The Look goes on...

[Thin White Duke]

It's an interesting discussion but not sure I'm in full agreement.
For one thing the line between original Mods and the seventies revival became a bit blurred IMO - I mentioned this on my blog that me and others in my set got caught up in the revival as fans of The Jam so clearly we were originally poster boys for revivalist Mods, but a few of us who were more committed got hold of the 'Mods!' book and became much more influenced by items from the sixties style than in the poor quality high street stuff that was knocked out by high street clothes chains to cash in. That mostly remains the case for me.
As for now, whilst I cheerfully admit to owning a few 'revivalist / identikit'-type items (as shown in the boating jacket pic which anyone is free to like or dislike) I stand by the manifesto I've mentioned many times which is that Mod style gives you a framework to look cool, stylish and appropriate within a very broad selection of contexts from the beach to the boardroom and that is no less true - if done well of course - for those of us who are now aged in their late forties and early fifties. I'm not impressed by pics of Ian Page with his receding hairline, slack jaw and his bulbous gut squeezed into a polo shirt and ill fitting suit, but for those of us who have stayed in decent shape (and been lucky in the gene pool regarding barnet!) there's no reason why Mod style can't continue to be a great framework to ensure you are looking good.
As for fatties on scooters ... it may be a fair comment, I never see them over here. My impression from the revival years (and on evidence of photos from the sixties) is that very few Mods had the money for great clothes AND a tricked out scooter so a choice had to be made and those who leaned towards dirty nails and gear ratios were never gonna be the style setters when it came to the Saturday night disco. As a non scooter owner I obviously leaned the other way.
It may be pertinent to note that I'm seriously interested in getting a Scomadi if they are ever made available over here. I reckon owning a vintage - styled scooter with up to date mechanics is an avatar for my attitude towards style, which is a reverence for the sixties look but wearable in today's world.

 

[cerneabbas]

I had to Google Scomadi ( I am in no way a scooter fan / rider / expert ) it looks ok,the same retro styling as Jag,Fiat,VW,Triumpph etc have done putting modern mechanics into a recognisable bodywork.
My point though is that original 60s Mods chose scooters because they had protection from the weather for their expensive clothes,if that's the case surely a modern Mod would choose a BMW C1 ?,a modern Mod wouldn't worry about retro styling ( IMO).

I had to Google Ian Page as I hadn't heard of him,I see that he is musician and I have never had much interest in music so I cant really comment on that.

I don't think its just about keeping in shape though,everyone gets old,Mod,Suedehead etc were teen styles not for middle aged blokes however fit and trim they keep themselves,I think that's one of the criteria on this thread 'age appropriate'.

I see people wearing boating blazers occasionally,I thought that it was something to do with people who are into Jazz music,but if someone likes them and want to wear them then good on them.

We have discussed on this thread before which clothes or shoes from 'back in the day' we would wear now,you say that "Mod style gives you a framework" and I agree up to a point,however I think where 'the Look' differs is that it is slightly understated,under the radar if you like,not making a statement like "I am still a Mod".
Also 'the Look' isn't solely retro,it can use some modern items,for instance in my interpretation of 'the Look' I wear leather chukka boots not everyones cup of tea but an alternative to plain shoes and quite smart ( IMO).

 

[Clouseau]

...

It's an interesting discussion but not sure I'm in full agreement.
For one thing the line between original Mods and the seventies revival became a bit blurred IMO - I mentioned this on my blog that me and others in my set got caught up in the revival as fans of The Jam so clearly we were originally poster boys for revivalist Mods, but a few of us who were more committed got hold of the 'Mods!' book and became much more influenced by items from the sixties style than in the poor quality high street stuff that was knocked out by high street clothes chains to cash in. That mostly remains the case for me.
As for now, whilst I cheerfully admit to owning a few 'revivalist / identikit'-type items (as shown in the boating jacket pic which anyone is free to like or dislike) I stand by the manifesto I've mentioned many times which is that Mod style gives you a framework to look cool, stylish and appropriate within a very broad selection of contexts from the beach to the boardroom and that is no less true - if done well of course - for those of us who are now aged in their late forties and early fifties. I'm not impressed by pics of Ian Page with his receding hairline, slack jaw and his bulbous gut squeezed into a polo shirt and ill fitting suit, but for those of us who have stayed in decent shape (and been lucky in the gene pool regarding barnet!) there's no reason why Mod style can't continue to be a great framework to ensure you are looking good. (End of quote)

Funnily enough, if you replace 'mod' by 'skinhead' in your text it sounds as true, except for the boating blazer of couse. Ask some posters on the mod to suedehead thread, and they will confirm you that they turned from scruffy 80s skins to smart dressers, but still within the Traditional look. And no problem at all if you miss barnet !

