How to Be a Scene Girl

Co-authored by Luca Buzas and Amber Crain

Last Updated: May 3, 2023 Approved

Scene girls are awesome with their brightly-colored clothes, cool hair, and impeccable taste in music. Naturally, you want to be one! The most crucial part of becoming a scene girl is nailing the clothes, hair, and makeup. Aim for bright, eye-catching looks because you definitely want to stand out. Then, get to work on your music collection and social media presence to be a true scene kid!

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Dressing the Part

1
Invest in fitted T-shirts with cute cartoons and imagery on them. Colorful and cute cartoon characters like Hello Kitty, Care Bears, Pokémon, and Invader Zim are still a big part of the scene look. Some scene kids even refer to these characters as “scene mascots.” Other important imagery that fits the aesthetic: candy, skulls, diamonds, knives, and anything death-related that still looks “cute.” ^{[1]
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- For example, a neon green hoodie or shirt with GIR from Invader Zim on it is quintessential scene. ^{[2]
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- Stick with fitted shirts since scene clothes are generally pretty tight. Baggy clothing doesn’t reflect the style at all.
2
Pair skinny jeans, leggings, and tutus with your cute graphic T-shirts. If you want to wear pants, they need to be tight! Black and grey skinny jeans are perfect. Ripped skinny jeans with colorful leggings underneath is another go-to scene style, or you can wear the leggings by themselves. If you prefer skirts over pants, look for colorful tutus. Daring colors, like neon, are always a good choice. ^{[3]
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- For example, wear a Hello Kitty T-shirt with ripped black skinny jeans with pink tights underneath.
- If you aren’t sure what bottoms you want to wear, you can always fall back on colorful skinny jeans. ^{[4]
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3
Wear ballet flats or Converse shoes in bold colors and prints. Ballet flats come in tons of colors and they look great with almost every outfit so consider investing in lots of colors and styles. If you prefer tennis shoes, go with brands like Converse or Vans, which also come in many colors and prints. ^{[5]
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- To customize your tennis shoes, take out the normal laces and replace them with neon laces.
4
Go with bold jewelry and bright or studded accessories. Complete your outfit with large, chunky pieces of bright jewelry. If you can find brand or character jewelry, like a Hello Kitty bangle, that's perfect! Otherwise, just look for big pieces, like chunky earrings, in neon colors. Studded belts in a variety of colors are also a must. ^{[6]
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- Neon backpacks or purses with cartoon characters or candy on them are also popular.
- Wearing a pair of vintage-looking headphones can make you stand out in a cool way.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Doing Scene Hair and Makeup

1
Dye your hair black or any bright color that you like. Bright or rainbow hair colors are one of the most recognizable scene kid traits! To get bright hair colors like pink, blue, and green to show up, you will need to bleach your hair first, then apply the dye. Be sure to follow the directions on the kit that you buy. If you aren’t allowed to dye your hair bright colors, black is a good alternative. ^{[7]
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- Feel free to dye your hair multiple colors! Black stripes and leopard spots over a neon color can also look cool.
- For a commit-free look, consider trying colorful hair extensions. ^{[8]
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2
Get a hairstyle with plenty of layers and a deep side part. You can make short or long hair work for the scene look as long as your hair is unique. Straight hair is popular but any hair texture can work for scene styles. Tons of choppy layers are a must! Just keep in mind that the most important part of any scene hairstyle is uniqueness! ^{[9]
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- For example, a long shag with tons of texture and layers is a great choice. ^{[10]
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- A deep side part with swoopy fringe that covers at least one of your eyes is also part of the classic scene look. Plus, fringes work really well with layered hairstyles.
3
Tease your hair at the crown and aim for lots of textured volume. Another hallmark of classic scene hair is the size: big and teased! Start by teasing your hair at the crown to create a really full-looking style and customize the look pretty much any way you want from there. ^{[11]
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- You can apply dry shampoo for an easy way to get more volume and texture in your hair.
4
Do dramatic black eyeliner looks with graphic liquid liner. Scene makeup is all about the eyes! Bold, graphic eyeliner in traditional black or blue is a great start. It will draw attention to your eyes and make them look bigger. Go with a liquid eyeliner since it tends to create the most dramatic look. You can also play around with colorful or metallic eyeliners to create unique styles. ^{[12]
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- For example, you could try a dramatic cat eye look with elongated black wings.
- Opt for a high-quality eyeliner that will not budge or smear off.
5
Apply eyeshadows in bright colors and accentuate with bold lashes. Central to the scene makeup look are the eyes – you want your eye makeup to be bold and bright to make your eyes stand out dramatically from the rest of your face. Pink, green, and blue eyeshadows are all great options. False lashes are also popular because they create a cartoon-like look that scene kids love. ^{[13]
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- For a more elaborated makeup, apply the lightest eyeshadow to the transition between the crease and brow bone with a fluffy brush. Then apply a darker shade to the eye socket area and lower lash line with a detailing contour brush, and blend well. Finally, use a flat brush to apply the darkest eyeshadow to the lid.
- If you have long eyelashes, you can just apply tons of black mascara instead.
- Keep the rest of your makeup understated so your eyes stand out in a major way.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Living the Lifestyle

