Silicone Bracelets: Anti Fashion, Sex Games and Noble Causes

Almost every company, organization, movement, school and foundations make use of this inexpensive but colorful rubbery item known as Silicone Bracelets. It goes by a lot of other names. It’s also known as Gel Bracelets, Jelly Bracelets, Sex Bracelets, Baller Id and many more.

How did this fad come to be and how did this all start?

After sifting through so many blogs, articles and websites involving Silicone Bracelets, I have learned so many things about this inexpensive but powerful object, which I would like to share to everyone.

Contrary to what most people believe, it’s not Lance Armstrong that started the fad. This accessory has been around since the 80′s and if you knew about its humble beginnings, you will be surprised with how it turned out to be.

Silicone Bracelets were first used as accessories during the 80′s. To be frank, it was never intended to be a fashion statement. During this time when women spent tons of money on hair spray and snake skin skirts, a kind of music was developed. It’s a genre that was usually associated with society’s young menaces and rebels. This genre was called “Punk Rock”.

Punk Rock enthusiasts have always been what we would consider “Social Deviants” and as such, those kids didn’t want to conform to the norms. They developed their own identity and created their own fashion.

They were the first to use this simple round rubber object as part of their clothing. As an anti fashion statement, these “Punks” wore black rubber bands on their wrists as they rocked their youth away. That is why it is quite surprising to see that almost everyone today is using the very accessory that was meant to deviate from what was considered a fad.

Then, between the late 80′s to the early 90′s, two rising teen pop stars rocked the world with their absurd fashion and rebellious attitudes. These two teen pop stars were Cindy Lauper and Madonna. Sometime during the early parts of their career, when their hair was still dyed pink and purple, they also wore Silicone Bracelets as part of their get up.

These two teen idols, just like the enthusiasts of Punk Rock never really conformed to the popular fashion of the time. They instead, influenced other teens to dress up like them. From hairstyle to fishnet stockings to Silicone Bracelets, teens emulated them and copied their fashion style. That’s how these inexpensive items gained its popularity and got an entry ticket into mainstream fashion.

A few years later, sometime during the late 90′s to early 2000, a rumor revolving around the cheap colorful items that teens were so fond of, spread that alarmed parents, educators and a lot of conservative adults. This urban legend was taken seriously by a lot of parents that Silicone Bracelets were banned from various High Schools around the United States.

This urban legend, involved a sex game called “Snap”. According to legend, the game had a very simple rule, just snap a Silicon Bracelet from someone and depending on the color of the band you snap, you’ll get sexual favors from that person ranging from hugging to sexual intercourse.

Of course, there’s no truth to this rumor. At least that’s what most teens would say. It was a foolish game to begin with and kids couldn’t really do something like that. The Bracelet was too thick for one person to just snap from another person that it was an almost impossible game to win. Nonetheless, parents has serious concern over this rumor that the cheap accessory was banned.

Then, some time during the middle part of the first decade of the second millennium, Lance Armstrong wore his yellow Silicone Bracelet as a sign of his battle against Cancer and support to Cancer Victims and Survivors.

This was the first time that anyone used the cheap material for any kind of noble cause.

After Lance Armstrong introduced this object to the world as an icon to his noble objectives, everybody started following his example and started using Silicon Bracelets for many campaigns and awareness programs.

Today, you can see Silicon Bracelet with various patterns, logos and messages on them. It has been widely used since then not only for fashion but also a means to get important messages across to teens, students, employees and businessmen alike.

From anti fashion to rumored sex games to noble causes, Silicone Bracelets, although very cheap and affordable has a very rich history. It won’t be surprising to see this item gain more popularity as time comes.

It is no longer just a fad or a fashion accessory, but a jewel with a power to change people’s lives.

By: Rio Regio

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Now a days fashion and streetwear are becoming the same thing with mixes of styles that take influences from the past with a traditional style and look that is more reminiscent of the 50′s or even the 20′s along with a range of styles that are influenced by modern streetwear and youth culture from across the world.

It is now more the fashion for someone to have a range of different looks as opposed to one style. This means that a person could wear a designer suit one night, a colourful streetwear T-shirt the next and finish the week with a mix of the two.

Traditional types of clothes like trousers and a T-shirt are still extremely popular but the styles and details on them are what makes them different. Fashion designers like to add different types and styles of logos, so clothes can either have big artistic prints or small detailed logos.

