Are Subcultures Dead, or Am I Just Old?

Credit...Elinor Kry For The New York Times

Mr. Morton is a writer and former editor for Vice magazine.

Time was, if you wanted to know what people’s deal was, you read their clothes.

As a young man working at a then-popular street-fashion magazine, I used to relish taxonomizing people by what they had on. I could tell you at a glance what kind of music they listened to, whether they worked, what they’d be like in bed, what sort of beer they would drink — all from the cut of their pant leg or the razor-guard number of their haircut.

Fleece pullover and white ball cap pulled down way too far over........

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