- 1980s&1990s
It was during the 1980s that things changed. A second wave of Skinheads rose from the ashes of punk, spurred on by the advent of 2Tone Records – a shortlived Ska label home to bands such as The Specials, and Madness. Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, the bomber jacket came into large popularity, featuring in films and magazines in the UK, and became a Skinhead staple.
It is said that young people who protested against existing music, clothing, and culture and tried to establish a new culture had their hair cut and expressed their pride in their own way. As punk rock developed actively, hair was shortened and tattoos were engraved to show a strong image. In addition, musicians performing in high-heeled boots, tight jeans, and T-shirts began to appear. However, as some white supremacists wore the same skinhead costume and used violent violence against minorities for no reason, the media began calling people who were racist like them skinheads. There’s so much to celebrate within the Skinhead style. Practicality, stylishness, heritage, community, but all of that now rings hollow as the clothes are soaked in an air of racism and thuggishness; connotations that will never be erased.
All in all, the history of skinhead fashion is fascinating, as is exploring how the trends have fluctuated, leading to the looks that were worn through the 50s and 90s.
- 1950s
In the late 1950s the post-war economic boom led to an increase in disposable income among many young people. Some of those youths spent that income on new fashions popularised by American soul groups, British R&B bands, certain film actors, and Carnaby Street clothing merchants. These youths became known as mods, a youth subculture noted for its devotion to fashion, music and scooters. Working class mods utilised practical clothing styles that suited their lifestyle and employment circumstances: work boots or army boots, straight-leg jeans or Sta-Prest trousers, button-down shirts and braces. Hardcore mods became commonly known as skinheads by about 1968. Their short hair may have come about for practical reasons, since long hair could be a liability in industrial jobs and street fights. Skinheads may also have cut their hair short in defiance of the more middle class hippie culture.
- 1960s
The iconic Skinhead era started in the 1960s, the beginning of the short hair, buckles, bigger boots, long sideburns and working-class individuals who came and conquered the British streets with their stylish fashion. Smart wear was the central theme of the Skinhead era; the practicality of the clothes being smart but with a twist. Their style could be characterised as clean, smart and sharp.
Levi jeans were also very popular amongst skinheads but more so in the southern regions of the United Kingdom. In the northern areas of England, many Skinheads were seen sporting cropped jeans, which were essentially created to accommodate and show off the monkey boots. Another staple of skinhead outfits is the iconic black monkey boots. Almost every skinhead had a pair of these boots, which were first found on the fashion scene in the 1960s. With their distinctive structure, monkey boots quickly became another Skinhead fashion standard.
The migration of the Caribbean and West Indies also had a significant influence on skinhead fashion. Skinheads started to emulate the Jamaican culture with their long coats inspiring the adoption of the Crombie leading to bomber jackets, Harrington jackets and trench coats. And to complete the look, beanies and braces were among the go-to accessories for Skinheads.
The skinhead style first emerged as part of a non-racist and multiracial scene. White skinheads took on a persona that reflected admiration for and kinship with a new generation of working-class West Indian immigrants in the United Kingdom. Like the Jamaican immigrants of the time, the first skinheads were clean-cut, neat, and sharp-looking compared to the shaggier youth styles of the period. (White skinheads eventually lost their affinity for Jamaica as Rastafarian fashions became ascendant, with their overtones of black pride and pan-Africanism.)
Many early white skinheads were vaguely nationalistic and “proud to be British,” but their deepest loyalties lay with their childhood chums and the local soccer team, not the “white race,” as professed by today’s racist skinheads. While known for their youthful aggression, petty criminality, and soccer stadium violence, this activity was seen as born out of economic hardship and a general spirit of bully-boy rebellion — not blind race hatred. Indeed, the first skinhead music was reggae and ska, both black musical forms; the earliest targets of white skinheads’ anger and homemade weapons were each other and rival soccer fans.
- 1960s
In the late 1960s, there was an incident that came under heavy media fire, which arose among disgruntled young people as economic difficulties such as the collapse of the system and the increase in unemployment became serious.
The skinheads received extensive media attention in Britain in 1969–70, following appeals from Pakistanis living in the country for protection from skinhead attacks. Although many skinheads were prone to violence, others viewed their subculture primarily as an expression of alternative values and communal solidarity and were more interested in parties, concerts, and sporting events than in violence. During the 1970s and ’80s the skinhead movement spread to Australia, North America, and western Europe, especially Germany.
Although the first skinheads were nonpolitical, many of them were soon drawn into extreme nationalist, and especially anti-immigrant, groups.
Some skinheads were recruited as “storm troopers” for neo-Nazi organizations, and the movement became increasingly politicized. Skinhead gangs often attacked immigrants or racial minorities, particularly Turks and Asians in Germany and Indians and Pakistanis in Britain. Some skinheads have used indiscriminate violence against Parkistines and other Asian immigrants under the motto "Paki-bashing." A classic fictionalized account of such a gang was presented in the Australian film Romper Stomper (1992), and similar themes also emerged in American films such as American History X (1998). In the United States skinheads were drawn into the ultranationalist white supremacy movement through groups such as White Aryan Resistance. Even so, some skinheads in the United States and elsewhere were nonpolitical or even espoused left-wing positions.
- 1970s
In the 1970s, skinheads developed more politically, creating skinheads organizations and ranking members. The main purpose of these groups was violence against black people and Asians, and the immigration of these races caused economic and social problems. One step further, skinheads advocate neo-Nazis, who worship the Nazis, who committed the most brutal racism in human history. These violent skinheads had not yet acquired the trappings of neo-Nazi costumes and ideology, but they were already acting like Hitler’s goon squads, the brown shirts. One skinhead explained a typical “Paki bash” to a Time magazine journalist in 1970: “You go up to them and bump into them, and then you nut [forehead bash] them right, and then you hit them, and as they go down you give them a kicking, bash them with an iron bar, and take their watches and rings and things like that.”
More than 50 such attacks were reported within a span of weeks in 1970, triggering street protests by British South Asians. A definitive break between racist and non-racist skins had occurred. During the early to mid-’70s, England’s skinheads went into temporary decline. They experienced a revival in 1976, when a new generation of skinheads started earning a fresh reputation for violence through attacks on punks, LGBT people, and immigrants.Today we can reflect on the theft of Skinhead is a blatant example of cultural appropriation and a stark reminder of the power of fashion. Unfortunately, at the time it wasn’t so simple. While the Skinhead subculture may never be fully reclaimed, perhaps it’s time to openly condemn those who commandeered yet another part of Black British culture. Anger and fear are common responses to Skinhead sightings today. For the far-right, shame might be more appropriate.
Sources
https://www.britannica.com/topic/straight-edge
https://www.splcenter.org/20120625/racist-skinheads-understanding-threat
https://blog.naver.com/mhteng11/221538966352
https://relcolondon.com/blogs/style/the-history-of-skinhead-fashion
https://www.gettyimages.nl/fotos/skinhead-style
https://medium.com/@nivedhitha.28494/skin-heading-into-the-1960s-f96a8b38da4d