Mods and Modernists

[Salv]

I'm currently re-reading a book called The Soul Stylists by British writer Paolo Hewitt, which is made up of interviews and essays detailing 60 years of those British youth cults that share the twin obsessions of clothes and Black American music. While much of this has little to do with the general vintage era of the Lounge, the attention to detail will appear very familiar to everyone here.

The first young Brits to fall under the spell of Black American music were post-war London jazz fans who soon started calling themselves Modernists. This was as opposed to Traditionalists, who listened to 1920s New Orleans jazz, and wore corduroy trousers, heavy jumpers and duffle coats. The Modernists aspired to sharp Crombie coats, wore suits and ties, and wanted to look like Miles Davis, Chet Baker and Stan Kenton in Ivy League clothes by Brooks Brothers.

Here are some contemporary quotes from the book by people who were there:

In the early '50s a lot of guys wore that Ivy League look. Three button jackets done up and short lapel on the top. Narrow trousers and they also wore flat-top haircuts. Eddie Harvey

The jazz culture was an Ivy League culture. Chet baker and all those people wore Ivy League from the early '50s. They were you idols so you wanted to wear what they wore. John Simons

With the coming of rock 'n' roll the Modernists were swept away, until the next generation of sharp dressers appeared a few years later, also calling themselves Modernists. In 1962 Town magazine ran a feature about three clothes-obsessed kids from Stoke Newington (one of whom, Mark Feld would later call himself Mark Bolan, from a band called T-Rex and become a giant of glam-rock) and Modernists became Mods. More quotes from the book:

I'm wearing a Brooks Brothers shirt right now and you can tell at a thousand paces a Brooks Brothers shirt because of the roll on the collar. I know it's got a roll on the collar, I can tell that without even taking my eyes off you. Now any other Mod would know that. They would know an American shirt because of the double line of stitching around the sleeves. And an English shirt that was made to look like an American shirt, notably a Ben Sherman, is not on. Patrick Uden

I had a tailor who was a very good tailor but he couldn't understand what was going on. I told him once that I wanted a chalk stripe suit and I drew how I wanted it. It had pockets that were angled out with a 45-degree flap and I wanted it hand stitched. He said it would ruin it. I said, no, I want hand stitching. Took me a hell of a long time to get him to do it. Robert Hall

I used to buy Playboy magazine ... because ... you used to get these fantastic pictures of Burlington socks. I got off on that because you didn't see pink or white Argyll socks here. Carlo Manzi

This next quote reminded me of many posts in the Lounge...

If you talk to any original Mod he knows what smartness means. He knows what a gusset in a trouser is, or how a shirt should be made. I can look at a suit and know whether it's made properly or not. Just turn over the lapel and I know if it's a good suit. I don't need to see a label. You know things. How the suit should hang, the vents, the pleats, how many buttons, weight of material, how to press it properly. I used to press my suit with a wooden block. No one knows how to do that. Mod gave you an insight into what smartness was about - quality. Robert Hall

 

[Senator Jack]

Sounds like a great book. I'll have to pick up a copy. As I noted in other threads, it was the Mod/Rude Boy/RatPack style that first got me into vintage clothing, and I went backwards from there.

I keep reading how that mod style is perched for a comeback, with bands like Interpol and The Killers leading the charge, but it seems to me that while the kids like the look, very few are emulating their musical heroes. I chalk it up to malaise. Emulating the grunge rockers was easy. Grab a flannel shirt and go. Too much thought has to be given to be mod, and he majority of kids (and adults) just don't want to think that much.

I've posted pics of Thomas Browne's line at another thread. He's trying to capture that look, but he gets it all wrong - as with most designers, he's trying to improve on perfection, and thus it doesn't work. Over at Bergdorf Goodman, they were even selling new narrow ties again, but they were rather plain and wanted a $150 (!?) for one. At these prices, no wonder mod will never return.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[flat-top]

Any mention of the U.K. Skiffle explosion in the late 50's? A lot of those young guys were into that sound and style before they went Mod.

 

[Salv]

Sounds like a great book. I'll have to pick up a copy. As I noted in other threads, it was the Mod/Rude Boy/RatPack style that first got me into vintage clothing, and I went backwards from there.

I keep reading how that mod style is perched for a comeback, with bands like Interpol and The Killers leading the charge, but it seems to me that while the kids like the look, very few are emulating their musical heroes. I chalk it up to malaise. Emulating the grunge rockers was easy. Grab a flannel shirt and go. Too much thought has to be given to be mod, and he majority of kids (and adults) just don't want to think that much.

