Friday, May 20, 2016

I Miss the Old Days

Skinny ties, skinny trousers: The hip Teddy Boys of 1950s London

9 comments:

Deb said...

My uncle was a teddy boy and some of those pictures could be him! (Possibly they are--he was 20 in 1955 and living in London.) I saw a similar article on Teddy Girls a few months back--and the photos were taken by a young Ken Russell.

Unknown said...

I don't think I saw the Ken Russell photos. I'll have a look around.

Deb said...

This is where I first saw them, but a Google search had a bunch of links: http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/02/10/the-forgotten-1950s-girl-gang/

Unknown said...

Thanks, Deb. I usually catch the Messy Nessy stuff.

Deb said...

They're great photos. Russell had that eye, even back then.

Also, a rock'n'roll obit: http://m.newser.com/story/225402/beastie-boy-who-named-the-band-dies-at-age-52.html

Rick Robinson said...

I was 10 in '55, all I remember was how cool the new Fords and Chevies looked.

Don Coffin said...

A nice, if under-sourced Wikipedia piece:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Boy

I like the suggestion that the zoot suit may have been an inspiration (as well as Edwardian fashion).

Jeff Meyerson said...

And any of them who have survived to date are 75-80 years old.

Stay off their lawns!

Deb said...

Yes --my uncle is about that age now.

I didn't read the article Don linked to, but, as someone born in England in the late 1950s when certain items were still being rationed, I have to think much of the Teddy culture was a rebellion against the drabness and scarsity of post-WWII "Austerity Britain". Keep in mind when you look at those photos you're probably looking at working-class teenagers who'd grown up with the blitz, then with rationing, limited food, limited clothing options. I can understand what they were trying to do.