Youth subculture from the 50's: Teddy Boy

Subculture teddy-fight originated in the UK in the 1950s, in the postwar period. It was a kind of challenge to society, a youth style, designed to shock the generation of parents, both with clothes and with behavior.

Teddy Boy for Society

For the general public, teddy boys are those who have problems, smokers, gather in bars, drink, rob and fight. The rebels shocked the older generation, and the newspapers tried to further inflame the hype around the new subculture. In 1956, at the cinema during the session (the film "School jungle"), "plush" hooligans arranged a disassembly, behaved inadequately, jumped from their seats, broke furniture, arranged dances in the aisles. Then came clashes with other gangs. The norms of the Teddy-battles allowed them to fight with each other, and indeed, with all in a row.

What clothes did the teddy boy prefer?

For the top, an Edwardian-style single-breasted wool jacket with a velvet collar and a shirt with a tie was perfect. The lower part is trousers with horizontal stripes. Favorite shoes, which wore teddy-bout, was with thick soles. At that time, the full costume of the "plush" boy was very expensive.

Recognizable style

Slicked and combed back hair, a long single-breasted wool jacket with narrow contrasting lapels and lots of pockets. The hairstyle that was worn by the Teddy Boy is very recognizable, the assault on the one that Elvis Presley had.

Teddy and Rock and Roll

In the 50s, fashion and musical entertainment could not be separated. Rock'n'Roll was accepted by the young people cheers. Many stars became idols of teenagers, they had a huge impact on society and became a real breakthrough. Currently, stylists are still using fashion elements that characterize the style of Teddy Boy.

Boys-Teddy: Revival (70s)

In fact, everything remained as before, with only the great influence of glam rock, the appearance of bright colors for draping jackets, shiny satin shirts with ties, jeans and belts with large buckles. In addition, hair was used to use lacquer, not fat, as in the 50's.

Collisions with punks

When there are two youth subcultures that challenge a decent society, the clashes were almost impossible to avoid. The irony is that, despite their differences, they had much in common. Both of them had their own musical preferences, as well as their own unique style in clothes. They had unified bases - self-expression, independence, nonconformism, resistance, faith in alternative options, but they expressed it all a little differently.

Both subcultures were negatively discussed and demonized in the press as a threat to society. During fights, chains from bicycles, studded cuffs, belts and other weapons were used. There were both minor scuffles, as well as major fierce clashes, as well as acts of vandalism.

Rise against conformism and traditional style

Britain has always been a model of rigor, high morality and conservative views. Perhaps, it is for this reason that many youth movements have started to emerge in the country - teddy fights, skinhead subculture, punks and many others. As a rule, one of the reasons for their appearance is the social and political situation in the country. The Teddy boys were originally teen rebels under the influence of American rock and roll. The subculture Teddy Boy dates back to the 1950s in London and is gradually spreading throughout the UK.

It was a special style that absorbed the features of the Edwardian fashion. Young rebels had money and spent it on fashionable clothes, entertainment. They wanted to stand out and not be like their parents, who used to lead a very economical way of life and brought up their children in severity. However, the penetration of rock'n'roll and new fashion, glamorous style and television have done their job. Teddy-bots (photos posted in the article) were mostly from the working class. But at the same time they aspired to dress like dandies and "golden youth", like the children of rich parents, high officials.

Attempts to revive

Since the end of the 70s, the Teddy-fighting movement has experienced both recessions and upsurge, new subcultures have appeared. In the 1970s, a popular clothing store was opened in London, which was called Let it Rock. It belonged to Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren. This was the last attempt to revive the style, although the movement was also revived in the early 90's.

The desire to follow fashion trends and attract attention to one's own person through appearance often leads to thoughtless actions, and sometimes illegal actions. The fashion movement that embraced Great Britain was originally called cosh boys. Some time later, the Daily Express newspaper referred to the former ruler of Edward VII with the affectionate word "Teddy". And since the clothing style of the "plush" dandy was reminiscent of the Edwardian, the name also came up as well as possible, firmly entrenched in the new subculture.

Main Features of Teddy Boys

• A special style in clothes (shortened trousers with inflated waists, bright socks, white or caged shirt, fitted vests, a tie or a butterfly and a necessarily long corduroy or drapery jacket, boots on a thick sole).
• Hairstyle a la Elvis Presley (for the creation of hairstyles a big plus was a chic head of hair, allowing to build high waves on the head, the boys-teddy looked after their hair, combed them back and poured varnish, sometimes cut off the back of the head and whiskey).
• The desire to look glamorous and expensive did not save you from clashes with other youth groups. Gathering companies, arranged scuffles, often with the use of weapons.
• Teddy boys had teddy girls who also had a unique wardrobe. At the age of 14-15 they left school at school and went for independent life to factories or plants. A distinctive feature of steel tattoos, and the more they were, the more fashionable.
• Among the musical preferences were jazz, skiffle and rock'n'roll, which at that time only began to conquer the world.