''Please note that this page exists for the purposes of documentation, not promotion. Due to the role the Nazi Party played in history and the subsequent sensitive and offensive nature of this aesthetic, it is not recommended that you adopt it for yourself. Aesthetics Wiki does not endorse Nazi ideology - but it is important to acknowledge its impact on modern culture.''
Nazi Chic is an aesthetic centered around the use of Nazi-era style, imagery, and paraphernalia in clothing and popular culture, especially when used for taboo-breaking or shock value rather than out of genuine sympathies with Nazism or Nazi ideology, although it can be used as a tool to critique elements of contemporary society by drawing allusions to the Nazi Party and their laundry list of evils they committed.
A popular use of the Nazi Chic aesthetic occurred in the mid-1970s with the emergence of the Punk movement in London: the Sex Pistols' first television appearance occurred with a person of their entourage wearing a swastika. This was, however, done as an attempt to shock and offend the status quo rather than showing any sympathies towards the Nazi party as the Punk subculture had a mostly left-wing bent to their ideology with many adherents adopting more of an anarchist philosophy. Once the actual Nazis began to show up, however, the Punk community ceased to co-opt these sorts of aesthetic cues and collectively pushed them out of the community (which led to the creation of RAC: Rock Against Communism, much in the same way Fashwave came about after similar push-back from the Synthwave and Vaporwave communities). This push-back is best highlighted in the Dead Kennedys song "Nazi Punks Fuck Off".
Visual
In the Nazi Chic aesthetic, a lot of Nazi symbolism and iconography is implemented, but unlike with an aesthetic like Fashwave (which is genuinely designed to promote Nazism and fascism), most actual adherents to the Nazi Chic aesthetic aren't actually trying to promote Nazism or have sympathies towards white nationalism and white supremacy. This would later come to inspire the Troma film Surf Nazis Must Die, a humorous little film about ACTUAL Surf Nazis (portrayed as the villains, of course).
One of the first known examples of this Nazi Chic aesthetic at play is actually 1950s and 1960s with the "Surf Nazis", who would often paint Swastikas on their car and wear Nazi stormtrooper helmets because, at the time, nobody thought a decent-sized chunk of people would genuinely start to buy into Nazi philosophy again. Nazi iconography was also utilized in a string of Nazi-sploitation films in the Grindhouse Cinema circuit in the 60's and 70's, most well known of them being Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS.
However, that isn't to say that Nazi Chic aesthetics can't be used to make a deeper, more meaningful commentary on the oppressiveness of some elements of society these days, as they will often evoke Nazi imagery in works of art (like Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" or Marilyn Manson's "The Fight Song") in an attempt to not only shock people (as is typically the case with this aesthetic) but also to critique these elements by, quite literally, comparing them to Nazis.
Fashion
Nazi Chic fashion often borrows heavy elements from Nazi fashion (thanks in part to individuals like Hugo Boss and Coco Chanel and their ties to the Nazi Party) of the day and make nods to the many "accomplishments" of the Nazi Party during their run in the 30's and 40's, but it's surprisingly become popular in Asian countries, especially in Japan and Hong Kong (which, given the fact Japan were allies of the Nazis in World War II, it's not too surprising they might still show sympathies to them in the modern era). Often times, though, the Nazi Chic aesthetic is merely used in cosplay to invoke the look of a particular character who might be a stand-in for the evils of fascism in a particular work (this is more commonly done in the realm of anime and manga due to the full scope of what the Nazis did not really being taught in Japanese high schools, along with some of the more evil elements of Japan's actions during the same time like The Nanking Massacre).
Media
Examples of Nazi Chic used in media include:
Movies
- She Demons (1958)
- They Saved Hitler's Brain (1968)
- Love Camp 7 (1969)
- Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975)
- Le deportate della sezione speciale SS (1976)
- Salon Kitty (1976)
- SS Experiment Camp (1976)
- Fräulein Devil (1977)
- Gestapo's Last Orgy (1977)
- Helga, She Wolf of Stilberg (1977)
- Nazi Love Camp 27 (1977)
- SS Girls (1977)
- Mad Foxes (1981)
- Il était une fois... le diable (1986)
- Surf Nazis Must Die (1987)
- Iron Sky (2012)
- Werewolves of the Third Reich (2017)
- Iron Sky: The Coming Race (2019)
Music Videos
- "Justify My Love" - Madonna (1990)
- "The Fight Song" - Marilyn Manson (2001)
- "Alejandro" - Lady Gaga (2010)
Gallery