Skinhead style gives you a framework too. Neat, smart, and even versatile if you avoid the too caricatural items (exactly as mod style, better avoid the parka with the big target don't you think?)

 

[Thin White Duke]

Interesting discussion - see my responses IN CAPS BELOW

I had to Google Scomadi ( I am in no way a scooter fan / rider / expert ) it looks ok,the same retro styling as Jag,Fiat,VW,Triumpph etc have done putting modern mechanics into a recognisable bodywork.
My point though is that original 60s Mods chose scooters because they had protection from the weather for their expensive clothes,if that's the case surely a modern Mod would choose a BMW C1 ?,a modern Mod wouldn't worry about retro styling ( IMO).

FAIR COMMENT. I THINK THE SIXTIES MODS ENDED UP ON SCOOTERS AS THEY WERE AFFORDABLE AND A BETTER ALTERNATIVE TO MOTORBIKES. I REMEMBER A QUOTE FROM SOMEONE BACK THEN WHO SAID MODS WERE ASPIRATIONAL AND THEY RODE SCOOTERS BUT REALLY WANTED AN E-TYPE JAG, SO TODAY'S MOD (WITH MONEY) WOULD ASPIRE TO SOMETHING EQUALLY SLEEK AND EXOTIC. F-TYPE? FERRARI?

I had to Google Ian Page as I hadn't heard of him,I see that he is musician and I have never had much interest in music so I cant really comment on that.

HE WAS THE MOUTHPIECE OF THE REVIVAL AND LEAD SINGER WITH THE MOST OBVIOUS REVIVAL BAND SECRET AFFAIR. GOOD LOOKIMG LAD WHO HAD SOME NICE THREADS BUT AGE/BOOZE HASNT BEEN KIND TO HIM AND HE LOOKS A BIT SAD NOW, WHICH MAY BE MAKING YOUR NEXT POINT, BUT ...

I don't think its just about keeping in shape though,everyone gets old,Mod,Suedehead etc were teen styles not for middle aged blokes however fit and trim they keep themselves,I think that's one of the criteria on this thread 'age appropriate'.

YEAH BUT MY POINT IS THAT WHAT ATTRACTS ME TO / KEEPS ME INTERESTED IN THE MOD STYLE AFTER ALL THESE YEARS IS THAT IT CAN EASILY BE AGE APPROPRIATE FOR MIDDLE AGED BLOKES AS WELL AS TEENAGERS WITHOUT EITHER HAVING TO LOOK OUT OF PLACE.

I see people wearing boating blazers occasionally,I thought that it was something to do with people who are into Jazz music,but if someone likes them and want to wear them then good on them.

ORIGINALLY WORN IN THE TWENTIES BUT SEEN OFTEN ENOUGH IN SIXTIES PHOTOS AND THEN RE-REVIVED BY MODS OF THE REVIVALIST ERA.

We have discussed on this thread before which clothes or shoes from 'back in the day' we would wear now,you say that "Mod style gives you a framework" and I agree up to a point,however I think where 'the Look' differs is that it is slightly understated,under the radar if you like,not making a statement  like "I am still a Mod".
Also 'the Look' isn't solely retro,it can use some modern items,for instance in my interpretation of 'the Look' I wear leather chukka boots not everyones cup of tea but an alternative to plain shoes and quite smart ( IMO).

FAIR POINT BUT I THOUGHT THE WHOLE THEME OF THIS THREAD WAS 'WHICH ITEMS FROM THE SIXTIES MOD LOOK CAN BE WORN NOW?' AND/OR 'WHAT ITEMS DO WE WEAR NOW WHICH WERE INSPIRED BY OR EVOLVED FROM THE ORIGINAL MOD LOOK?', (SUCH AS LEATHER DESSIES!) I ALSO AGREE THAT CERTAIN ITEMS, SUCH AS A LOUD BOUTING JACKET, DO SCREAM 'I AM A MOD', BUT THE VAST MAJORITY OF MY WARDROBE IS SO MUCH MORE SUBTLE AND SITS WELL WITHIN YOUR COMMENT ABOUT LOOKING STYLISH BUT STILL UNDER THE RADAR, WHICH I BELIEVE WAS PROBABLY A REMIT OF THE ORIGINAL SIXTIES MODS TOO.

AND FINALLY, I PROMISE I'M NOT STARTING A BEEF AS I ENJOY THE DISCUSSION, BUT I HAVE TO ASK, ON A THREAD THE THEME OF WHICH (I THOUGHT) WAS ABOUT THE EVOLUTION OF MOD STYLE, YOU SAY YOURE NOT INTERESTED IN SCOOTERS, NOR MUSIC, AND DIDNT KNOW MODS WORE BOATING JACKETS ... ERRRRR ... WHAT IS YOUR INTEREST HERE?

