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Emo (from emotional) is a slang term used to describe a wide range of fashion styles and attitudes somewhat affiliated with emo music and its related scenes.
Fashion and culture
There are two popular forms of dress associated with emo. The first is essentially what came out of the 90s "indie emo" scene, and has connections to indie rock and punk rock. It includes more vintage and thrift store clothing, typically for a well-worn look. Some of the clothing leans toward khaki colors. T-shirts are typically of smaller sizes and with random prints, often images from the 1980s. Book bags with pins and patches of various bands like ex: Fall Out Boy, AFI, Green Day and more. Along with the bands they may also have various characters like Emily the Strange and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The other popular style of dress focuses on darker colors. Commonly seen elements include dark colored hair (often dyed either black or an unnatural dark hue), males wearing pants tailored for females, lip, eyebrow, and labret piercings, and dark make-up on males and females (most notably black eyeliner, although red eyeshadow is becoming increasingly popular). A common accessory for both males and females are glasses with a dark coloured (usually black), thick rim.
Converse All-Star style shoes are common amongst both styles of dress, as are Vans shoes.
Though the original emo scenes were not exclusionary, the modern "emo" scene has developed into a "gay friendly" scene. Though it's unclear whether it's related to the diminished "macho" elements of emo music or the "gay friendly" nature of the scene, it has become commonplace for detractors to use "emo" in combination with popular discriminating gay slurs, such as "emo fag".
While "emo" is often used to describe the dress and attitudes of fans of emo music, it should be noted that "emo" as a musical genre and "emo" as a slang term are largely separate. "Emo" as a musical genre long pre-dated the use of "emo" as a slang term. At the same time, most current bands labeled "emo" are done so unwillingly, and largely because they share some of the fashion trends and attitude associated with "emo" as a slang term.
There is also a common stereotype that associates "emo" with self harm, most notably wrist slashing, mainly due to the song lyrics of popular bands conforming to the image of emo in the public eye, which often speak of suicide.
Alternative uses
The term "emo" has also been used in recent years on the Internet as a form of derogatory insult, especially toward those who appear emotionally unstable, or those who talk about issues in their lives to people in public forums or chat rooms, and the phrase is used even if the person does not fall under the "emo" stereotype in any way. Phrases such as "don't cry emo kid" are used frequently as a quick brush-off in this context. The term "emo" is very loose slang, and is applied liberally to differing situations. Some use the term "emo" to describe a feeling of depression, harking back to the association of depression with the Emo subculture.