Skinhead

Context

 

Originally inspired by both West Indian “rude boys” and British mods, the skinhead subculture emerged in the 1960s within the working class youth in London and then spread throughout the UK and then to other nations, focusing initially on fashion, music, and lifestyle, the fashion being friendlier for the budget of the working class. The name skinhead derives from the shaven heads, typical of members of the subculture. Politically, the skinhead subculture spanned from far right to the far left, although many skinheads were apolitical. Skinheads listened to “black music” – Jamaican reggae and American Soul music, linking back to their West Indian inspiration. Throughout the 70s and 80s the skinhead subculture, being one comprised of British youth, gained a reputation for rising crime and violence and were seen as a threat to social morality, a reputation that was somewhat true but grossly over exaggerated. On the whole, however, the skinhead subculture served as unification for the mostly white, male working class youth, rooted in a nationalist desire to be dressed individually presentably.

Clothing

Skinhead footwear was always boots, first army issued steel capped boots, then Dr Martens – I wanted to include this as clearly as I could so I wore my 14 hole Dr Martens, straight-laced as was the fashion with two different colors of laces, yellow and white, which I had most frequently seen when searching through skinhead fashion images. The colors skinheads laced their boots with was originally those of the football team they supported but later became symbolic of their political beliefs – different colors meant different things based on the time period and area. Skinheads typically wore straight fitting jeans cuffed over their boots, (typically levis 501s) as I have done for the photoshoot. Derived from mod fashion but staple pieces in skinhead fashion and budget friendly are both long and short sleeve button down shirts and Harrington jackets, both of which I wore, sometimes the button down by itself, sometimes with the jacket over it. The final important piece of clothing was the braces, distinctive to skinhead fashion and rooted in practicality, due the nature of skinhead’s work.

Hair and Makeup

Since I was not willing to shave my entire head, I styled my hair pushed back to one side, because this was typical of suedeheads, a skinhead variation and movement in the 70s. In terms of makeup I kept it very minimal as skinhead males would not generally wear makeup, and used an eyebrow pomade and an angled brush to make my eyebrows appear thicker and wilder and generally untamed, since skinheads did not seem overly concerned with their eyebrows and would likely leave them natural.

Clothing choices:

Dr martens: here

Checked shirt: sold out, similar here

Straight fit jeans: vintage, similar here

Braces: second hand, similar here

Harrington jacket: unbranded, similar here

Laces: here and here