Crusties is a term for members of an urban subculture, with roots in punk and grebo. The term pre-dates crust punk and can be used independently. The trend was most widespread in the UK in the late 1980s and early 1990s but there are also international subsets.[1]
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Crusties are distinctive for their unkempt appearance. They are associated with anti-capitalism,[2] road protests, squatting, raves and begging.[3] Typical dress styles involve dreadlocks, piercings, tattoos and dirty clothing (generally second-hand or army surplus).[4]
Crusties have been been described as being typically unemployed youth with no permanent home,[4] although the group obviously has no formal definition or membership conditions. Some are an urban version of the New Age Traveller[3] and so may have relatively settled long-term homes.
The term 'crusties' is also a slang term used in body piercing for the dried, crusty leakage from a new piercing.[5] In the Bath, Somerset and Bristol areas of England a crusty is a derogatory term for any homeless person. The term crusty to mean surly or lazy dates back to at least the mid eighteenth century in Somerset.[6]