Mod to Suedehead

[John Boy]

Also found this quite interesting! http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U0WsRYWAV8...racuta1960.jpg

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

Originally Posted by John Boy

I take that as a no on the suede!

You got it! Suede brogues go with yellow cravats and slightly rusty vintage E-types.

 

[bunty]

Lately I have noticed lots of older chaps, of about 55/65 yrs, wearing mod/skin items of clothing. Last week saw a bloke of about 60 who looked the nuts (shaved bald and wearing straight jeans, brogues, Bd, with a blazer and hanky, he even had 'the walk') Also seen older fellas wearing Harringtons, riders, turn ups, FPs etc - I've never noticed this as much before, maybe this thread has sharpened my awareness of it all or there is a desire of the older gent to wear clothes that make them stand out (but not too much) whilst still looking good and 'youthful' if you get me?
It makes a change from all the brush overs and shell suits

Or maybe like me it's that 'identity' thing, an almost smugness in being different but not outrageous?

Talking of the the summer skinhead look - same as the winter look but without the coat! Maybe a short sleeved shirt or lighter coloured strides, but generally the look was the same. Shorts were only worn for sports and swimming trunks for the beach, cut down Levis were ok for swimming in but you would change straight back into you gear when going home, none of this 3/4 length trousers and flip flops carry on, no sir. Besides, the only shorts for men at the time, other than sportswear, were Desert Rat style baggy shorts which old geezers wore . You stayed smart, a tiny bit more relaxed, but you fried! Does this ring true originals? Also the grade 1 was a rarity round here, it was 'in' during the summer of '69, but not adopted by many, most chaps had short scissor cut hair or a side parting. Grade 1's were for the younger kids?

 

[munchausen]

Hey great thread guys. I've always been kind of tangentially interested in trad skins, partially because I was fully fascinated in my youth with the Mods. I guess I still am, in that mod styles still inform my personal style a great deal. I am curious if there are any old mods who haunt these boards who have any cool photos/stories

 

[Get Smart]

^^ I've talked about this with Roy, as well as some others when I was in London....

there DOES seem to be a resurgence of older 40-50+ gents that look like skinheads now..some are "born again", where they maybe used to be a skin in the 80s and have gotten back into it, and some are "newbies" that just got into it a few years ago or so.....

thing is, skinhead in the 2000s isnt the same as skinhead in the 80s (or late 60s), when it was tough to be a skinhead because you were constantly harrassed for looking the part. Now, you can order all your gear off the skinternet, walk down the street in boots and braces and no one bats and eye. If anything, with the tides of fashion, some **** will think you are just being uber-fashion forward.

Also with a resurgence in interest in "original skinhead" (look at this thread for example), there are more ska/reggae/soul 'dos and it's easier to be a new skinhead in those circles since it's mellow. You're not gonna see many "I just turned skinhead at 40" types at an oi gig since the environment isnt always very friendly esp if you never grew up with that crowd, I'm sure it can be a bit intimidating.

I have no issue with "born agains", it's understandable why you'd come back into it since skinhead is the ******* best subculture ever and if you were ever really a part of it that camaraderie along with the gear and music is something that feels like you're coming home to after a vacation.

What I think is odd are the older guys that first become skinheads after they've turned 30. I mean FFS it's a YOUTH subculture, and if you didnt get into it as a kid, I think you really missed out on what really being a skinhead is. Just aint the same for an old guy that wasnt one when he was 16. And the WORST part, is there are older guys that became skins at 40 (or whatever) and now they go on like they've been one forever, when no one remembers them from "back in the day", they have no pictures as a skinhead when they were young, they have no music from "back in the day" and they're always the first to tell another skinhead what he's wearing is all wrong and take the whole skinhead fashion police bit too far. You can usually tell cuz these phony old guys dont know **** about the music, never heard of bands, dont know about clubs or where things happened etc. It's easy to be a sussed skinhead on the internet since you can look everything up and know what's being talked about, but meet someone in real life and you know who's for real. The whole "skinhead attitude" thing exists and it's only evident in real life not the internet

 

[albion]

Good post...I got back into the look in my mid to late 30's, after being a skinhead from the age of 10-14 ish..
call me a "born again"...I find it's a style that you can carry off as you get older and balder!. My renewed
interest in the clothes kind of coincided with my moving to Australia a few years ago. I guess i wasn't into
the beach shorts and flip-flop look, coupled with the fact that i was and still am incredibly homesick for London.
My wife laughs about me being the only person in Oz who polishes their shoes to go to the beach.

