What Punk Mermaids Wear
Introducing sirencore, a new hardcore oceanic aesthetic
The ocean is punk as fuck. There’s the crushing totality and vastness from an on-land perspective, the way the tides are pulled by the moon (moodiest celestial body), the far-away screamo sound of waves crashing, all of the unknowable crusty creatures in its depths… She even swallows up submersibles full of oil tycoons, which is the oceanic equivalent of curb-stomping nazis at shows! The hard/soft duality of water and the anti-establishment, DIY subculture swirls like a riptide in me, receding from land and leaving in its wake a new aesthetic: sirencore.
The older, more mature sibling of both mermaidcore and seapunk of 2000s Tumblr, sirencore draws from the mythology of sea creatures that lure sailors to their deaths. The key imagery for our purposes are humanlike sea nymphs (with maybe some fish or bird features), perched among rocks and cliffs, singing temptation and embodying beautiful danger. The style prompt is punk mermaid; it’s spikes and gills and scales and jagged shells and shimmering, mesmerizing metallics and turquoise.
Before we dive in, I want to note how this aesthetic grew from delicate application of styling and accessories, which happens to be where sirencore gleams most for me. It’s also a great starting point for those without their sea legs. Your hair? Wavy and wild with sea salt like you just popped out of the ocean. Your accessories? Woven like nets, scaled or sequined, adorned with shells, covered in natural and baroque pearls of varying sizes like mini crustacea sculls, and set in sterling silver and gunmetal.1
This is what I mean by delicate application; Sirencore most satisfies my personal style as a light motif, pearls and metallics adding subtle sparkle to a grunge or casual look. We are in the initial, inviting stage of the siren cycle, though danger is looming. The above outfits get progressively more piscine, spouting gills and scales in the form of iridescent teal spandex and textured PVC slides. It’s too late to swim to safety.
Full sirencore immersion: Mesh and fishnets exist at the center2 of the punk and mermaid venn diagram, and so perfectly manifest this aesthetic. Beaded adornments can be a shorthand for submerged rocks (Fit 2) or kelp (Fit 3) depending on their volume and frequency. Linear tie dye is evocative of waves and nods to this aesthetic’s seapunk roots. A digression for another send, but today, white socks and Mary Janes do not necessarily read pilgrim; They have jumped their initial context to punk, like plaid pleated skirts, via a perversion of the school uniform.
Alternately, removing the punk elements of an outfit situates us in mermaid territory, and interestingly, a dressier space. Take Fit 1 above — an accessible take on sirencore, but sirencore nonetheless. Remove the Carhartt hat and add an evening baguette and you are dressed for an event with Schiaparelli-like embellishment. Fit 2 demonstrates the elegance of a 2023 mermaidcore sensibility, and how much that aligns with MNZ Store merchandising. We are singing temptation and ensorcelling the sea-faring! We’re sipping a Montrachet of skin contact! Fit 3 offers a deadliest catch fantasy of tangled nets and buoy parts, however the substitution of a prissier bag and sateen slip would boost the look’s formality.
As is customary with a captivating aesthetic, I leave you with this moodboard to launch your deep sea exploration.
If you’re a gold girlie, set those jewels aside for this aesthetic. The prevalence of silver studs, grommets, and gauges in punk fashion cannot be denied, and sirencore depends on that edge.
Did you know that the center of a venn diagram is known as a vesica piscis — referring in Latin to the bladder of a fish? If that’s not sirencore...
Quick q, but how do you never run out of inspiring ensembles? 🤔 can’t wait to recreate some of these looks and figure out how I can incorporate the punk mermaid aesthetic 🤙🏽