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Hardcore skinheads are skinheads who mainly associate with hardcore and sometimes heavy metal instead of Oi!, ska, soul or other music genres associated with the skinhead subculture.
Starting in the early 1980s, there were many skinheads in the New York hardcore scene, although Detroit, Chicago, Seattle and Boston also had strong scenes. Skinheads became prevalent towards the end of the first wave of hardcore, and this continued through the youth crew era of hardcore. Many of the key New York skinhead hardcore bands were influenced by the burgeoning crossover thrash scene. In the early 1990s, there was a steep decline in the involvement of skinheads in the hardcore scene as more of them moved on to the American Oi! scene. However, these American Oi! bands were distinct from their British forerunners because they were influenced by the American hardcore sound. The hardcore skinhead scene did not completely fade away in New York City, with several bands coming from the DMS crew (Doc Martens Skinheads), such as Madball, Agnostic Front, and Murphy's Law.
Style and clothing
Although characterised by some of the same items as British skinhead fashion (flight jackets; Ben Sherman shirts or Fred Perry shirts; rolled up jeans; suspenders; and combat boots or Dr. Martens boots,) hardcore skinhead dress is considerably less strict than traditional skinhead style. Items that have been popular in the hardcore skinhead subculture include: leather jackets, army jackets, windbreaker jackets, hooded sweatshirts, bandanas, white "wifebeater" shirts, looser jeans (perhaps torn at the knee), heavy chains worn as belts, and construction or rigger's gloves. Trainer sneakers, in particular Adidas Sambas, have been popular.