Just a few thoughts.

The British have a love of theatre, costumes and pageantry. A love of dressing up going back centuries. Different clothes for different settings are an expression of this need/love of dressing up.

They also have a thing for subversion. Brummell initially subverted. I am not sure where this comes from at the mo.

The Punks seem to have embodied both these elements at the same time.

You need look no further than our weather to understand us

jeez, if that's the review, how long is the friggin' book!

My friend read and reviewed the book for Modculture.com. He said the author tried too hard to link every subculture's root back to the Modernists ethos. He tried to tie in the birth of consumerism and its ills back to the modernists as well. In short he told me the book doesn't really offer any thing new and was fuddled in its theory of the history of mod culture. I think that after the smoothies the modernist linked subcultures ended. It was the Mods of the early 60s that were the kids that supported the creation of teen fashion. In that sense you can form a link of British sub-cultures that have their roots in the modernist ethos. As such, many other sub-culture that followed were based on a similar base. Clothes, music, drugs. The early Modernists were different because of their outlook, they looked to the future with hope. They embraced design and rejected the old. They wanted more than the trad working class life styles of their parents. This is captured in Absolute Beginners, Terry Taylor's Barons Court, All Change and Alexander Baron's book The Lowlife. You won't find the word mod in any of those books. Its a question of understanding the ethos of these type of books and enjoying Modernist design and incorporating into your life as to wether or not your a mod. Going to a seaside town for a jolly up with a load of badly dressed people with daft Weller haircuts isn't really what its about. Its a hard thing to explain to those outside the lifestyle and for those of us who still class our selfs as Modernists we don't really have any link to Bitpop or mainsteam clothing brands like Ben Sherman or Merc. Avoiding anything with the term Mod in it. Its a much more underground movement of style and personal choice. Mod is just a term to sell things to the clueless. They lap it up without ever having heard of Arne Jacobsen. The above review of Wrights book is muddled with crap that has nothing to do with the Modernist life style. Wrights book will be the same.

Last edited by formby (2013-10-13 07:19:24)

No one has quite managed to carry-off the 1970s without damaging their sartorial reputation, as much as Roger Moore.