Why Camo, Anyway? #drumandbassproper #dnbproper #tallygtuesdays #drumandbass #dnb #drumnbass #jungle #junglist #junglistsoldier #junglehistory #drumandbasshistory #musichistory
If you've ever been to a drum and bass or jungle show (or ever ventured into the jungle room at multi-genre events way back when), you probably noticed that people were wearing a lot of camouflage, more than the norm. I've been raving since 1996, and I remember junglists wearing camo as far back as then. I personally own shirts, dresses, hoodies, pants, leggings, and bandanas all featuring the appropriately titled Jungle Camouflage. I wear them regularly, but I especially wear them to dnb shows. Why do junglists wear camo, anyway?
Shockingly, when I googled "Why do junglists wear camouflage?" I recieved no specific responses, only an AI-generated summary of the reasons people wear it and links to the Dogs on Acid forum where camo is mentioned. Since this avenue of questioning did not bring me any answers, I decided to look into the history of wearing camo for fashion.
The wearing of camouflage clothing began during the first world war, mostly by the French. In fact, the French word camoufler is where the word camouflage comes from. Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scévola and other artists developed the first patterns, designed for stationary military positions. Britain and the United States quickly followed suit.
Sadly, the first mass-produced camouflage uniforms were produced by the Germans in the 1930s. However, the US Marines are also credited with sporting camo overalls during that era (World War II). Camouflage continued to be worn almost solely by various militaries for the next few decades until the mid-1960s brought the Vietnam War. During this era, camo was standardized and worn in militaries across the globe. Interestingly enough during the same era, it also became a symbol for protest and resistance, which is why I think it became so popular with junglists.
During the decades following the Vietnam War, camouflage fatigues and combat wear continued to be popular with both militaries and protesters/resisters/revolutionaries while it branched out into other subcultures, mostly notably hip-hop. Interestingly, it also became popular in the gay club scene of San Francisco before eventually entering the mainstream in the 1990s, when jungle was born.
Camouflage has also been widely adopted by the fashion world for decades now. Military chic is a personal favorite of mine and I've always loved the various olive and green colors that are prominent in jungle camo. The amount of differing types of camouflage patterns is mind-boggling especially considering it is something that has only been around for 100 or so years. Regardless, it appears it is here to stay in both the normie world and the jungle world.
Till next time,
Tally G
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