Subcultures: Mods

 

Mods were a subcultural youth group during the late 1950s to early 1960s. They were extremely interested in fashion and spent a lot of their time shopping due to their recently acquired disposable income. They had a strong passion for music of multiple genres, the motor scooter is seen to represent the mods and they had strong links with Amphetamines. There was a mod revival in the late 1970s.

 

 

It was a common misconception that they wore parkas displaying lots of badges. The original mods followed the ‘less is more’ aesthetic. They wore smart suits, mohair clothes, thin ties, button down collar shirts, wool and cashmere jumpers, pointed winklepicker shoes, Chelsea boots and bowling shoes. Some Mods went against gender norms of the era by enhancing their appearance with eye shadow, eye pencil or even lipstick. They were very image conscious people and the song ‘Dedicated follower of fashion’ by The Kinks pokes fun at the Mod’s obsession with fashion. The original mods did wear parkas but only saw them as a practical garment, to protect their expensive suits when riding their scooters.

 

The most important fashion accessory for the mods was the scooter. They were a cheap and accessible form of transport. In that period of time public transport stopped early so they needed a way to get home at night after clubs and dances. The scooters were chosen over motorbikes because scooters' use of body paneling and concealed moving parts made them cleaner and less likely to stain an expensive suit with grease. Normally they road Italian branded scooters like Vespas or Lambrettas. They preferred these due to their clean lines, curving shapes and gleaming chrome.

MODs originated from the Teddy boys of the early 50’s. The Teddy boys were very much ‘Englanders’, whereas Mods thought of themselves as Modern - embracing everything from black American Rhythm and Blues to Italian cuisine. A lot of their look was based on European style. The suits they wore originated from slick Italian designs. Their hair was in the style of actors from nouvelle vague cinema – very controlled, slicked back and cut quite short. Nouvelle vague was a French cinema movement in the 50’s and 60’s, seen as cinema for the youth. This links in with the fact that Mods were a youth culture. This was a new concept in those days, the Teddy boys’ were the first real youth culture only 10 years before.

During the mod movement some women started to have disposable income as there was a raise in female retail jobs. They dressed up more to go to work; they felt the need to look cool and glamorous. This highlights the commercial mind set of the mods. The women had the same smart clean aesthetic as the men. This meant they could wear the same clothes to work, home and school unlike other subcultures like punk. The female look was androgynous short haircuts, men’s trousers or shirts (sometimes their boyfriends), flat shoes and minimal natural looking make up. It stayed like this until Mod fashion became more mainstream, and the look, whilst still being minimal, became a little more glam.

This was partly due to women icons like Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton. Shrimpton was the subject of photographer David Bailey’s famous New York Vogue shoot which represented the acknowledgement of youth culture by the magazine. Twiggy’s classic make up look including painted on eyelashes became popular. She also had slicked back short hair like the men’s. Mary Quant miniskirts and boxy shift dresses became popular. The young mod women pushed parental tolerance, new things, nothing would have been worn that short before, it would’ve been seen as inappropriate.

It was the mod revival of the 1970’s and 1980’s that created stereotype that we know today. They wore parkas, harrington jackets, and Fred Perry polo neck shirts. The revival was a lot more casual, less slick and smart. They had stickers on scooters and when a law was passed saying there must be at least one mirror on the scooters they took it to extremes by covering them in them. They did not follow the less is more style.

The early mods were known for listening to African American Soul, Jamaican Ska, British R&B and Blue Beat. British R&B was performed by bands like the Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds and The Animals.The music was called blue beat after the record label that produced most of it. The influx of Caribbean immigrants at the time had a big impact on the music they listened to. It is said that the relationship between the two groups and their music interest helped to break down race barriers and reduce tension within London. Mod style music has changed throughout the decades:

·         Early mod Music. - More mellow

·         Mod revival music. - More rocky, to match the time.

·         Mod Style music now. - More mainstream.

The original mods of London frequented clubs like The Roaring 20s and The Flamingo. The Flamingo in Soho, 33-37 Wardour Street, played British R&B and jazz. The fans of that music would meet together no matter what skin colour. With its increasing popularity there were many performers who graced the stage at Flamingo, including Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. In the 60s the club was well known for its all night parties where the club opened until 6am on Fridays and Saturdays. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix were all regulars. The club closed in the late 60s.

 

Apart from clubbing, socially a lot of mods spent their time listening to music with friends, learning new dance moves, riding around on their scooters and shopping for the latest clothes. Drugs were also big part of their recreation with Amphetamines (speed) being their drug of choice. Pre-1964 the drug was actually legal. They took it on nights out to make them more alert and to help them appreciate the music they were listening to more.

 

Mods and Rockers did not get on. Rockers thought Mods were effeminate, stuck-up or snobbish. It was a common jibe that they "couldn't tell the birds from the blokes". Mods thought Rockers were old-fashioned, dirty, greasy and uncouth. However, there was not an all-out war between the two tribes.
 
Mods and Rockers rarely met, except for Bank Holiday weekends in Margate, Brighton, Hastings, Southend and football games from 1964 onwards. Their violent clashes were constantly and sensationally reported in newspapers such as the Daily Mail.

The first such incident was at Clacton on the Easter Bank Holiday in 1964. It was reputedly one of the worst Easter Bank Holidays on record: cold and wet. The Easter Sunday was the coldest for 80 years. Groups of youths arrived at Clacton for the Bank Holiday break. They were bored and frustrated and rumours were circulating that a local café was refusing to serve them. Violence broke out between different groups. This was reported sensationally in the national press.

 

The scale of the disturbance and the violence was exaggerated. However, from now on the 'Mods and Rockers' phenomenon was born. The question in the press and for local magistrates was, 'which town would be next?'
 
In 1964 Mods and Rockers clashed at Margate, Hastings, Bournemouth and Brighton at Whitsun and August Bank Holidays. Once again the actual events were grossly exaggerated in the media.

 

 

Modern day mods include the Gallagher brothers, Paul Weller and Bradley Wiggins. Lots of clothing that was worn during the MOD period has been recycled into today’s fashions. A lot of people still wear Fred Perry and Khaki Parkas are still in fashion too. Tasselled loafers are also quite popular at the moment.  Although there aren’t that many true mods left, there are a lot of older men, mainly in their 40s, which have adopted this style.