New terms like Streetwear and Urbanwear have been invented to categorise these new clothing trends and styles. Streetwear is used to describe clothing inspired by the street lifestyle and often incorporate urban themes such as graffiti and life on the streets. Urbanwear and streetwear companies are often started by people from the street such as graffiti artists and skaters. Addict and Fly53 are two companies who have had success by developing their brands like this.

Retro looks from the 40′s and 50′s have made a big comeback in recent times. This has resulted in a serge in vintage clothes stores selling preowned clothes from different eras in time.

The popularity of retro vintage clothing has resulted in faux vintage clothing being produced and it has had a big impact on the fashion world as most people want the retro look at modern affordable prices but it can often be hard to find real vintage clothes.

Fashion designers have responded by producing replica clothing from the 1940′s to the 1980′s at cheap prices. This means that consumers can have nice retro apparel that fit comfortably, are affordable and it also means you don’t have to go routing through your parents clothes in the attic.

Underwear has also become more important in the fashion industry and vintage lingerie is now a growing market. The rise and return of burlesque shows has resulted in more burlesque hosiery being produced and women are now buying seamed stockings, corsets and waist cinchers.

By: Sean Crav

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Far apart from the golden age of 1950′s America, 1950′s Britain was still on rations, and struggling to get over the devastation suffered in World War II. However, for the British youth a new dawn was rising. Thanks to full employment and hire purchase and a new found freedom from National Service, the British youth was on their own two feet with money in their pocket and they wanted everybody to know about. A new movement known as the “teddy boys” was emerging across the UK, influenced by American Rock ‘n’ Roll and as Bill Haley’s cult movie “Rock Around The Clock” premiered in the Trocadero in London’s Elephant and Castle followed by outrage from the British establishment and joyous riots from the youths, the Ted movement was now alive and kicking.

Ever eager for a scoop, the press did not fail to capitalise on this new front page fodder. Soon the violence, and imminent danger that the Teddy Boys posed to British society was all over the front pages. From the prime minister to the archbishop, the British establishment was in turmoil as they watched their once dutiful youths turn into unruly wild cats. Whether much of this was by natural progression or greatly fuelled by the press, the outcome was a rough, dangerous youth movement that was loving every minute in the limelight and indeed acting up to it.

The teddy boys were here and soon the music makers and fashion retailers caught on to a new and untapped market. Very soon, commercial Rock’n'Roll was being slopped out and Teddy Boy fashions were on the high street and every kid wanted a quiff and a flick-knife. Thus, almost as quick as they had come, they were burnt out by their own famed notoriety and at now at odds with themselves for becoming everything they despised, just another high street fad, the Teds were gone.

By late 1950′s the original teddy boys were no more, broken up into various sub cultures, most fell by the wayside but two major groups remained and grew from the ruins of what was once the Teddy Boys to become the “Ton Up Boys” and the “Coffee Bar Cats”…

The “Ton Up Boys”, were those teddies that had held the motorcycle and American Rock’n'Roll as their foundations and now wore leather, big boots and rode British machines to and from various road side caf?s.

The “Coffee Bar Cats” aspired to a more Latin look, and their neo Italian style appreciated modern jazz, ventless thin lapelled box suit jackets and they chose Italian scooters as the superior mode of transport for such well dressed Cats…

It’s not hard to figure how these late 50′s early 60′s sub culture’s and indeed underground fashions grew into the Mods and Rockers of the mid 60′s.

The Coffee Bar Cats felt they were the modern movement and the Ton Up Boys represented all that was gone and should remain buried in a pile of dirty bikes and dirty leathers. Hence as they grew and needed to encompass all their new members, they eventually termed themselves the Modernists and the Mods were born.

The “Ton Up Boys”, enjoying the same growth in numbers and being known for their love of Rock ‘n Roll found themselves becoming the Rockers.

Unsurprisingly the Rockers did not agree with the Modernist view of themselves as outdated and somehow lower class. They saw the Mods with their dandy dress, penchant for wearing eyeliner and popping pills at every opportunity as an insult to all that is British and macho.

The Rockers did not like the Mods and the Mods did not like the Rockers.
The lines were drawn…..

Copyright 2006 www.fishtailparkas.com

By: Kane Western

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