Coined late 1970s; codified early 1980s London

Psychobilly

Punk-rockabilly hybrid — quiff hair, leopard pieces, creepers, slim cuffed jeans and B-movie horror motifs on bowling shirts.

Palette: jet black blood red leopard tan bone white shocking pink accent graveyard green
Signature garments: embroidered bowling shirt Western snap-front shirt rolled-cuff white tee slim cuffed jeans leopard-trim creepers skull or hot-rod print belt buckle leather biker jacket with B-movie back patch
Canonical brands: Sourpuss Atomic Apparel Steady Clothing Iron Fist Lucky 13

About

Psychobilly was named on a Johnny Cash song and reborn in early-1980s London at the Klub Foot, where the Meteors made the genre official ('Only the Meteors are pure psychobilly'). The Cramps had laid the groundwork in late-70s NYC, and Psychobilly pulled both into something faster, scarier and B-movie obsessed. Wardrobe codes: massive quiff or 'wedge' haircuts (often dyed jet-black with a contrasting flash), bowling shirts and Western shirts with skull, devil and zombie embroidery, slim cuffed jeans showing socks, brothel creepers or pointed boots, leopard-print accents, vintage-cut sleeveless work shirts, rolled-cuff white tees with cigarette pack in the sleeve, tattoos of Mexican wrestlers and B-movie monsters. The scene runs from London's Klub Foot lineage through European weekenders like Pineda de Mar to American festivals like Viva Las Vegas.

Not Rockabilly — Psychobilly keeps the silhouette but layers in B-movie horror motifs, shaved-side wedge haircuts and a punk-tempo musical lineage; pure Rockabilly skews to Sun Records-era 1950s reverence.

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