Wondering what to wear at a concert? 5 tips to create your diy punk jackets with the right patches!

In my long career as a punk rocker, I have seen heaps of people wearing their punk jacket and I’ve seen all kinds of them: nails, bomber, denim jackets…

I’ve seen fashions come, become obsolete and then come back.

So here are my battle jacket rules, to be followed if you think they are right for you!

That’s why the most important thing to have a great concert outfit is to “Stay DIY or DIE”, and always wear a D.I.Y. T-Shirt, homemade or bought from independent bands, so you can support your local scene!

Some battle jackets have struck me particularly, I remember when I was a kid at a NOFX concert in Jesolo, Italy, a very sick punk was there with large letters inscription behind his nail jacket:

“It is you who make me sick!” and at that moment I realised it was the essence of punk summed up in one sentence… in one word: a masterpiece.

First of all: wear your best punk jacket with the right patches and you will be totally kick-ass!

No matter who you are, where you come from or what you do in life; when you put on your battle jacket a mechanism triggers something in your head.

That’s the moment you reunite with your true self; because you finally wear what you are.

The concert jacket is not a simple garment, but a projection of yourselves in a piece of clothing.

From that moment my passion started to grow and I started making not just a punk jacket, but my own punk jacket (with my mother’s invaluable help), and I have to say, I was so good at that job that some friends of mine began to wonder if I could do a battle jacket for them too…

From there I started producing a series of metal jackets, but it revealed one big mistake!

I made lots of jackets similar to each other, but that’s the reason why they were deprived of their own personality: the most important feature in that type of battle jacket.

Most of them were bought by local jocks who wanted to look ROCKER and that was my divine punishment, to see my punk jackets – made with so much love – worn by these fucking cock faces all over different fucking clubs… my only comfort was that many of those assholes paid me with drugs.

That said, I will give you some advice, friends, those of you who are planning to make your first metal jacket or create your newest one and wondering what to wear to a punk concert to feel cool and confident.

1- Punk Patches DIY or DIE

Talking about concert outfits, I’m not the only one who had the idea of making some concert jacket in a series (unfortunately) and I know some brands offer you a ready-made battle jacket, available with loan sharks prices.

Remember that your punk jacket is your flag and a way to express your personality… If you buy an already-made-battle-jacket, you show everybody that you don’t have personality.

Remember that one of the best parts of having a cool battle jacket is looking for punk patches/studs/written stuff and how you mix that shit together.

2- Select the right punk jacket patches

If you make a uniform carpet of punk patches stuck one to the other the only result will be that none of them will stand out.

I’m not saying that’s a wrong choice, the first rule is that there are no rules, but I would recommend putting fewer patches and more detailed in some strategic points: the back, above the left breast pocket, right shoulder and so on…

3- Quality matters

One of the hardest steps is choosing the punk battle vest, you should get one of good quality and it’s okay. I recommend you try it before you put it on.

Don’t get a battle jacket that you’ll wear badly.

Before I found my black jean jacket I had to wait months before buying it in a market at Caden Town, London.

To say buy it, is a big word actually, because a salesman stole it and then sold it back to me in a bar, but let it be… that’s another story.

4- Try not to offend anyone (a.k.a. don’t mess with 1% Bike Gangs)

When you chose what kind of battle jacket to wear to a concert, there are unwritten rules in the world of concert outfits, and you can put only certain group or gang logos on your jacket.

For example, I have a Tumbledown patch on the back of my battle jacket. One time I had some trouble with a gang of bikers who thought it was the logo of a rival gang (actually they showed me and it’s really similar).

That time I was very close to being hit by them, but in the end, I turned around & they saw that they had mistaken the patch and fortunately it ended well cause they offered to buy me a drink.

So be careful about what you’re going to put on your battle jacket because the responsibility is yours.

5- Do not make shitty colour mix

Before you stick a new patch, always do a test if it’s fine with the others and I recommend you not to do chromatic nonsenses, trust to your good taste to get your own personal concert outfit and if you don’t have good taste… you’re probably fucked up anyway! 🙂

Said that now you are ready to have a great concert outfit: make your own punk leather jacket, sticking out the right punk back patches, unleash your creativity, good luck and above all have fun.

Oh, and thanks a lot to LiveTrigger.com for having me and to all the friends who sent me photos of their jackets to enrich this post.

Finally: here’s a nice video to watch if you want to learn How To Make A Battle Jacket