Last edited by SubtleCool (2008-08-26 12:47:06)

Can a mod who always goe for safe accepted mod-choices a la Smedley, tailored strides, Tootal, DNA Groove be consider Sussed?

absolute beginner wrote:

    Can a mod who always goe for safe accepted mod-choices a la Smedley, tailored strides, Tootal, DNA Groove be consider Sussed?


:-) Like your style AB, unfortunately I do not class myself as a mod, seeing as I take from my Suede, Skin & smooth days and put it all into today's melting pot, plus the fact that you only got a glimpse of a couple of day's of my wardrobe. Horses for courses old boy!

Basically I think 'suss' has very little to do with 'Mod' as such because after all that was just a ( 60s ) concept. I've mentioned in the past I can't take that whole 'lifestyle' attitude seriously from anyone over, say, 25 for that matter calling themselves Mods ( or whatever ). It's just a hobby slightly outside of the ordinary I find, nothing too special really. I love the whole idea of Mod mind you, but it should be read in spirit and not to the letter, that's where the true clued up thing would appear now wouldn't it ?

No offence meant to anyone, but that's always been how I see it....

Last edited by Alex Roest (2008-08-27 07:49:13)

How about Fogeyism ?

Or Sloane Rangerism ?

There's a place for suits and there's a place for combinations. There always was and there always will be. Apart from that, as far as I know, there was a certain fad in the late 60s for getting two suits made in different shades that went together... Tailors offered bargain prices for two suits, as they do nowadays. So, especially if you were short on money, you went for these options and you got two suits + two combinations at a bargain price...

You know, most mods and skins were working class kids or came from a working class background. It's not like the phantasies some guys have nowadays, these were kids and they weren't that affluent. Tailor made suits were always expensive and most would pay by hire purchase. I also read that a lot of the older faces sold their suits very quickly in order to keep up with the fashions. Midnight blue was indeed the most popular choice, along with other shades of navy and lighter blues. It was probably that popular because especially in the late 60s suits were almost exclusively worn as a smart dress evening choice for nightclubbing. You rarely wore a suit for the pub or for the terraces. That would have been too flash.

Midnight blue or petrol blue is a very smart option at the club.  Charcoal grey wasn't that popular, you rather wore a lighter grey, sharkskin, airforce grey, pearl grey or something if it had to be a shade of grey. Two tone tonik in the weirdest shots were very popular, like bottle greeen and burgundy. Apart from mohair, tropical wools were popular, also cotton poplin suits in fawn and olive, seersucker suits, madras jackets and a lot of other stuff. But my point is, that you didn't have to have all these things! You made some choice and you wore this as long as it was fahionable...

Last edited by Hard Bop Hank (2008-08-27 17:16:49)

Modernists were arguably the most influential subculture since WW2, I'd agree on that. The point I was trying to make though was that just trying to emulate them is missing the very point, most of those ageing revivalists/traditionalists are pretty dogmatic IMO, whereas the idea of Modernism should be a mere inspirational factor which could/should be interpreted in very different ways.
Also, as I've mentioned before, you couldn't be more original than going back to the deepest root of Modernism : The Ivy League style. Dressing like that might still be 'Mod' in the true sense, when given that contemporary and individual twist. I wouldn't call it that ( the M word that is ) personally, but that too is besides the point really