STREET WEAR HISTORY
The guard of culture 'Roger K. Burton' talks about
the history of British Youth fashions
08 11/5 UP
Text:Andrew Bunney Translation:Mayumi Horiguchi
- Teddy Boy (Late 40-50’s)
- This was the working class wanting to mimic the upper class. A lot of Teddy Boys looked very much like the New Edwardian, but it became more and more extreme. There are all these stories about kids in the East End wearing hunting pinks(n.9), causing complete mayhem, going to dancehalls, wrecking the place. Early Teddy Girls were very chic compared with a bit later when the whole Rock n Roll thing hit.
- n. 9: hunting pinks;
The Red coats worn by hunting officials are often called Scarlets or "Pinks". It is thought that the term "Hunting Pinks" refers to a London tailor named Pink who bought large quantities of material after the American War of Independence in 1783 and became popular for hunting attire.
- Beatnik (Late 50’s)
- It wasn’t so much of a fashion, but an anti-fashion. An outfit of protest.
- L :
- Very anti-synthetics for some reason. They used to shop out of Army and Navy shops basically, so he’s got an ex-naval duffle jacket, ex-naval beret, duffle coat worn by sailors, Breton t-shirt which has historically been associated with low-lifes and non-conformists. A lot of wool, tweed, cotton, practical clothing. Corduroy was very popular.
- R :
- Girls were very into that whole Juliette Greco look – tights, flat shoes, and sloppy sweater worn the wrong way around. There used to be this club in Soho called the Heaven and Hell club and when I was doing the movie Absolute Beginners, we were interviewing people that were around at the time and there was a girl wore a sweater with a skeleton knitted into it. Primarily it would be a black, ex-military sweater that has been dyed and worn the wrong way around with a 'V' at the back or roll neck… very army surplus chic.
- Rocker (Late 50’s)
- All the money was spent on their bikes, so what they were wearing had to be durable. Even though you could get American heavy-cotton jeans at the time, they tended to go for the cheap British brands like Libro and Lee Cooper. The cotton was so inferior, and felt so horrible, again you would get it from an army surplus store.
- L :
- The reason I picked this Biker jacket was that it was a vinyl one which were really, really popular. Kids in this country cold not afford leather. He’s got seaman’s sweater, seaman’s socks like faux cowboy boots. Decorated themselves with bits of old chain and rope, studded jackets and bits off their bike.
- R :
- The girls were quite similar really, in those early days mohair was really popular. Probably something to do with the bouffant hair styling that went with it. Sleazy boots with fur edging and cheapo denim jackets. They picked up on their Rocker idols – some of them had big badges and stuff with Elvis and Cliff Richard. A great look, one of my favourites.
