Mod to Suedehead

[Ivyskin89]

There is lots of new product at Ivy Threads. Sta-Prest jeans too

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ivy-Threads/109664699170630

 

[Man-of-Mystery]



Hello all.
First time poster and long time reader of this thread. I am a young skinhead from london and I am extremely interested in the both the style of the original skinheads and the sounds they danced to and I'd like to give a sincere thanks to all the frequent contributors on here, as this thread has been an invaluable source of information for me, and I'm sure many others. 

I hate for my first post to be a digression, but I was wondering if anyone could provide me with more information on the sort of blazers worn by originals circa 71' (I know this has already been touched on around page 800 but seems to have been skipped over quite quickly.)
I understand they were made from barathea fabric, had patch pockets and were predominantly single vented and often with a regional or football patch on the breast pocket. But how about the blazer length-would this have been similar to a suit jacket? As for buttons, I'm assuming 3 buttons was standard and they would have been metal but was the fastening as high as on a suit and was the amount of buttons on the arm a matter of preference much like on a suit jacket? Were the shoulders natural or lightly padded? And how about the lapels? 

Sorry for all the questions and if I'm treading old ground, but I couldn't find that information anywhere. 

Welcome to the forum London spike 'ead - hope you don't mind if I call you that, because 'spy kid' was an invention of the UK press.

I can't remember which newspaper it started in, but obviously some journalist misheard a cockney saying 'spike head' and printed it as 'spy kid'.

Anyway, good to see you, no matter what your screen name is. Glad you're interested in the original look.

Having said that, I, for one, can't be much help. Where I was in London at the time (SE), by '71 we had all grown our hair and were wearing arty clothes. No one had a three-button blazer as far as I remember. Even the little kids round our way had stopped wearing obviously-skinhead clothes.

M-o-M.

 

[Inks]

Swinging Londinium in 64(AD)

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

A little digression. Jack, Bobby, and Ted. The first US President born in the 20c and his Bros certainly had a kind of smart/casual preppy style (though who is Bobby sharing those teeth with, for heaven's sake!)

From the 'High Snobiety' website:

"Oxford shirts, college style sweaters, brogues and a decent pair of leisure pants are a staple in every genuine male wardrobe. They radiate an air of understated sophistication and timeless classicism, that makes even the most unruly rascal seem like an affiliated and beneficial member of society. Here it doesn’t matter if you actually have an academic background, or if you dropped out of highschool to pursue the career of an eternal bartender – once again the comforting camouflage of fashion makes us all equals."

Or, as Willy Wonka would say...

But then there's Mrs Mystery's main squeeze - I mean, did that guy ever get tired of looking cool?

 

[Man-of-Mystery]



Swinging Londinium in 64(AD)

Obviously taken in the Via Carnabia!

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

The pic below is of a young man called Julian Bond. It dates from 1963, and comes from this post at garmsville.com. Worth a read, it's about the semiotics (verbal, visual, cultural 'codes') of Ivy League, and relevant to this thread in its conclusions.

 

[Aces and Eights]

Here are some pictures of the party! > Windrush Special - 5th Anniversary dance

Thanks for sharing this link. The further link to the Face book photos was interesting as there were some photos on there that have not been on this site - well worth a look

 

[londonspykid]



Welcome to the forum London spike 'ead - hope you don't mind if I call you that, because 'spy kid' was an invention of the UK press.

I can't remember which newspaper it started in, but obviously some journalist misheard a cockney saying 'spike head' and printed it as 'spy kid'.

Anyway, good to see you, no matter what your screen name is. Glad you're interested in the original look.

Having said that, I, for one, can't be much help. Where I was in London at the time (SE), by '71 we had all grown our hair and were wearing arty clothes. No one had a three-button blazer as far as I remember. Even the little kids round our way had stopped wearing obviously-skinhead clothes.

M-o-M.

Haha, call me what you will M-o-M,
Yeah I remember hearing that story of the press confusion-hence the name. My idea of a clever screen name

Thanks for your recollections, the impression I got from previous discussions was that the blazer was more popular circa 71 than say 69 but as you said this might have well have been a regional thing. In anyway regardless of the specific year if anyone has any more information on the kind of blazer that would have been worn then I'd love to hear it.

 

[browniecj]



Thanks for your recollections, the impression I got from previous discussions was that the blazer was more popular circa 71 than say 69 but as you said this might have well have been a regional thing. In anyway regardless of the specific year if anyone has any more information on the kind of blazer that would have been worn then I'd love to hear it.

