These days it’s difficult to find decent cyberpunk clothing unless you are willing to pay a shitload of money and search through the millions of clothes that have nothing to do with cyberpunk, yet still claim to be. It’s a problem with the current dystopian western society we’ve found ourselves in… no terminals to hack into with our brain stem but plenty of clothes that are goth, steampunk, rave or industrial that have little relation to cyberpunk clothing or the cyberpunk attitude. The other option you have is making the clothes yourself but for that you would need to be talented and, for ease, let’s assume for the moment that you aren’t (or if you want to feel better about yourself, let’s say you can’t build a raid server or port scan companies in Japan at the same time as sewing… pfft).



The point is this; you want to go out and you want to change the world’s perception of fashion while at the same time remaining under the radar in the crowd as you get to the club to pick up another unsavoury job from your employer.

In the early days of public internet it was perfectly acceptable for cyberpunks to fit into the almost-cybergoth scene; wearing minimal black clothing, nails painted black and earning money from rich goths willing to pay for a little bit of hacking done from your Windows 98 laptop. This idea isn’t too far-fetched – it was stolen from reality by the creators of The Matrix. I was doing gigs like this before the film came out – while I was visiting the same club they used for the “down the rabbit hole scene” (Hellfire in Chippendale, Sydney) – all while having a high paying job at a software/internet company where I first saw the trailer for The Matrix. I admit; I saw myself more like Lenny from Strange Days – totes cooler – than anyone from the Matrix films. After this time, if you wore a long black or brown leather jacket people would call out to you, “Hey Matrix idiot”… making you no longer anonymous. Thanks, Matrix – you fuckfaces.

Fashion has caught up somewhat since those fucking days in the 90’s but the idea of what cyberpunk fashion is has strayed in the public consciousness mostly because people don’t understand the cyberpunk ethos or where it comes from. What impresses me are the costumes in cyberpunk films like Total Recall (2013) and, more recently, in games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution and especially Remember Me. Nilin’s costume is outrageously gorgeous.

So how do you track down the ultimate cyberpunk fashion for that specific cyberpunk style? I was getting to that.

Start with the outrageously expensive places like Plastic Wrap (http://www.plastikwrap.com/) and Google ‘cyberpunk clothing’ to get some ideas of what you would like to wear. Then, hit the markets (yes, I mean real life markets). There’s bound to be several places that you never thought of to go to buy cyberpunk or dystopian clothes because obviously retail is too expensive and buying low quality, overpriced shit online was the only way to get the cool shit. Well you were wrong.

Most young people trying to get a foot in the fashion industry are making some of the coolest shit and selling it at markets to get a leg up in the industry but what that means for you is you can buy awesome unique pieces that ultimately can fuel your dream outfit for your dark corner of our dystopia. I have been blown away at some of the functional and cyberpunk clothes I’ve been able to find of late in markets in Sydney. Wherever you are in the world there are bound to be similar places, you just need to find out where your local markets (usually in cities) are located.

There is also a heap of cool clothing waiting to be found in second-hand clothing stores. You just gotta look and usually it’s as cheap as a hooker in Chiba City, Japan… I’m not kidding.

Remember three things when searching for cyberpunk clothing:

Functionality – make sure there are a shit load of pockets, prefer zippers to buttons but heavy duty snaps are cool too. Make sure there are hidden pockets… everywhere. Black does not necessarily mean cyberpunk – mix it up a bit if you can (definitely no pink, green or yellow – fluro or otherwise – or I will personally smash you). Use colours in the darker range like browns, oranges, scuffed or dirty white and dark greys. Avoid anything hipster.

If you just can’t find anything outside, here are some potential online sources for decent cyberpunk clothing:

Cryoflesh

www.cryoflesh.com

While promoting itself as Urban Future Wear there’s clearly a lot of goth and rave wear to sift through with some interesting accessories. Reasonably cheaper than most online stores but difficult to put together a full outfit from this one site and still remain true to the cyberpunk ethos.

Cyberdog

http://shop.cyberdog.net/

Cyberdog has come a long way since its inception but still focuses more on rave culture than actual cyberpunk clothing. Everything is in pounds so don’t forget how expensive that makes everything.

Plastik Wrap/Plastic Army

http://www.plastikwrap.com/

Plastik Wrap have been around for a long time and built up their brand and even had some costumes featured in Total Recall 2013… unfortunately this also makes them one of the most expensive brands out there. They have some amazing pieces but use them for reference only.

Eva Zolnar

https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/ZOLNAR/

Via Etsy, Eva Zolinar has been creating some very interesting pieces that fit right into a cyberpunk underground. While some of the more detailed pieces are extremely expensive some of the smaller pieces and accessories are quite cool average out to the price of some of the pieces on cryoflesh.

Futurestate

http://www.futurstate.com/

With a much more Industrial sometime borderline steampunk edge Futurestate does have some interesting torso pieces and jackets especially for men again the prices are right up there but its worthwhile for looking at the hoodies and jackets.

Siskatank

http://www.siskatank.com/

Very expensive printed clothing.

Immoral Fashion

http://www.immoralfashion.com.au/

An Australian fashion site with some amazing pieces and surprisingly low prices. Pants tops and jackets are all high quality from here. Again you are wading through steampunk and goth clothing but it’s all high quality.

Neurolab (non corporeal clothing)

http://www.neurolab-inc.com/blog/en/category/categories/clothes-categories/

If you are fan of Second Life, which I am not, you might want to check out Neurolab’s clothing and gear. Warning: this is strictly clothing for your avatar in second life not real life clothing.

Neon Dystopia

https://www.neondystopia.com/store/

Though not strictly cyberpunk clothing, we have our own online store which has t-shirts with unique cyberpunk-inspired designs created by specially-chosen artists from around the world. Check them out!

There you have it – plenty of advice and resources to get yourself going. If you can’t find yourself anything to wear above, well, I guess you’ll have to learn to sew.