Auslander says there is some evidence that it was really the girlfriends and stylists of folks like Bowie and Bolan who were the architects of those early looks. Killers lead singer Brandon Flowers credits his four sisters.
New Romantics like Duran Duran often appeared as manicured as the models who co-starred with them in their fashion-forward videos.
Here were men who were pretty but virile, unafraid to look good, the original metrosexuals. The Cure's Robert Smith used his smeared pucker as a striking visual commentary on his otherness. Later, gay artists like then-closeted Boy George, of Culture Club, signaled their sexuality and tipped a cap to heroes like Bowie through their outlandish dress and makeup.
Then came the Seattle grunge phenomenon of the 1990s — all flannel, no lip liner — a stern reaction to the pouting hair bands, gender benders, and glam metal boys.
Which brings us back to the present boom. It's hard to find origins, but you can certainly draw a line from the pop-punk of Green Day (whose lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong, knows his way around the makeup case) to the melodrama of Panic at the Disco and My Chemical Romance.
A sociological underpinning, though, remains elusive. Lyric sheets and interviews turn up scant evidence that the new acts are applying the war paint for any purpose other than the sheer frivolous joy of it.
Indeed, for many of the baby glam rockers, dressing up seems like a natural outgrowth of membership in the high school drama club. And for bands with barely legal members like Panic and Fall Out Boy, that's pretty recent history. Boston acts have also picked up the torch, with artists like the Dresden Dolls and Humanwine rooting their performances in more theatrical traditions of performance art, mime, and cabaret — styles explored by glam father figure Bowie.
You get the sense watching certain of the new bands that visual kick is the chief draw. They are putting on a show, after all, and if eyeliner will help amplify their tearful tales of bruised hearts and angst-ridden romances, well then praise Ziggy Stardust and pass the eyelash curler.
And if there are some corners of the globe that still look askance at a little creative face paint, then all the better, as titillation is rarely a detriment to the bottom line. “In all kinds of performances,” Auslander points out, “as time goes on things become conventions.”
That today's teen rock fan doesn't think twice about the gloss on Panic guitarist Ryan Ross's lips or the puffy shirt worn by singer Brendon Urie is a sign that traditional gender signifiers are relaxed to the point of irrelevance.
But perhaps not for long. In our accelerated culture, today's “TRL” glam boys are tomorrow's mustachioed, flannel-wearing retro rockers.
Witness the transformation of the Killers from New Romantic fops to Springsteen-styled purveyors of anthem rock.
The fascination is still with the past — in this case Born to Run-era grandeur — but the costume has changed yet again.
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