To cut a long story short

The “New Romantic” movement was a new and distinctive music and fashion genre that sprang up in Britain in the early 80s as a reaction to the anti-fashion of punk.

After all, anyone could slap on a T-shirt, write “Destroy” across the front and rip their jeans with a razor. But to look like a New Romantic, you had to really try hard - and spend a lot of time with a hairdresser (most of whom were New Romantics themselves anyway).