Mod to Suedehead

Originally Posted by Man-of-Mystery

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Blimey - that's a totally new one one me! Not something I ever saw.
I was in Selfridges in Oxford street earlier, Levis are doing a vintage label,Granddad vest/shirt a cool £48 lol

Originally Posted by Lasttye

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I was in Selfridges in Oxford street earlier, Levis are doing a vintage label,Granddad vest/shirt a cool £48 lol

Ya don't say!

Originally Posted by bunty

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sorry to go off subject all, but does any of you originals remember anybody wearing collar less grandad shirts ? I've read about them somewhere and saw a chap recently in a fitted one, cuffs back, worn with a sleeveless jumper and it looked great. I'm thinking of 1920's type shirt - the ones where you could take the collar off if you know what I mean, i know the hippies wore nehru type shirts, Macca always seemed to have had one on. But is this another local late 70's revival thing? Or did you originals really want to look like Albert Steptoe and yer actual Alf Garnett ?
And no, I'm not taking the piss...

Hello Bunty
Around about 1981 "grandad shirts" were general fashion around here, in the style that you're describing. Millets sold them (as well as many boutiques) slim fit without a separate collar. This made them easily available, so the skins of the day wore them.
Steptoe and yer actual Alf were both caricature working class men of a previous generation and skinhead style contained an element of exaggerated (caricature) working class male appearance (coarse boots, braces, old man's shirt, old mans cardy, close cut hair, work coat (donkey jacket)), so the idea of looking like them is not so inconceivable.
Originally in the North, as has already been said, grandad shirts were worn as part of the above style which I believe originated towards the east of London, differing from the slicker style that emanated from the West. These shirts were the old fashioned baggy ones, not the ones from the 80's.

Originally Posted by Get Smart

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those look brand new, which is amazing for being vintage. Do they fit you or did you get it for a "collection"? I dont believe keeping things new for sake of it, but those I almost might just for the history of them. But couldnt tell you much about them other than they appear to be the original brown color that DMs came in and doesnt have the yellow welt stitch (good). Hopefully someone else that was around at the time might know more about them specifically.

Thanks for replying. Initially I got them planning to wear them, but now I do want to spare these beautiful things just for the sake of "love for art". Still I'm not sure and I'm not keen on keeping intact "collector's items" either. I got them without the box or labels. They do look brand new, but have that distinctive "old" smell and the eyelets have some green oxidation marks. They feel narrower than the marked size 8. I'm sure I'll be able to break them in though.

^^ if you dont mind disclosing, where'd you find them and how much? If you prefer not to that's fine, just curious!

Hello Browniecj,

Where have you been? Put a 2/- bit in the meter and come and talk to us!

Originally Posted by Get Smart

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^^ if you dont mind disclosing, where'd you find them and how much? If you prefer not to that's fine, just curious!

Well, some steel toe cap boots apparently of the same era, condition, workmanship, colour and materials can be had from here.

QUOTE=Darksideoftheforce;3933771]I've been thinking of purchasing a pair of these. They're called Corcoran jump boots or US paratrooper boots. A little on the pricy side but they do look like brogues with trousers rolled down. You can wear them with suits with no one none the wiser. The older World War 2 corcoran jumpboots at the bottom on the other hand has a certain vintage "Doc Martenesque" quality to them. Anyone agree? Does anyone wear a pair of these?




[/quote]
I like the first pair a lot and would definatly wear them if i could get some in the UK.

Try Silvermans, Mile End.

Originally Posted by MiniW

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get one from the Gap, they fit great and are $50 or less on sale. Use the remaining $250 on something worthwhile. Baracuta jackets, no matter what size or slim fit or whatever, fit like ****, and are ridiculously overpriced.

My Baracuta's fit perfect. Never paid full price for one though.

Originally Posted by harrysgame

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My Baracuta's fit perfect. Never paid full price for one though.

