Vocabulary: What Is "Punk"?

Punk fashion centers on a DIY ethic, and is generally against consumerism and focuses on individuality.
A lot of punk clothing is hand customized or hand made, which ties in with the individuality and anti-consumerism and DIY ethics of the culture.

The main styles that one thinks of when they hear "punk fashion" is big leather boots, safety pins holding ripped garments together, spikes and studs, flannels, t-shirts, mohawks, shaved heads, piercings, tattoos, and customized leather jackets, jean jackets or vests.

The punk subculture is associated with the fast paced music of punk rock, and centers on anti-authoritarianism, nonconformity, and individualism.

Brief History of Punk

There's some dispute as to when punk really began, some saying mid 60's and others saying mid 70's.
Punk started in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. It was a build-off from the hippie culture of the 1960's- but a darker, more anarchistic version of what the hippies started. Punks rejected the flowing, naturalistic ideology of hippies, but maintained their distaste for "the man", societal norms, and all things mainstream.

The name "Punk" came from exactly where one would think it does- it began as an insult, calling punks worthless, but they turned it around and wore the label with pride.