1
Listen exclusively to obscure bands and attend shows frequently. Music is really important for scene kids – the more obscure the better. You can’t really pin down a specific scene genre since the music is a hybrid of rock, pop, and techno genres. Rap and hip hop also sometimes show up in scene music. ^{[14]
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- Avoid mainstream music completely.
- Rep your favorite bands by wearing their T-shirts as often as you can.
- A few popular scene bands: Brokencyde, Blood on the Dancefloor, Black Veil Brides, and Pierce the Veil.
2
Be active on all social media platforms and post tons of pictures. The scene movement started out on MySpace, but no one really uses that anymore! These days, it’s all about Facebook, Instagram and, to a lesser extent, Twitter. Be active on Facebook and Instagram and post tons of pictures of yourself rocking your scene looks. ^{[15]
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- For Twitter, you can just stick with super random tweets. They don’t have to make sense. Scene kids love being random.
3
Work scene lingo into your vocabulary. You don’t have to do this and scene slang does change a lot, but there are definitely some go-to words and phrases you can try out. Scene kids are also famous for making up their own words, coming up with random acronyms, using contrived misspellings, and adding letters to words. Just try not to over-do it or you’ll look like you’re trying too hard. ^{[16]
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- For example, "hella" and "dank” are common slang words in the scene.
- Replacing the “s” at the end of any word with a “z” is any easy way to adopt scene lingo. For example: "scene kidz."
A lot of subcultures adopt an aloof attitude to make themselves seem as cool as possible, but scene kids are known for being fun and chatty. They’re the life of the party! Scene kids are generally not rude to others and try to be friendly to everyone. Aim to be as bright and colorful as your clothing. ^{[17]
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Community Q&A

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Question

Are emo and scene similar styles?

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This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

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There are some similarities, but emo looks tend to rely on lots of black and darker colors. The music is a lot different, too. Emo kids are also known for being aloof and emotional, but scene kids are typically bubbly and fun.

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So I'm trying to be scene and emo. Is this even possible? My plan is to wear bright shoes dress like an emo and have scene hair. Will this work?

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This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

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It's definitely possible! There's a lot of overlap between them. It's sounds like you're off to a good start with the bright dress and teased scene hair. Try to listen to emo and scene bands to cover the music in both camps.

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Tips

Be comfortable with who you are. Other people might make fun of your scene status, but as a true scene kid, you don’t care what they think!

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If people call you “emo” or “goth,” be sure to correct them. You are scene and it’s totally different!

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Warnings

Keep in mind that dyeing your hair frequently can damage it. Try to go easy with the bleach and wait as long as you can between colorings.

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How to Be a Scene Girl

Steps

Dressing the Part

Doing Scene Hair and Makeup

Living the Lifestyle

Community Q&A

Tips

Warnings

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References

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