As Aljazz has said we both grew up in NW London.

I turned 15 and left school at Christmas 1961. Started work as an apprentice printer in Feb '62 and took the mod route from there. Used to go to the State Ballroom in Kilburn and the Ritz at Kingsbury both dancehalls that were popular with mods. As far as I know the styles originated in central London in places like Lyceum and gradually spread out to the suburban dancehalls. This was before there was any interest in the press and well before RSG.

Simon: You are wrong about Jeff Dexter, he is absolutely NOT gay, in fact he has been married for many years and has two grown-up sons.

Yuca, that's just because not all sack jackets were typical 3/2 rolls, I have some very high 3 button sacks and some "tipped" rolls.... and you can also wear a 3/2 as a 3 button, which is what many people in the UK in the 60s did...

I might be wrong, but I should have thought the jackets we favour now were fairly slow to catch on with the pop fraternity.  They were trying to look sexy.

Ivy is asexual?  Not my perception.  Doesn't the fact that ivy was so popular with Hollywood stars contradict that?  Hollywood stars are known for their sex appeal as much as their acting, and that has been the case since before the boom years period.  I can't imagine many boom years actors would have been willing to put their sex appeal at risk (nor would the average student or average male under a certain age for that matter).

I agree though, ivy did not suit UK pop stars - too conservative and subtle, not swinging enough.  Also, by the mid 60s it must have been apparent that ivy's dominance was nearing its end, and no one in the entertainment industry wants to look behind the times.  (Hence the universal late 60s dropping of ivy by jazz musicians, who had enough problems trying to earn a living without looking painfully out of fashion.)

You can also refer back to Gibson Gardens' own writings on the subject.  You can't, in a sense, get much more contemporary than that.  'The Look', for them, was of primary importance.  Not the mating instinct.  A sack jacket conceals the male torso.  Wide wale cords hardly scream libido.