Anti-fashion

Anti-fashion is an umbrella term for various styles of dress which are explicitly contrary to the fashion of the day. Anti-fashion styles may represent an attitude of indifference or may arise from political or practical goals which make fashion a secondary priority. The term is sometimes even used for styles championed by high profile designers, when they encourage or create trends that don't follow the mainstream fashion of the time. Another example, this time from the early 20th century was promoted by the legendary designer Gabrielle Chanel - a "poor girl" woman's style where rich ladies could look like regular women while still dressing in clothes that showed their quality under close inspection.

Grunge is an example of the oppositional style of dress while the rational dress of the Victorian era, which allowed ladies to swim or bicycle, is an example of a functional anti-fashion. A trend for feminist women to dress in ways that don't follow the norms for women's clothing has been described as anti-fashion, though research suggested many women who dress this way don't choose to label themselves this way, in the opinion of author Samantha Holland this is because the women don't like the confrontational overtones of the term. In the 1990s a minimalist style described as anti fashion emerged on both sides of the Atlantic where young people would typically wear simple clothes such as black jeans and white t-shirts without a visible brand name.

The dress sense of the The Prince of Wales has been described as anti fashion, in that it reflects indifference to current fashion in favour of traditional style.