 

[Thin White Duke]



Funnily enough, if you replace 'mod' by 'skinhead' in your text it sounds as true, except for the boating blazer of couse. Ask some posters on the mod to suedehead thread, and they will confirm you that they turned from scruffy 80s skins to smart dressers, but still within the Traditional look. And no problem at all if you miss barnet !

Skinhead style gives you a framework too. Neat, smart, and even versatile if you avoid the too caricatural items (exactly as mod style, better avoid the parka with the big target don't you think?)

Yeah good points Couseau.
As a very young boy in the late sixties / early seventies I don't have very clear memories of skinheads, mostly wrangler jeans and jackets and doc martens, and into the seventies they kept the look but grew their hair out and were known as 'boot boys', but for a brief moment I remember the suedehead look which I thought was class - mini-mullet / Bowie spike with Ben Sherman gingham shirt, crombie, red spotted hanky, two-tone sta-pressts, red socks and chunky brogues. It didn't last long but it's a look that I reckon could be worn at any age.

 

[Clouseau]

Yep ! Cardy, BD, Mac, V.neck, 3b jacket/suits, Longwings, Loafers, Smooths, Crombies, Sta-prest, FP, just to name a few. Can't go wrong with that !

 

[Soul Vision]

Yeah good points Couseau.
As a very young boy in the late sixties / early seventies I don't have very clear memories of skinheads, mostly wrangler jeans and jackets and doc martens, and into the seventies they kept the look but grew their hair out and were known as 'boot boys', but for a brief moment I remember the suedehead look which I thought was class - mini-mullet / Bowie spike with Ben Sherman gingham shirt, crombie, red spotted hanky, two-tone sta-pressts, red socks and chunky brogues. It didn't last long but it's a look that I reckon could be worn at any age.

Agree with you there except for the red socks,

 

[Soul Vision]

Interesting discussion - see my responses IN CAPS BELOW

Quote:
I remember reading that Pete Townshend always made out he was interested in scooters just to keep up the 'mod image' when they had such an image but actually he later admitted he really wanted a large 'Yank tank' like a Cadillac or Chevvy all along!

 

[cerneabbas]

Interesting discussion - see my responses IN CAPS BELOW
FAIR POINT BUT I THOUGHT THE WHOLE THEME OF THIS THREAD WAS 'WHICH ITEMS FROM THE SIXTIES MOD LOOK CAN BE WORN NOW?' AND/OR 'WHAT ITEMS DO WE WEAR NOW WHICH WERE INSPIRED BY OR EVOLVED FROM THE ORIGINAL MOD LOOK?', (SUCH AS LEATHER DESSIES!) I ALSO AGREE THAT CERTAIN ITEMS, SUCH AS A LOUD BOUTING JACKET, DO SCREAM 'I AM A MOD', BUT THE VAST MAJORITY OF MY WARDROBE IS SO MUCH MORE SUBTLE AND SITS WELL WITHIN YOUR COMMENT ABOUT LOOKING STYLISH BUT STILL UNDER THE RADAR, WHICH I BELIEVE WAS PROBABLY A REMIT OF THE ORIGINAL SIXTIES MODS TOO.

AND FINALLY, I PROMISE I'M NOT STARTING A BEEF AS I ENJOY THE DISCUSSION, BUT I HAVE TO ASK, ON A THREAD THE THEME OF WHICH (I THOUGHT) WAS ABOUT THE EVOLUTION OF MOD STYLE, YOU SAY YOURE NOT INTERESTED IN SCOOTERS, NOR MUSIC, AND DIDNT KNOW MODS WORE BOATING JACKETS ... ERRRRR ... WHAT IS YOUR INTEREST HERE?

I don't think that that is the WHOLE point of the thread,there is more to it than which original items can be worn now.
Personally I try to limit myself to one or maybe two items that would have been worn back in the day,maybe brogues and a Harrington,but I wouldn't wear a BD or an FP with them as it would be dangerously near to re-enactment ( again IMO).

Going back to scooters for a moment,I think that Mods rode them as they were quite a radical modern design (at the time),they got away from the traditional motorbike look,the leg shields and running boards protected their clothes,they could ride them at 16 with L plates,they could get them on HP...did they want a car ? I doubt it,wouldnt have suited their image..I always thought that the Isetta ( bubble car) would have been perfect for Mod,if they had driven them I wonder if anyone would be looking for a retro copy now ?.

I did realise that Mods wore striped blazers briefly in the 60s,they seemed to wear a lot that was garish and attention grabbing,but when I mentioned Jazz people wearing them I meant present day.

