Mr Knightley
Distinguished Member
- Joined
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‘The Look goes on’
This is a picture of Gill and Del Evans who were Birmingham Mods in the mid 1960s. But before that they were self-styled ‘Continentalists’, referencing the part of the world from which they originally took their inspiration – in particular France and Italy. Their shared love of clothes prompted them to record many of their outfits over a number of years – see their Facebook page ‘Mod Togs’ and article on Jack that Cat was Clean blog.
This is a later group of stylists, taken at Butlins in Filey in 1968 revealing a point in time when Mod was just beginning to evolve, in some circles at least, into skinhead.
Fast forward to 2014 and Northern Soul Girl, Levanna Mclean at an all-nighter.
The look has adapted and moved on for the new century but a thread runs through all of these pictures. They all reveal exquisite style of course, and I think a style driven by a belief in exclusivity, secrecy and a desire to be set slightly apart.
But how and why did it start? Why does it continue still, against all the odds in an age of gross scruffiness and an ‘anything goes’ culture? I thought when I left my youth behind - and the suedehead style that I loved - I thought this is the end. But I was wrong. I played a very small part in what has been termed an unbroken circle of style.
So, I hope this thread offers an opportunity to debate these fundamental points about such style. Where it came from, where we are now and what the future may bring.
Discuss.
This is a picture of Gill and Del Evans who were Birmingham Mods in the mid 1960s. But before that they were self-styled ‘Continentalists’, referencing the part of the world from which they originally took their inspiration – in particular France and Italy. Their shared love of clothes prompted them to record many of their outfits over a number of years – see their Facebook page ‘Mod Togs’ and article on Jack that Cat was Clean blog.
This is a later group of stylists, taken at Butlins in Filey in 1968 revealing a point in time when Mod was just beginning to evolve, in some circles at least, into skinhead.
Fast forward to 2014 and Northern Soul Girl, Levanna Mclean at an all-nighter.
The look has adapted and moved on for the new century but a thread runs through all of these pictures. They all reveal exquisite style of course, and I think a style driven by a belief in exclusivity, secrecy and a desire to be set slightly apart.
But how and why did it start? Why does it continue still, against all the odds in an age of gross scruffiness and an ‘anything goes’ culture? I thought when I left my youth behind - and the suedehead style that I loved - I thought this is the end. But I was wrong. I played a very small part in what has been termed an unbroken circle of style.
So, I hope this thread offers an opportunity to debate these fundamental points about such style. Where it came from, where we are now and what the future may bring.
Discuss.
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