I wore a 3 Button(Brass) Navy Blue Blazer with a Centre Vent and Patch Style Pockets - this would be `70.I never wore it with Football Badge(I never wore anything with Badges etc.,on).I hope this is of some use to you "londonspykid".Good to have you on
here.

 

[browniecj]



Obviously taken in the Via Carnabia!

I would put the Trojans - but that came later(or earlier,if you get my drift).

 

[Gsvs5]

Thanks for your recollections, the impression I got from previous discussions was that the blazer was more popular circa 71 than say 69 but as you said this might have well have been a regional thing. In anyway regardless of the specific year if anyone has any more information on the kind of blazer that would have been worn then I'd love to hear it.

As you have noted ,it has been pretty much covered earlier.The majority never wore badges as I recall .That limited you to how much you could wear the thing.In my mind it was always patch pockets and metal buttons.
I know others have posted pictures of flap pockets and regular buttons,but I personally would disagree with that,as it did not differentiate it enough from any other suit /sports jacket.To me,a Blazer always needs metal buttons unless it is a DB Military/Merchant Navy style with plastic anchor buttons.I did see the odd Blazer Badge sewn onto a regulars sports jacket by some clueless div,but you get that with everything .
The only badges we wore were the smallest of the enamel pin badges which could easily be removed.This has also been covered earlier.

 

[roytonboy]

Hello all.
First time poster and long time reader of this thread. I am a young skinhead from london and I am extremely interested in the both the style of the original skinheads and the sounds they danced to and I'd like to give a sincere thanks to all the frequent contributors on here, as this thread has been an invaluable source of information for me, and I'm sure many others.

I hate for my first post to be a digression, but I was wondering if anyone could provide me with more information on the sort of blazers worn by originals circa 71' (I know this has already been touched on around page 800 but seems to have been skipped over quite quickly.)
I understand they were made from barathea fabric, had patch pockets and were predominantly single vented and often with a regional or football patch on the breast pocket. But how about the blazer length-would this have been similar to a suit jacket? As for buttons, I'm assuming 3 buttons was standard and they would have been metal but was the fastening as high as on a suit and was the amount of buttons on the arm a matter of preference much like on a suit jacket? Were the shoulders natural or lightly padded? And how about the lapels?

Sorry for all the questions and if I'm treading old ground, but I couldn't find that information anywhere.

Welcome Londonspykid

I wore a blazer in 1971 - in our area (Greater Manchester) they were very popular at that time. Most people wore black with silver buttons (3) however I had a navy one. I seem to recall that mine had side vents, though I couldn't swear to that. The wearing of football badges was not seen that often by us but VERY popular was a badge depicting a red rose of Lancashire (in Yorkshire they wore a white rose badge). I would guess that neither of these would have much appeal to you. Badges of the Twisted Wheel Club were sometimes seen (but only if the wearer had actually attended) I never wore a badge on mine. Lapels at this time had become a little wider than those on a sixties Mod suit.

 

[Gsvs5]

The pic below is of a young man called Julian Bond. It dates from 1963, and comes from this post at garmsville.com. Worth a read, it's about the semiotics (verbal, visual, cultural 'codes') of Ivy League, and relevant to this thread in its conclusions.

Great link MOM.

"Or, even more interesting to me, is the notion that, like our jet-setter mentioned above, the style allows you to have whatever meaning(s) you fancy depending on your context and deportment."

Which has allowed the longevity of style over fashion,I would add.The great thing about the group photo is the amount of variation between each one individually,and yet the cohesive image that appears.I think that is something that was apparent (even with limited resources) for us forty +years ago,that is sometimes missed today.From someone looking in from the outside today,it appears to be de rigeur to wear a Brutus check with a Tonic or Harrington etc and little deviation throughout,either from fear of ridicule or lack of knowledge?

As you stated in your comments of Glasgow,"The Devil is in the details"

".

 

[londonspykid]

Thank you all! That's been really helpful, much appreciated.

 

[Inks]

A little digression. Jack, Bobby, and Ted. The first US President born in the 20c and his Bros certainly had a kind of smart/casual preppy style (though who is Bobby sharing those teeth with, for heaven's sake!)

On the subject of the longevity of style over fashion. There's the above photo of Jack Kennedy...

.....and this one of Gerald Ford.
It sort of sums up the differences between the 60s and 70s for me. The optimistic, stylish 'Swinging Sixties' didn't happen for everyone, and was positively grim for a lot of people. But in the early-mid 70s, even the leader of the Free World looked depressed and dressed like crap.