I've posted pics of Thomas Browne's line at another thread. He's trying to capture that look, but he gets it all wrong - as with most designers, he's trying to improve on perfection, and thus it doesn't work. Over at Bergdorf Goodman, they were even selling new narrow ties again, but they were rather plain and wanted a $150 (!?) for one. At these prices, no wonder mod will never return.

Regards,

Senator Jack

Nick Hart, at Spencer Hart Tailors in Savile Row, seems to be making some nice Mod-inspired suits. He's a lifelong jazz fan and certainly fits in with the 50s Modernist ethos of dressing like one of his heroes:

I wonder if it was one of his ties you saw at Bergdorf Goodman.

Any mention of the U.K. Skiffle explosion in the late 50's? A lot of those young guys were into that sound and style before they went Mod.

It gets a few mentions in the comments and essays between some of the old boys quotes, but all of the original Modernists in the book were jazz fans and they don't talk about it.

 

[Lena_Horne]

I have to say, that is such a wonderful set-up. The price is a little heady and makes me damn glad I'm not a man. But, it's nice to see others dreaming of the day when one could find suits like that regularly, even on children:

Martin Luther King Jr's two sons and nephew (Martin III at left, Dexter in front) soon after his assassination:

LN

 

[herringbonekid]

i have a problem with men in skinny leg trousers. unless you're built like a bean-pole they make your feet and bum look too big.

 

[Salv]

i have a problem with men in skinny leg trousers. unless you're built like a bean-pole they make your feet and bum look too big.

There's another quote in the book from a friend of mine - David Cole who edits a soul fanzine and lives in Brighton, so probably not too far from you 'kid - who was talking about tailored shirts, and how you had to be sllim to wear them as they hugged the body. He reckoned that in the early 60s you never saw a fat Mod. Not surprising really - this was the generation of post-war babies that grew up while food rationing was still in place, and their diet would have been much healthier than modern kids'.

 

[herringbonekid]

i'm slim, but i'm not flat-arsed and i have large feet. i look ridiculous in tight trousers.
i live in Hove, next to Brighton. the mods you tend to see about are more of the Who/scooter variety with those blunt fringed haircuts with the little bits of hair in front of the ears.... a really unflattering look to my eye. anyway, if this was the 70s they'd be beating me up for having grease in my hair. the Chet Baker look of the late 50s i can swing with, but i don't really think of that as 'mod' (even though it technically might be).

 

[Salv]

i'm slim, but i'm not flat-arsed and i have large feet. i look ridiculous in tight trousers.
i live in Hove, next to Brighton. the mods you tend to see about are more of the Who/scooter variety with those blunt fringed haircuts with the little bits of hair in front of the ears.... a really unflattering look to my eye. anyway, if this was the 70s they'd be beating me up for having grease in my hair. the Chet Baker look of the late 50s i can swing with, but i don't really think of that as 'mod' (even though it technically might be).

I don't know what to think about the current mod generation: on the one hand I certainly can't complain about their love of old clothing, but on the other hand they shouldn't really be calling themselves Mod(ernist)s. The original "Look" wasn't about wearing a uniform of specific items of clothing, it was about finding stylish new clothes that no one else was wearing. The Fred Perry and parka-clad scooter boys just don't understand that. And even when they wear a suit it's invariably a nasty looking polyester/viscose thing from The Merc - is it just me or does this Merc suit look badly made:

All those creases on the inside of the right thigh look terrible, and the fabric looks shoddy.

And the violence was never a big part of the original scene - nobody wanted to get their bespoke suit wrecked in a fight. By the time of the Margate and Brighton clashes in 1964 the scene had gone overground to the extent that Mods were a recognisable sub culture, and there were thousands of young mods who weren't about to take any nonsense from a bunch of greasers. Next up in my to-read pile is Sawdust Caesar by Howard Baker, a novel apparently based on Bakers own life as a young Mod in the early 60s. I read it when it was first published, but after re-reading Soul Stylists I decided to dig this one out again. While the central character is not averse to a bit of a ruck he reckons that the 1964 Bank Holiday fights were the 'death of mod'.

 

[Barry]

I've always been curious about the mod-revival stuff - especially about the music. I remember reading somewhere (probably on the net) that there were "mod bands" and then the music to which the mods actually listened.

I have a very small collection of Mod revival 45s. Secret Affair - etc. Not the greatest music but it's neat for kicks. "The Loved Ones" from California (now broken up - lead guitarist is in that band "Cake") get a lot of play on my iPod!