Please correct me if I'm wrong but,In the 60's kids finished school at 15 and entered the "Adult" world.This excelerated teen time (12 to 15) makes teen rebellion(and cults/subcultures) more important in the UK than in the US where we have a longer teen time.This is just my observation from a distance and if incorrect I apologise.
Hi all,
Great thread and just joined to give a couple of recollections.
In 1972 14 at school and from Hull I first got some money (very little) from paper round and grocery delivery (bike with small wheel and basket on the front) discovering girls and able to buy my own clothes / fashion.
We never called ourselves anything, my thought was always suedehead.
Because I and we the family where poor I could never afford the labels so had to make do. 2nd hand and "tribute" labels
Brogues where always wing tip and black. Mine came from the Army and Navy stores. Full heal, sole and tips had seggs (blakeys). Red socks. Airwear boot
Loafers where never an option.. too expensive for me. Richer kids had them. (they where a fashion item and as a result dearer).
Levi sta prest type pants (Lee?), Brutus and Fair Isle sleeveless. Harrington jacket with sewn on Yorkshire Rose badge.
Denim was Wrangler or Lee Cooper and always straight leg with a 1" turn up and had to be sewn and show the selvedge
Crombies and Sheepskins are around but not something I could afford.
This carried on into 73 with addition of fluorescent socks and patch work jumpers.
Into 74 and Skinners came in, tartan appeared on the back of the Harrington and star jumpers.
A couple of random thoughts - some of the girls had short on the top and long on the sides haircuts, Shaggy dog cut?
Football, Hull City and scarf tied on the wrist.
Donkey Jackets where known as NCB jackets - It was the uniform for Barnsley Fans
And now 40yrs later I'm recalling it
What pisses me off is people who are pretentious snobs about clothing, music etc who are YOUNGER than I am who did not live through the times.
I wouldn't say they have no idea, but they often have very distorted and frankly laughable ideas, and end up looking like complete prats. It's like the bloody Sealed Knot, re-enacting what they believe the '60s and '70s were like
My own view, for what it's worth, is that anyone can be a skin if they want to be, and good luck to them too. We should be helping others, not making them feel inferior (except when they have completely the wrong idea 
).
Ive been into skinhead for 30+ years I have no need to re-enact anything, there is no excuse for the way some people dress these days they have turned what is left of the skinhead scene into a joke some of them are so badly dressed
Unfortunately, while the mind might be willing the body isn't up to it.
I bought my first pair of Martens from Blackman's in Brick Lane in 1968. As you say they were supple and comfortable, almost from day one. We wore 6 eyelet boots with a beige ankle padding around the top. The Southend photo shows at least a couple of boys wearing the same. Very easy to run in, not like the more high-rise boots. They weren't much higher than a desert boot. I believe they stopped making this boot around 1970 because when I went back for a second pair the owner said it had been replaced with a boot having no top padding but a black trim. I bought a pair but they were not as good,even then. When Dr Martens had an 50 year anniversary in 2010 the Covent Garden shop were selling all boots for the price of £19.60. I bought a pair (8 eyelet) and so did the wife. Although we don't wear them often we are still breaking them in!
Yet now I have mates from that younger lot and the age difference makes no odds until we talk about the old days and I have to comment 'yeah but you weren't there or you were too young to know' etc. I am very protective of our era !!
I am also protective of our era. I think it comes from the fact that the media badly distorted what was happening at that time and we feel the need to try and redress the balance. With the internet and sites like this it is possible, to some extent, to do that. A lot of good stuff written here but I've only managed to read the first 100 pages!
I am also protective of our era. I think it comes from the fact that the media badly distorted what was happening at that time and we feel the need to try and readdress the balance. With the internet and sites like this it is possible, to some extent, to do that. A lot of good stuff written here but I've only managed to read the first 100 pages!
I found this site approx 9 months ago after trawling the web looking for my era related items after feeling nostalgic. This was the only site i came across that had original people from 69 / 70 who knew exactly what was going on at the time. When I saw the newspaper cutting on around pages 60, 218, 321 I could not believe that I was seeing something that I had not seen for over 40 years but its memory was as vivid as the day I held the newspaper in my hands and thought "this us, this is how we are" (our mob) not realizing that it was nationwide. When you read the other contributors comments of our age you realize that we were more or less identical.
As I have said before these were great times even though they only lasted a few years before fashion moved us on (although not without a struggle)
It took me a total of 12 hours to read the thread including saving various photos and newspaper cuttings. Being semi retired this tread has now become part of a daily routine of checking for new contributions and responding.
I have no desire to join Facebook and write crap like "I am just putting the cat out" or I am just having a cup of tea". This social network thread if far more interesting. I have remembered some things that I have not had reason to recall since a teenager. You will also find that the similar age guys have lots of like minded memories to share and are a great bunch together with the younger members who have acquired so much detailed knowledge that I have to question my memory sometimes to make sure I am right on some subjects !!
Its a great thread enjoy it
