and question of belonging; some people would say my style is ”white-washed” and/or question my blackness simply because I dress alternatively. I’d love to see more inclusivity in Finland’s street fashion scene!