Funny you should reply to that poster, as I have since bought a jacket. After my sister gave me an Old Navy gift card, I was a bit stymied as to what to buy, as I'm not a fan of their stuff. But I was able to find this jacket, and with the gift card bought it for around $10.

i just wanted to jump on here and say thanks to all the folks who have taken the time to tell their stories. this is about the only thread on here that i follow these days.

i'm mostly on hot rod forums since it's mostly what i'm into.

but i was on the fringe of the early-mid 80s revival in new england, and man, this thread brings back some memories, and sets some history straight. good reading. great education.

To M-o-M and all the other resourceful individuals: Why did most Rude Boys stay Rude Boys? Also, I know you guys didn't give yourselves the name skinhead but when the whole skinhead thing was happening did you still consider/call yourselves Mods or did you just see too much difference that you knew you moved past Mod?

Originally Posted by OHT

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I know you guys didn't give yourselves the name skinhead but when the whole skinhead thing was happening did you still consider/call yourselves Mods or did you just see too much difference that you knew you moved past Mod?
I moved down from Lancashire to London in summer 1968. Up north we still called ourselves mods (and by the way it was a scene which took in all social classes). When I got down to the London area I recall going to Bromley (Kent) and approaching a bunch of people in a Wimpy Bar just to ask where our type of people tended to hang out. When I used the term "mod" they all laughed, not unkindly, and said, "What? What?" So I asked them what they did call themselves if not mods; they said they didn't call themselves anything really, but some people called them 'totters', and that they were kind of what was left of the mods. They told me about a weekly disco at the youth club in Bromley, and about the Witchdoctor/Savoy in Catford. There I found a mix of soul/Tamla/reggae music, and folk who dressed like me but without the competitive edge that mods up north had. Chris Welch's article of course still categorised them/us as 'mods', but there were all kinds of names which were applied to us - skinheads, lemon heads, spike heads, peanuts, totters, and so on - some of which would have got you a knuckle sandwich if you had used them. But actually we didn't see much difference. At least not until the competitive element crept back in with the really sharp skinhead look of 1969. But we still thought of the look as 'modern', and as Little Queenie has reminded me in a roundabout way, you could still find one or two people who described themselves as 'mods'. In general you don't notice a look changing radically until it has happened. One day you notice someone in a pair of brogue shoes from the Squire Shop and you like the style so you buy some. Another day you notice someone in a Harrington, or Stay-Prest, or a particular pattern of shirt, and ditto. Suddenly it's 1969 and you don't look how you looked in 1968. You know how it goes. Anyhow we were a damn sight cooler than yer average hoodie!

Originally Posted by Get Smart

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they're ok. nice selection of checks. their cotton is a bit hard feeling to me. fit is slim at chest/shoulder, but kind of big thru body so almost no taper to the shape, had to have mine taken in a bit. Prefer other similar shirts like Mikkel Rude, Jump the Gun, DNA Groove, etc. where I can wear out of the bag with no tailoring
I can vouch for this since I recently bought one myself, the shirt is cut very weird, it feels like it's too small in the shoulders/chest but I think the seam is just weird. The stomach area is too baggy and a little long (Not a big deal since you'll almost always be wearing it tucked in, and a plus is that it won't untuck as easily). If you were planning on wearing it in the summer untucked it would probably be too long unfortunately.

Originally Posted by stilts121

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Someone was asking about 3/4" braces. I found these online. I cannot vouch for them, but I need to buy some as the ongoing weight loss has reached a point where a belt doesn't do the trick and I'm not quite ready yet to size down in the trousers department. http://www.suspenders.com/thin-suspe...row_Suspenders
In my opinion 3/4-inch braces are too wide in solid colors, I really like vintage striped ones in 3/4-inch though. I think I saw you post earlier you're in Baltimore? I live near Baltimore (Edgewood, there is nothing here, it's out in Harford County) but don't get out enough to the Soul Club or shows at all, I should be getting pretty active in the scene as soon as I get my car situation worked out though.