Category: Kings of Vintage
Kings of Vintage: Rockers
With their love for motorcycles, leather and beer, Rockers have always had a bad reputation, even when they first began to emerge in post-war Britain. Christopher Raymond Brocklebank takes a look at a youth culture phenomenon which still fascinates us today. Rockers have been suffering from a mistaken subcultural identity for over fifty years. Teds, those frothily-quiffed [...]
Meet the author: we talk re-enactment and the history of the Home Front with John Leete
New book A Re-enactor’s War (John Leete, The History Press Ltd) explores what inspires, moves and motivates re-enactors of all ages and backgrounds, and their close relationships with the veterans and people they seek to honour. Reminiscences of the Home Front from evacuation to the Blitz and beyond and new interviews with re-enactors are brought [...]
John Stephen – the man who made Carnaby Street
While most of those involved in Swinging London’s most famous fashion outlet, Carnaby Street, have now become part of the national psyche, the street’s most influential character, John Stephen, the man who made London swinging, has largely been forgotten. Born in Glasgow in 1934, Stephen first worked as a welder before, aged 18, moving to [...]
Music and fashion as resistance: The Swing Kids
Swing was exactly the kind of music Hitler and his fascist regime despised: deemed ‘un-German’, ‘negro’, ‘Jewish’ and ‘sexually perverted’, it was frowned upon and those listening to it risked their lives. Instead, young people were encouraged to listen to German folk music and military propaganda marches, which promoted the healthy, wholesome image favoured by the Nazis. [...]
Edwardian Youth: Dance music and a dagger…
Writer Paul Culshaw, a neo-Edwardian himself, explores the history of Edwardian style, the media backlash against Teddy-Boys and Teddy girl fashion. Around 1949 Saville Row tailors released a line in Edwardian suits to celebrate the end of clothes rationing. This style was at first only picked up by gay men and off duty guard’s officers. [...]
Ladies, gift your chaps a vintage make-over this Valentine’s
Perhaps the man in your life is a little shy about going vintage shopping with you? Or he might not have a clue as to even where to start? Enter the Vintage Style Doctor! Actor and vintage personal shopper Colin Reed – otherwise known as The Doc – runs the Vintage Style Surgery, London’s first [...]
