Mod to Suedehead

[Aces and Eights]

Pal of mine brought a pair of Monkey boots in Richmond yesterday .. always thought of them as rubbish / for kids who couldnt afford DM's . Whats the forums opinion?

I had Monkey boots in 67/68 as a 13/14 year old but by 69 they were unacceptable as we went into the skinhead era. They looked good with jeans or greens. I remember they were not that durable as the front sole used to come apart and chat to the other boot

I was thinking of back in the day when we had 1/2 inch crops and it was not all of our crowd - 3 or 4 I can still clearly see now with long hair but dressed in the skinhead clothes. No one commented on this in the gang. People think we all head close crops or shaven heads back then in 69 but in actual fact we was nothing like that

I have had shorter hair for the last 35 years than what I did 45 years ago !!

Another thing that struck me was that we never wore shorts - even on holiday. During that time the only shorts I wore were cut down Levis on the building sites

 

[Bob the Badger]

I had Monkey boots in about '68 but stopped wearing them when my younger brother and his mates started to wear them. For casual footwear I would wear Clarks Desert boots. In Summer '67 or '68 there was a craze for scholl sandals in red or black.
I didn't wear shorts in summer but Levi's Sta-Prest in '68 and Beige Levi cords in '69. I started to wear Bass Weejuns in '69. I also used to wear cut down Levi's on summer building site work.
Most of my mates went from a no. 3 or 4 haircut to shoulder length hair in about '72.

 

[PxC]

Did you wear sandals along with you regular mod/skinhead gear?

I had Monkey boots in about '68 but stopped wearing them when my younger brother and his mates started to wear them. For casual footwear I would wear Clarks Desert boots. In Summer '67 or '68 there was a craze for scholl sandals in red or black.
I didn't wear shorts in summer but Levi's Sta-Prest in '68 and Beige Levi cords in '69. I started to wear Bass Weejuns in '69. I also used to wear cut down Levi's on summer building site work.
Most of my mates went from a no. 3 or 4 haircut to shoulder length hair in about '72.

 

[kicksinstyle]

Pal of mine brought a pair of Monkey boots in Richmond yesterday .. always thought of them as rubbish / for kids who couldnt afford DM's . Whats the forums opinion?

I have a pair of the Tricker's monkey boots in oxblood and I like them a lot, although they did take a long time to wear in.

 

[Man-of-Mystery]



Have we not had this Conversation before?

Yep. As so often happens on this thread.

 

[browniecj]

Lazy bleeders....

 

[Bob the Badger]

Did you wear sandals along with you regular mod/skinhead gear?

I can't remember but I think the sandals might have been about '66/67 and may have pre-dated the Skinhead clothes.13 and 14 year olds would have worn them. It might have been local to my area. That is why I posted to see if any others would respond to this. Even at the time I thought it was a strange craze but I still bought a couple of pairs. In summer we used to use open air swimming pools and Lido's where they were the perfect footwear. Early mod gear for 13/14 year olds was all improvised.

 

[buttons]



I can't remember but I think the sandals might have been about '66/67 and may have pre-dated the Skinhead clothes.13 and 14 year olds would have worn them. It might have been local to my area. That is why I posted to see if any others would respond to this. Even at the time I thought it was a strange craze but I still bought a couple of pairs. In summer we used to use open air swimming pools and Lido's where they were the perfect footwear. Early mod gear for 13/14 year olds was all improvised.

Like these?

 

[Bob the Badger]

Like these?

Exactly!

 

[Aces and Eights]

Like these?

Dr Scholls wooden based sandals with a single strap were very popular with skinhead girls 69/70. No blokes wore them round our way and no one then or to day would wear socks with sandals unless of course you had the knotted handkerchief on your head and your sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper etc !!

 

[Bob the Badger]

Dr Scholls wooden based sandals with a single strap were very popular with skinhead girls 69/70. No blokes wore them round our way and no one then or to day would wear socks with sandals unless of course you had the knotted handkerchief on your head and your sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper etc !!

I am wondering what the date of the photo is and where it was taken? Is it the Thames Estuary? Maybe the trend didn't cross the River but boys (13 or 14 age) wore them round our way, North of the River. I met an old Scholls director years ago and he told me that sales went through the roof at that time. I think the girls wore a wooden sandal with a slight raised heel. They introduced a fake leather/plastic sole to replace the wooden heel. I'm not making it up!
The boy in the photo looks a bit older than we were so maybe that is just a coincidence.
What about initialed blazers? Formal blazers for nights down at the Palais with your own intials on a blazer badge. Was that just East London/ Essex or did that spread further afield?

 

[Aces and Eights]

What about initialed blazers? Formal blazers for nights down at the Palais with your own intials on a blazer badge. Was that just East London/ Essex or did that spread further afield?

I had forgotten about blazers. I did not wear one but a couple of our lads did = usually navy blue with a pair of light Sta Prest, Fred Perry and loafers

I can see them now with their football badges sewn on the breast pocket Arsenal and MUFC. Cockney Reds even then in NW Kent

 

[Lasttye]



I had forgotten about blazers.  I did not wear one but a couple of our lads did = usually navy blue with a pair of light Sta Prest, Fred Perry and loafers 

I can see them now with their football badges sewn on the breast pocket Arsenal and MUFC.  Cockney Reds even then in NW Kent

I wore a blazer....as said with light Sta Prest ......never had a badge on the breast though...and never saw it ,The only badges i saw worn was little metal football lapel badges..on crombies or harringtons.
One thing for sure no one wore any football...badges or scarves ...going to dance halls or discos. Too do so would have been suicidal,

 

[browniecj]



I am wondering what the date of the photo is and where it was taken? Is it the Thames Estuary? Maybe the trend didn't cross the River but boys (13 or 14 age) wore them round our way, North of the River. I met an old Scholls director years ago and he told me that sales went through the roof at that time. I think the girls wore a wooden sandal with a slight raised heel. They introduced a fake leather/plastic sole to replace the wooden heel. I'm not making it up!
The boy in the photo looks a bit older than we were so maybe that is just a coincidence.
What about initialed blazers? Formal blazers for nights down at the Palais with your own intials on a blazer badge. Was that just East London/ Essex or did that spread further afield?

Wore a Blazer.Later on(maybe early `72)wore Shirts with Initials on the Breast Pocket-like a homemade version of the American Bowling Shirts. Scholl Sandals I found were comfortable,but never wore them myself.

 

[bunty]

Sandals? Bob The Badger, I thought you were taking the gypsy's and I was waiting for the punchline.

I've heard of Mods wearing those blue canvas sailing shoes in the summer ('67 ish) along with nondescript plimsolls, trainers and Converse style 'bumpers' but never sandals. Brilliant stuff.

Buttons - That photo of the lad wearing the Dr Scholls, how did you find that for flip's sake?