page_title: New Romantic
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: New Romantic / History / Origins
caption_attribution_description: English: David Bowie in the early 1970s
context_page_description: The New Romantic movement was a pop culture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New Romantic movement was characterised by flamboyant, eccentric fashion inspired by fashion boutiques such as Kahn and Bell in Birmingham and PX in London. Early adherents of the movement were often referred to by the press by such names as Blitz Kids, New Dandies and Romantic Rebels.
  Influenced by David Bowie, Marc Bolan and Roxy Music, the New Romantics developed fashions inspired by the glam rock era coupled with the early Romantic period of the late 18th and early 19th century. The term "New Romantic" is known to having been coined by musician, producer, manager and innovator Richard James Burgess. In response to a question about being credited with coining the term New Romantic in an interview with The Electricity Club, Burgess said: "Initially I was using three terms - Futurist, Electronic Dance Music and New Romantic."
context_section_description: The New Romantic movement developed almost simultaneously in London and Birmingham. In London it grew out of David Bowie and Roxy Music themed nights, run during 1978 in the nightclub Billy's in Dean Street, London. In 1979, the growing popularity of the club forced organisers Steve Strange and Rusty Egan to relocate to a larger venue in the Blitz, a wine bar in Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, where they ran a Tuesday night "Club for Heroes". Its patrons dressed as uniquely as they could in an attempt to draw the most attention.
  Steve Strange worked as the club's doorman and Egan was the DJ at the Blitz. The club became known for its exclusive door policy and strict dress code. Strange would frequently deny potential patrons admission because he felt that they were not costumed creatively or subversively enough to blend in with those inside the club. In a highly publicised incident, a drunken Mick Jagger tried to enter the club, but Strange denied him entry. The club spawned several spin-offs and there were soon clubs elsewhere in the capital and in other major British cities, including Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.
  While still at Billy's, Strange and Egan joined Billy Currie and Midge Ure of Ultravox to form the band Visage. Before forming Culture Club, Boy George and Marilyn worked as cloakroom attendants at the Blitz. The video for David Bowie's 1980 UK number one single "Ashes to Ashes" included appearances by Strange with three other Blitz Kids and propelled the New Romantic movement into the mainstream.
  In Birmingham the origins of the New Romantic movement lay in the opening in 1975 of the Hurst Street shop of the fashion designers Kahn and Bell, whose elaborate and theatrical designs brought together futuristic visual elements and influences as diverse as Egyptian, African and Far Eastern art, and would largely define the movement's look. By 1977 a small scene featuring Jane Kahn and Patti Bell themselves, Martin Degville, Boy George and Patrick Lilley had emerged in pubs such as The Crown and clubs such as Romulus and Barbarella's.
caption: David Bowie's androgynous Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders look, which was a major influence on the movement.
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