A few more brief notes on how today’s vintage trend developed from the desires of young people to set themselves apart from accepted ideas of fashion, that as I’ve said, really kicked off with the newly liberated Teddy Boys of the 1950s…

In the 1960s, Mods and Rockers took over as the predominant genres. These subcultures also borrowed from a wide source of influences. They too ‘nicked the style of their betters’ [like the Teddy Boys]. Mods favoured sharp Italian tailoring, re-appropriated the militaristic Parker jacket and listened to Jamaican Ska music. Rockers emulated Marlon Brando and James Dean with leather jackets and Levi’s jeans.

Mods

After Mods and Rockers, came Hippies in the 70s, Soulboys, Punks, New Romantics, Skinheads, Football Casuals, Acid-Ravers, Grungers, Hip-Hop and Indie kids, Goths and probably far more besides. Through the decades, these trends continuously set young people apart from the establishment, mixing and borrowing styles from previous genres. The codes of dress developed and changed according to musical preferences, political ideologies and cultural influences of the period. Wearing these clothes signified one’s affiliation with a tribe and the tribes concerns, literally ‘wearing your heart on your sleeve’…

Rockers

From the 1950s to the present day, young people have found ways to assert their own style. Though wildly different in appearance, each subculture has demonstrated some common, consistent features; a hybridization of existing styles, a desire to rebel and create a unique identity, and an elitist, tribal attitude.