Authentically Punk: An Expose on the ‘FREC’ Look

Picture this: It's Orientation week, and you hear bellows coming from University Avenue. You look, half-scared for your life, half-intrigued by its melody, to see a fleet of purple-skinned punks, some on leashes, others whipping chains on the pavement, coming straight towards you. Did Vivienne Westwood rise from her grave to design a collegiate line? Nope, just Queens University’s finest: FRECs! Love them or hate them, FRECs are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to Queens best dressed. The FREC uniform has always intrigued me, specifically in its contrast to the preppy connotation which follows Queens’ title. Knowingly or not, these FRECs emulate a style coined by Vivienne Westwood, the key initiator of what we know as Punk fashion.

Tired of the mellow Hippie movement in the '60s, English youth sought out an angrier artistic expression of their feelings toward corrupt institutions. Reconstruction of garments was a huge motif of punk culture and set the scene for their anarchical societal views. The ripping and distressing of garments called for haphazard mending, typically fashioned together with safety pins or chains. Along with these rugged qualities, punks wore the now popularised Doc Marten boots, which then were primarily worn by the working class. In 1974, Vivienne Westwood and partner Malcolm Mclaren opened ‘SEX,’ a clothing store where Vivienne’s first creations were born. Along with her own raunchy graphic tees and reconstructed pieces, SEX sold leather and rubber fetish toys and apparel. This store was a keystone for any young person wanting to explore their personal style and sexuality through radical counter-culture.

Considering this, FRECs seem to be certified punks. Chains, scuffed combat boots, lazily dyed leather jackets, and hair that defies laws of physics make up the FREC look, which embodies the anarchical views started by Juveniles in the 70s and is imitated by these engineering students. When in costume, ordinary (...?) Engineering students become creatures of rebellion, chaos and sexual deviance. They stomp and yell to freak out the jocks and preps and successfully assert their role of being simultaneously the freaks and geeks.

It is a perfect execution of Punk culture, an anti-fashion counterculture meant to agitate traditional customs with a complete disregard for whatever response they may get. (Eng) Rock on FRECs!