Thread by @PulpLibrarian

In the early 1950s a new fashion trend took over Britain's youth. An adaptation of Edwardian romanticism; drape jackets, tailored waistcoats, drainpipe trousers and chunky shoes. It soon gained a name: the Teddy Boy!

Let’s take a look at it... #WednesdayThoughts

The Edwardian suit was introduced in 1950 by Savile Row tailors looking for a ‘new style' for young men. Taking inspiration from the Edwardian dandy the new look created a narrow silhouette offset with a fancy waistcoat. Young military officers were early aficionados.

Soon however the new style was being copied by Britain’s working class youth, as a revolt against the drab conformity of the post-war years.

Looking like your grandad was suddenly ‘in’!

The press soon picked up on this new fad spreading across the UK, but didn’t know what to call it. Spivs? Drones? Cosh boys? Finally in 1953 the Daily Express shortened the clumsy phrase ‘Edwardian Boys’ to ‘Teddy Boys’ and the name stuck.

Teds initially favoured dark-colored drape jackets, with velvet trim adorning high collars and pocket flaps. Western bolo ties or narrow silk ties with a Windsor knot set off the shirt, normally worn under a single or double breasted waistcoat.

Teddy Boy trousers were drainpipe style and tight around the calf, sometimes with a shortened
inside leg to better show off the sock. Chunky Oxfords or suede loafers with thick soles - known as ‘brothel creepers’ or ‘beetle crushers’ - completed the outfit.

Ted hair was generally greased back or quiffed in various styles: the ‘Tony Curtis’, the ‘Boston’ or the D.A. (Duck’s Arse).

The new Edwardian look was also taken up by young working class women, dubbed Teddy Girls. Their look paired tailored jackets with pencil skirts or rolled-up jeans, complemented with flat shoes or espadrilles. Straw boaters, clutch bags and umbrellas completed the ensemble.

Film director Ken Russell was working as a freelance photographer in the 1950s and one of his early assignments was covering the Teddy Girls for the Picture Post newspaper. His work captures a youth culture in first bloom: young people working out how to be different.

The Ted craze spread like wildfire. Soon teen coffee bars across Britain were filled with Teds: smoking cigarettes, sipping expressos, listening to skiffle and generally mooching about. But this was soon to change…

In 1955 MGM released the film Blackboard Jungle, a story of rebellious youth backed up with a rock-n-roll soundtrack. Bill Haley's film Rock Around The Clock followed the next year. Teds rioted in the cinemas, slashing seats and trashing the aisles.

There were lurid stories of Teddy Boy gang fights, with flick knives or razor blades hidden in the soles of their brothel creepers. Terror tales of the Teds began to fill the newspapers. ‘Something must be done’ the papers cried!

It was certainly true that Teddy Boys were present in large numbers during the 1958 Notting Hill race riots and were implicated in attacks on the West Indian community.

The law decided to crack down hard…

Flick knives were banned from sale, curfews were considered, Teds were treated with fear and suspicion. It was a full scale moral panic.

And then…

...the young Teds vanished. By 1960 youth fashions had moved on, music had started to change, teenagers wanted to look different from their predecessors. There were new gangs to join, new scenes to be in. The Teddy Boys were a relic of a bygone age.

But rock-n-roll will never die. Following the London Rock 'N' Roll Show in 1972 the music enjoyed a renewed period of popularity. New interest in Teddy Boy fashions was promoted by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren through their shop Let it Rock, on London's King's Road.

The Rockabilly Revival of the late 1970s riffed on the Teddy Boy look, so did the nineties rock scene. It was a style that still had a lot of mileage left in it. Nobody doesn't like a quiff!

The Teddy Boy look is a timeless classic, and as long as people want to preen and be seen it will always be an option somewhere in the wardrobe.

But let’s leave the last word to The Observer in 1955: “Their clothes are essentially evening dress for the young manual labourer, come at last into money. He has cocked a snook at society’s post-war attempt to re-establish class differences in dress.”

More style another time...