For those of you who didn't follow me over from my old blog, I used to do a 'Punk 101' series designed to educate on the history of Punk culture and to help out puppy punks who want to get into the scene more. I decided to restart that over on this blog! Starting of course with where I got my URL: Safety Pins.
Safety pins are undeniably a staple of punk fashion, but thats not where their relationship with punks began. Originally, they were incorporated into the outfits worn by the first wave of British punks for more practical reasons. Safety pins were used to keep their clothes from falling apart.
Now, however, safety pins are seen as more than just a tool to keep our clothes together. We use them as clothing decorations and piercing. A quick google search of the word ‘punk’ will show you that. But they have also become a symbol in the punk community, and a very important one at that.
They are a symbol of solidarity with victims of racism, homophobia, transphobia, abuse, and violence. They show minorities that we stand with them as allies.
Of course the prominent meaning of them changes with the time and place (for example in 2016 in the US, safety pins were mainly used to show support the LGBTQ+ community after Donald Trump was elected president).
Its important to remember that there are, and always will be, people out there who only use safety pins as a way to decorate their clothing. But if you see a punk wearing safety pins, there is a more than likely chance they are a safe ally.
item is now available in our shop, Equinoxian @ ko-fi.com! purchasing this item supports a disabled intersex trans lesbian who is homeless & struggling with housing! i am currently living in a hotel and need to be able to afford more nights in order to stay safe while i wait for government housing to be approved!
Anyone else beginning to understand your diy style and techniques? And thus looking back at your very first attempts and wanting to vomit? I ruined perfectly fine pieces of clothing. They spent their days hanging on racks in stores waiting to be loved, were bought for undoubtedly unreasonable prices, loved well and eventually donated to a thrift somewhere... only to be absolutely DEFILED by a chubby baby punk with a pair of scissors and a bag of safety pins. Yes, they were originally boring and basic, but my attempts to spice them were largely failures and one hundred percent lacked any vision or skill.
And yes, everyone starts somewhere! First DIYs were an important part of the process to mature us into our current skill level.