Hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as I did creating it :
http://www.filmnoirbuff.com/article/suedeheads
Thank you Alex, good read which I'd been looking forward to.
A nice highlight for this morning.
Alex - what a great piece! As someone who was around at the time I am very impressed by the accuracy of the detail.
Trevira! What happened to that?
The Faith Royal? That term is not one I am familiar with. Was that the shoe sold by The Squire Shop and Ivy Shop? I don't recall the 'Faith' tag.
Updating the look. I agree that you have to go with the subtle changes that keep things moving forward. It's harder than might be thought. To some extent it is about Refusal also. It would be very easy to latch onto any passing fad and end up with what Richard Torregrossa calls in his excellent Cary Grant book a 'Wardrobe Malfunction'!
Well done, Alex and thanks again for the acknowledgement.
John
Perfect!
A real work of art, Alex, & a labour of love too I'm sure.
I've heard of Royals being called Faith Royals too. Is it in Nick Knight's book?
Royals were made by the company who made for Timpsons down in Northampton somewhere I think. Was that company called Faith?
Thank you Alex for putting all the work you have done into this. I've never read anything anywhere as good on the subject.
Top man!
Out of sentiment I've just bought a pair of those Levi's 307 Sta Prest in stone, from the Levi's store here in town. So much for my comment as for Sta Prest being somewhat thin on the ground these days
I'm going to dig out some old Reggae... "The harder they come" will be first.
Edit: Ooops! That's from '72. Still good though...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGE4dnrPPZQ
Last edited by David (2008-01-23 05:40:27)
Eric Clapton wore pure Skinhead style really early on when still with the Yardbirds -
Chris H. - Can you help with the Pic?
Razored Crop. Pale Harrington zipped to the neck. Short Levis with turn-ups. Black socks. Black heavy Loafers.
The year is amazingly early for Skin style as I recall.
You out there, Guv?
Jim
I think Clapton probably thought of himself as a Mod then, a Levi's Mod rather than a suit Mod that is. A good example of why some Skins mentioned that they always thought Skinheads were ( basically ) Mods.....
Last edited by Alex Roest (2008-01-23 06:12:43)
Clapton shopped at Austins and was a huge influence on Ivy league Mod back in the day. His Ivy league Mod look on the cover of 'Five Live Yardbirds' is fantastic.
His 'Skin' look is pure Americana. Wish I could remember the year of the pic. I think it's pre-John Simons... Not sure.
It's on the back of John Platt's Yardbirds Biog. I think the band are doing a German TV show at the time. I sent my copy to Chris H. & the postman nicked it...
... My life is full of cool anecdotes like these...
http://www.amazon.com/Five-Live-Yardbirds/dp/B000085RUJ
GREAT article Alex!! As David mentions, probably the best one on the subject to be found.
I love that pic of Tom McC (actually the entire photo before cropping is one of my favorite 4Skins pics) and he is a real ambassador to the cult, still keeping the flame burning as evidenced by his participations on the various mod forums.
I had almost expected you to also use that photo from Spirit of 69 of the fellow where you see his looks from skinhead-suedehead-smoothie....that little montage perfectly illustrates your points in the article.
I really appreciate that all of your articles are about moving forward and staying truly modern, but with a traditional foundation. You never come off as talking about the subject matter in a retro way, and kudos for NEVER supporting "The Look" as a staid uniform with no personality or individuality.
Last edited by Alex Roest (2008-01-23 08:04:52)
Just got through it on my lunch.
Great article, great reference.
FNB must be delighted to have this place becoming so class.
Love it, Alex. Good bit of pared down writing.
An uncle of mine had the 'smooth' look in the early seventies. The tank top was big item and did seem to carry on after the earlier skin look. He also had an amazing pale 3/4 length sheepskin coat. Oh, and those clumpy shoes with the weaved vamp.
I suppose it's a sign of that time that he never referred to himself as anything in particular, although all his mates dressed in a similar fashion. They were all manual workers, really...brickies, chippies whatever. Very 'working class' look, if one is allowed to say so these days.
Anyway, another salute sir, sterling work.
The 'French Cut' next.
Last edited by Chris_H (2008-01-23 11:41:22)
Clapton was definitely an Austins customer. He introduced Dreja to the shop I believe.
Do they like The Yardbirds on Modcult.? Not sure.
Weller's line 'Smiling, beguiling' in "Down in The Tube Station At Midnight" is stolen from the Yardbird's "Evil Hearted You" I am informed by my learned chum Mr. Greyhound. What a little magpie Mr. Weller is to be sure.
Still...
Thanks for the kind words Jason, SubtleCool, Tony and Heikki..... all those comments really mean a lot to me and are a wonderful form of encouragement also to do my utmost once again as for the 'French Cut' article.....cheers,
Alex
Cheers Alex i'm looking forword to reading it
I found this about Slade Skinhead days (don't ask it just for a laugh)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYmZ34R5Q
Lewis
Last edited by Suitedbooted2000 (2008-01-24 07:34:22)