Roots and influences of grunge are punk, metal and alternative bands such as Sonic Youth, the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Flipper, The Sex Pistols, etc. Grunge started off as a small, underground collection of bands that eventually broke out into the mainstream around the time Nirvana's "Nevermind" album and Pearl Jam's "Ten" album were realeased. After this there seemed to be a massive grunge craze and it was the new popular, cool genre to listen to, much to the dislike of many people, such as Kurt Cobain who wanted grunge to stay away from the mainstream as much as possible. You may think that sounds a little mad, the king of grunge as he has been labelled actually wanting grunge to die down? Well yes, this was true, Kurt and many others hated the publicity and fame, finding it all a little too overpowering and they just wanted their normal lives to come back.

With the music came grunge fashions. Think plaid sweaters, checky shirts, ripped baggy jeans, grandad jumpers, old band t-shirts and generally anything laidback, old and comfy. Along with grunge came Riot Grrl, a kind of feminist movement within music that brought along it's own fashion which was brought to everbodies attention by the one and only Courtney Love (Singer and guitarist of Hole). Cute little babydoll dresses and pretty bows and heels were teamed with ripped tights, suspenders, messy hair and leather to form the more feminine (but equally as nonconformist) side of grunge fashion. Now-a-days there seems to be a big grunge revival in fashion going on with lots of leather, dark colours, velvet, lace and tartan, studs, rips and big heavy boots appearing in lots of shops and designers closets.