Always been about the clothes and shoes for me,thats why I suggested that Mr Knightley start this thread,about moving 'the Look' on to the present day,I aspired to be a Suedehead in the early 70s and although I don't claim to have been one ( to young) the style stuck with me and is a sort of starting point for me.
I never had any interest in music and I still haven't,the radio goes off when I get in the car,and the only thing that I would change about my early life is that I wouldn't have gone to so many nights out in clubs with my mates,I would have saved the money and gone to more away games.
As for scooters I bought an old Vespa when I was at school and soon realised that a car was better in most ways ( for me) so that's the way I went,also not interested in the scooter scene,rallies etc,saw one at the I-o-W in the 90s lots of blokes in check shirts and short jeans...not for me.

 

[cerneabbas]

Yeah good points Couseau.
As a very young boy in the late sixties / early seventies I don't have very clear memories of skinheads, mostly wrangler jeans and jackets and doc martens, and into the seventies they kept the look but grew their hair out and were known as 'boot boys', but for a brief moment I remember the suedehead look which I thought was class - mini-mullet / Bowie spike with Ben Sherman gingham shirt, crombie, red spotted hanky, two-tone sta-pressts, red socks and chunky brogues. It didn't last long but it's a look that I reckon could be worn at any age.

I wore most of what you mention here,but besides brogues and maybe a Crombie I wouldn't wear any of the rest now,two tone sta prest on a bloke in his 50s ? not good ( again IMO ).

 

[cerneabbas]

Yep ! Cardy, BD, Mac, V.neck, 3b jacket/suits, Longwings, Loafers, Smooths, Crombies, Sta-prest, FP, just to name a few. Can't go wrong with that !

Leave sta prest out and I agree Clouseau,just not to many of the list worn at the same time for me.
I am still thinking about Mr Knightleys statement about 3 button jackets,maybe I am warming to the 2 button, after 40 years !.

 

[Thin White Duke]

Don't do it!

For me the three button jacket is sacrosanct and a key part of 'the look'. Just did a quick count and from 21 suits and 31 jackets only my dinner suit is not three button. A few were bought as two-button and converted.

As a kid in the seventies I associated two button suits with Richard Nixon - square, shapeless, baggy, wide lapels etc. and even though that's clearly not always the case that image remains with me. The first thing I look at when a well-dressed fella or mannequin catches my eye is if ithe jacket has three buttons, and I'm mentally deducting points if it doesn't!

 

[cerneabbas]

2 button jackets.
I had my first one in 72/73 cant be definite,it was after the Suedehead look evaporated here.
The lapels seemed quite low after the 3 button look and they were quite wide (although they got wider in later years ) the jacket was dark brown and I remembered something strange today,a few people were pulling the collars of their shirts over the jacket lapel ( ala Saturday Night fever but a few years before that) I used to wear a black FP with red and white piping and I wore that in the same way ( I must have had the top FP button undone).
Thinking back it must have looked ridiculous but nobody ever said that to me and believe me people were only to pleased to give negative comments out then,also thinking about it I don't remember anyone else wearing FP polos here then,I also bought an FP black v neck jumper.

Anyway back to 2 button jackets,over the years the lapels have got narrower and on some jackets the lapel doesn't come down so low as they used to.
Earlier this year I bought a blue herringbone Harris tweed 2 button jacket,I think that if it was a 3 button it would look to archaic,like a 70s geography teacher perhaps.

I know that you said that you never wear knitwear under a suit jacket,but I would have worn a black v neck under my charcoal suit to a funeral that I attended in February ( churches always seem cold places to me) I think it would have looked ok with a white shirt and black tie.
I would also wear a navy v neck under the blue herringbone jacket with a light blue BD... and believe it or not I am not trying to disagree with everything that you say !

In conclusion I think that there are 2 button jackets that I like but the width and depth of the lapels have got to be in proportion,not to wide and not coming down to deep.

Of course it all comes down to personal preference in the end.

Just to add that I remember Clint Eastwood wearing 2 button jackets in the earl Dirty Harry films with wide lapels,i think that is one reason the films became dated quite quickly,I also remember him wearing a burgundy v neck under a sports coat,didn't look bad IMO.

 

[covskin]

I think number of buttons follows from the overall silhouette. Two buttons on a shouldered and waisted English silhouette works just as three buttons works on a more straight up and down American/continental silhouette. Worn both over the years and both seem to work, in their own way, for me.

 

[cerneabbas]

I think number of buttons follows from the overall silhouette. Two buttons on a shouldered and waisted English silhouette works just as three buttons works on a more straight up and down American/continental silhouette. Worn both over the years and both seem to work, in their own way, for me.

Not keen on the 3 button style that you describe,a bit to 'boxy' for me,the 3 buttons in Adam of London look better because they are waisted IMO,but I have gone off of the high lapels its a bit to old fashioned now.