 

[KD-fens]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

^^ first, to me, it seems like the UK never gets that hot in the summer. You guys talk about a heat wave when it's 90 degrees

I wish our summers only got to 90...

i might be a weirdo, but even in 100+ weather I wear the same shoes I do in winter...DMs, brogues, etc. For the most part I wear the same clothes, jeans, buttondowns....more tshirts than normal of course. i NEVER wear shorts unless it's a pair of cut off camo's for lounging around the house. but most skinhead types would probably wear Adidas sambas since that seems to be the "approved" sneaker of skinhead-dom.

far as jacket....dont see why a monkey jacket, harrington or denim jacket wouldnt work well in summer if there's a slight chill. But just the fact that you might need a summer jacket means it cant get that hot, our summers in SoCal...no way you would want to put on a jacket even in middle of the night.

Living in Southern Ontario, I get a pretty wide variety of temperatures (on average, -20C/+36C), and I find that chinos (which I assume are similar to sta-prest?) do the trick. I refuse to wear shorts, hate the look, and I really hate the skinheads that think they have to wear boots at all times...even with shorts

My summer outfit is normally chinos/suede chukka or loafer/oxford or tennis shirt, and then maybe a light jacket for the rainier or slightly chillier days/nights. Because I don't have shorter hair, I tend to look more ivy league than anything, but I can't complain.
I can't wait for those days. It was -16C today.

Semi-related, I'm seeing Sheer Terror on the 8th. I'm excited. They were great in Philly last summer and Paul even addressed the summer skinhead issue, ha.

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

* nods sagely at Bunty and GS.

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

Originally Posted by albion

My wife laughs about me being the only person in Oz who polishes their shoes to go to the beach.

Blimey - that's dedication!

 

[Alex Roest]

Originally Posted by Man-of-Mystery

No worries, LQ. Do you have a note of the book from which it comes, and the copyright details, photographer's name, etc?

Here you are again M-o-M (re-photo of Skins in front of pub): http://www.amazon.com/Man-About-Town.../dp/0600598322

 

[Brideshead]

In connection with Bunty's point about a resurgence of older skinheads, I have also talked about this with Roy via PM. Roy surprised me by asking if I was a part of the current scene. Until then I hadn't realised there was one!

Ever since the late 60s the skinhead legacy has been a part of me, sometimes coming to the fore, at others lying a bit dormant - it has always steered my choice of clothing. But when I thought about it I wondered if the current scene would be for me.

Having read Jason's excellent post I now know why I hesitate.....

On Bunty's other point about seasonal changes I agree with his summing up. The world has changed a good deal and in some ways what skinheads did was in tune with the majority in this case. Take shorts. Few men would wear shorts unless really pressed to do so. When I went to my senior school and cast off short trousers I became a man! No man wanted to go back.

Another factor is that the now well-embedded concept (given to us by the Designers of the 80s) of a new wardrobe for spring / summer and another for autumn / winter was then, in the late 60s still over 10 years away. Seasonal changes were less clear cut.

A final point concerns cost. Most skinheads (apart from a few young criminals and hod carriers

) were not wealthy and the wardrobe was built around a few trusted pieces that could work hard for their living.

Good stuff!

 

[Brideshead]

Originally Posted by bunty

You stayed smart, a tiny bit more relaxed, but you fried! Does this ring true originals? Also the grade 1 was a rarity round here, it was 'in' during the summer of '69, but not adopted by many, most chaps had short scissor cut hair or a side parting. Grade 1's were for the younger kids?

Yes it does ring true - see my other post.

Agree on the hair too.

 

[Alex Roest]

Originally Posted by Lasttye

I enjoyed Chris Browns book, Boys Storey by Martin King was also a good read.

Same bloke in this photo as on the 'Skinhead Revolt' CD cover and the one I was referring to in the last post (copyright Hulton Getty as it happens).

 

[Alex Roest]

Originally Posted by Brideshead

What we might overlook is that many original skinheads simply were not well dressed! They may have worn the right basic stuff, but many looked down at heel, scruffy, or maybe just wearing the wrong things for the occasion. I recall very clearly thinking when I saw skinheads en masse "˜do I actually want to be in this club?'

Excellent observation I think John, would be interesting to learn how many of the originals would have felt the same way regarding your final comment.

 

[Get Smart]

yes good point from John, as with all things looked back upon, we def have our rose tinted glasses on, and it's easy to paint every original skinhead as being "hard and smart". Roy has also mentioned that not every skinhead was smart, but kudos as that IS the legacy that was left behind, regarding original skinheads, that they were a "smart" bunch, so must have been enough smart skinheads to warrant that recollection.