History Of Punk Fashion

                         -Teddy Boys-

Before Punk you had Teddy boys, Teddy boys date back to
the late forties, following the war, a generation of youngsters
with plenty of money to burn took to Edwardian (Teddy)
clothing. In the beginning there were drapes and drainpipe
trousers, then that look was customised; the drapes had
collar, cuff and pocket trimmings. Trousers became even
more narrower and crepe soled shoes or beetle crushers
became a huge hit. Hairstyles were greased heavily into a
quiff and shaped into a DA, commonly known as ‘ducks arse’
as it resembled one! They were the first real high profile rebel
teens, who flaunted their clothing and attitude like a badge.
The media was quick to label them as a menace and violent
which was based on a single incident, when teenager John
Beckley was murdered (July 1953) by Teddy Boys. The Daily
Mirrors headline linked criminality to clothes- “Flick knives,
dance music and Edwardian suits.”

Cinemas, dance halls and other entertainment places in

South East London closed their doors to youths dressed in
“Edwardian” suits because of gang hooligan’s. “The ban,
week by week is becoming more generally applied, is
believed by the police to be one of the main reasons for the
extension of the area in which fights with knuckle dusters,
coshes, and similar weapons between bands of teenagers
can now be anticipated…In cinemas, seats have been
slashed with razors and had dozens of meat skewers stuck
into them”. -Daily Mail, 27.4.54

Violence meant more publicity and a higher Ted profile, which

meant more teenagers became attracted to becoming Teds.
Despite lots of the fights being “organised” and planned as a
shock factor for the press don’t underestimate the situation as
this was real violence with people getting hurt for no real
reason.

“Vicious street fighting broke out for the third weekend

running in the Kings Road area on Saturday afternoon. The
clashes were between rival gangs of Teddy Boys and Punk
Rockers. Over 100 Punks assembled in Sloane Square…the
whole road was blocked by fighting, at about 3:30pm, the mob
moved off, but the fighting went on till early evening”- West
London Observer, A Day Of Violence, 4.8.77
Johnny Rotten (Sex pistols) famously posed in Teddy Boy
clothes, went to the Roxy (London club) and almost got
beaten up by punk who didn’t recognise him and claimed to
attend Teddy Boy gigs unmolested.

Love even got a look in around early 1978 when there was a
temporary trend for hooking up with the opposite sex and
youth group; Ted and Punkette and Punk and Teddy Girl.
 

 
 

 
 

                              -Punk-
Following the “Swinging London” era of the 1960s, a new
group of cultural icons arose. The 1970s saw the emergence
of the punk rock movement.Most notably young performers
like Siouxsie Sioux and groups like The Clash. The
music inspired fashion as well, in particular designer Vivienne
Westwood, whose punk designs for the Sex Pistols helped
define the decade’s London style.

The clothes,  reflected the music. Punk band The Ramones

would command their sharp sound with a new sharp look .
They ripped up their jeans, sneakers and leather completed
the look. Their iconic band t-shirt – synonymous with teen
rebellion – is still worn by college kids today.
Anarchy was also hitting the UK in the early 1970s, hand
delivered by Malcolm McLaren and his designer girlfriend,
Vivienne Westwood. A year before McLaren dressed The
New York Dolls in red patent leather, he and Westwood
rebranded their shop in 1974 -“Sex” at 430 King’s Road in
London’s Chelsea. Few would miss the store,  a four-foot sign
of pink rubber letters spelt it out for pedestrians passing by,
their motto scrawled above the door reading: “Craft must have
clothes but Truth loves to go naked”. The interior inside
consisted of graffiti and chicken wire. The stores “anti fashion”
philosophy defined the punk movement. Selling  bondage
wear, along with their own designs the Sex Pistols, Adam Ant
and Siouxsie Sioux all shopped here. The Sex Pistols Glen
Matlock (Bass player) and Chrissie Hynde- soon to be
frontwoman of the Pretenders  were even shop assistants.
The shop was renamed yet again in 1976, this time called
“Seditionaries”. Rebellious fashion continued to evolve at the
helm of punk’s power-couple. They even caged a live rat
within a specially-made table. McLaren was now the manager
of the Sex Pistols, but it was Vivienne Westwood who was by
now considered the mother of punk who came to the fashion
with her sensational designs and made her name. Westwood
and McLaren’s streetwear t-shirts caused controversy, with
slogans like ‘Cambridge Rapist’ and ‘Paedophilia’.
The Nazi swastika quickly replaced the peace sign as a sign
held up to their World War II generation elders, led by Sid
Vicious dressed in a red swastika tee and studded leather
biker jacket. Debates still continue on the questionable
subversion of such a symbol. It was ironic for Sid to wear
such a symbol as for some time he was dating Nancy
Spungen who was Jewish.
Despite a gap between US and UK punk style, two trends
survived: ripped shirts and safety-pins.  The UK’s own Sex
Pistol Johnny Rotten, however, gave a more practical reason
for the accessory, claiming they prevented ‘the arse of your
pants falling out. It was quickly adopted by design-duo
Westwood and McLaren and radically transformed into both a
fashion and political statement. Their ‘God Save the Queen’ t-
shirts – the Queen passively sporting a safety pin through her
nose – still provokes.
Led by Westwood and McLaren, distorted customisation such
as rips, zips, studs, badges and armbands were now being
used as a political statement on the street. These clothes had
something to say – they carried slogans, not logos.

‘Street punk’ created the image of punk we all know:

mohawks, studded chokers, tattooes, Dr. Martens boots and
tartan. Women donned leather skirts and ripped fishnets and
many scrawled slogans and band logos on t-shirts with
marker pens.
 
 As punk fashion became more stylised, New Romanticism
aimed to shine a light in the political darkness. ‘We wanted to
get out of that underground tunnel feeling of England, that
dark feeling,’ Westwood would later explain. ‘Post punk’ style
was subsequently born. The Dr. Martens stayed around but
they were worn with Gaultier-inspired corsets. Vivienne
Westwood and McLaren’s first 1981 catwalk show was called
‘Pirate’.