Yes, it's quite possible that there was always young fashion(s)... And a "youth culture"...

It was the 1950s, however, when the industry started to explore the "teenager" market. Maybe that's what's confused here.

Alan Freed playing r&b sounds on a white station for a teenage audience and calling it "rock'n'roll".
All the clothes, toys, comics etc. that were not sold to adults or to children but to this age group between 13 and 19. Kids with pocket money or with money from their first jobs. Kids who didn't want what the parents would buy for their children and who didn't want the same as the adults.

The "teenager" as a separate target group was invented by the advertising industry in the 1950s.

Just like "the Ivy League look" "the teenager" is a marketing term, and its creation is deeply linked with post-war consumer society.

Last edited by Russell...Street (2013-08-29 10:35:03)