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
- Mods (Mid 60’s)
- This is the stylist element of it, purists, and they would go nowhere near a scooter. Purely meant for posing and dancing… and pulling I suppose. Even in 1964-65 Britain was very grey. It was a revolution in menswear - new colours were available, bottle green, camel, really decadent, lightweight fabrics. Kids wearing those colours were thought to be either continental or gay.
- L :
- The top mod stylists kept it very simple, very clean. All the details here and there, slightly graduated vent in the back, splash of colour like the hanky.
- R :
- Guys would look exactly the same as girls, maybe on a Saturday night a girl might wear a dress, but coordinated with the boyfriend.
- Hippie (Late 60’s-70s)
- This is not the florid route, and people think of Hippie in floral dresses and stuff. A lot of it was made out of leather and fur and so forth.
- L :
- People would have been wearing this down to the Hollywood t-shirt. It was a touristy thing at the time, but they would wear it fucked up, with holes in it as a piss-take, a bit of irony. The untreated leather pants would stick to your flesh, the American Indian influence going on.
Probably lived in these clothes and never too them off. - R :
- I knew the owner of this jacket, they had a fashion shop and were old friends of mine and had the hippie lifestyle. She lived and died in this coat.
- Punk (1976-79)
- Here it is a bit of designer, bit of homemade, not too purist.
- L :
- Somebody lovingly ripped and customised this old blazer, a Sex or Seditionaries Mohair, Johnny Rotten used to wear one that colour – Red and Black. Seditionaries Snow boots, Nazi armband, dog collar. We used to supply these pants to the shops at the time; they were Libro with fine black and grey stripes, which Rockers used to wear in the 50s. They were very popular and had a resurgence among the punks.
- R :
- Wearing a Seditionaries bondage mohair. The sleeves are sewn in so just your hands can come out. That is one of the first Boy skirts, PVC with an asymmetric zip on it, a Helen Robinson design.
