Sub Culture - Teddy Boys

BRITISH SUBCULTURES

Teddy Boy is a British subculture which was popular during the 1950s. It is mainly young man wearing clothes which were inspired by the Edwardian period with the main focus on the styles worn by the dandies. It was this style which Savile Row tailers had try to re-introduce in Britain after the second world war. 

The subculture started in London during the 1950s and spread rapidly across the UK as well being associated with American rock and roll. The name was originally Cosh Boys by the name teddy boys came about when a Dailly Express newspaper headline shortened Edwardian to Teddy in 1953.  

The Edwardian style was mainly adopted by wealthy young men especially Guards officers. At that point in history, the Edwardian era  which meant that their grandparents wore the style the first time around so there was a lot of borrowing vintage clothing from your grandparents much like today. 

Although there has been youth groups (scuttlers) in the UK before with their own dress code in the 19th century, the styles mainly stayed in larger cities such as Manchester and Liverpool. The Teddy Boys were the first youth group in England to differentiate themselves as teenagers which then created a youth market. 

Some Teds formed gangs which they had violent clashes with rival gangs which often would be exaggerated by the popular press. The most notable was Notting Hill race riots in 1958 which the Teddy Boys were present in large numbers and were against the West Indian community. 
300 to 400 white mainly Teddy Boys were seen on Bramley Road attacking the houses of the West Indian residents.  This disturbance and rioting and attacks continued every night for over 2 weeks. During these 2 weeks 140 people were arrested, mostly white youth but also many black people found carrying weapons. 108 people were charged with crimes such as grievous bodily harm (GBH) affray, riot and possessing offensive weapons; 72 were white and 36 were black. 

STYLE

The style consists of American zoot suits which were worn in the 1940s by Italian-Americans, Chicanos and African-American communities. The suit drape jackets and high-waisted 'drainpipe' trousers were worn, which usually exposed the socks. The outfit included a high-neck loose-collared white shirt and a narrow 'Slim Jim' tie or Maverick tie which they overlaid with a brocade waistcoat. The clothes were mainly tailor-made which were extremely expensive which they would have to pay for through weekly installments.

The popular footwear at this time were either highly polished Oxford chunky brogues which were made of suede with a crepe-sole. These were known as brothel creepers and are in fashion today but the brothel has been dropped and they are just known as creepers. 

The hairstyles of the time were long, strongly-moulded greased-up hair with a quiff at the front and the side combed back to form what was known as 'aduck's arse' at the back of the head. Another popular style was the 'Boston' which the hair was greased straight back and squared off across the nape of the neck. 

TEDDY GIRLS

Teddy girls are also known as Judies. They wore drape jackets also but they wore pencil skirts, hobble skirts, flat shoes and tailored jackts with velvet collars, straw boat hats, cameo brooches, espadrilles, coolie hats and long, elegant clutch bags.  Later they adopted the American fashions of toreador pants, voluminous circle skirts, and hair in ponytails.

These girls were collectively rejecting post-war clothing. They were from working-class family often irish immigrants who had settled in the poorer districts of London such as Walthamstow, Poplar and North Kensington. They tend to leave school at the age of 14-15 to work in factories and offices. Teddy Girls spent much of their free time buying or making trademark clothing inspired by the Edwardian period. 

MUSIC

Although Teddy Boys were associated with rock and roll music prior to this genre the Teddy Boys mainly listened to jazz and skiffle music which is when they adopted 'The Creep' a slow shuffle that was so popular it created their other nickname, Creepers. From 1955 rock and roll was adopted by the Teddy Boys which is when they started listening to artists such as Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and Eddie Cochran. 

INFLUENCES ON THE CATWALK

By the 1970s the look had been revived again by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren in their Kings Road boutique, Let It Rock. However, this time they brought in more elements of Glam Rock influenced by the music of this time; David Bowie, Marc Bolan, T. Rex and Lou Reed.

The trend was ground-breakingly shocking for its time and it has appeared on the Winter 2011 catwalk. Obviously it doesn't have the same rebellious meaning on today's catwalk as when these clothes were worn but Bottega Veneta has taken strong influences from this 50s Sub Cultures style. As a lover of the Teddy boys rebellious style I can only relish in their beauty and admire the work of today's designers work. 

You can see strong influences from the Teddy Boys sub-culture in this Bottega Veneta menswear catwalk. The tailored style of clothing is a modern twist on the Teddy Boys rebellious style. This is a clash of a modern style of clothing with this subculture as they have made the jackets more fitted than they were in the 50s and added more denim. Although they have took inspiration from the cut of the garments - the long draped coats and high waisted baggy trousers with the loose fitted shirts. They have also kept the theme going with the very teddy boy inspired hair styles - greased back like they would have in the 50s.