The Teddy Boys or Teds were a mainly British subculture of young men wearing clothes inspired by the styles worn by dandies in the Edwardian period. The same style a few years later afer the Second World War was re-introduced by Savile Row tailors in Britain. The clothes were mostly tailor-made at great expense.
Credits to Victoria Beyer and the photographer Robert Strehler
But what were the main fashion rules in this category?
Drape Jackets: coming from the 1940s American zoot suits and worn by Italian-American, Chicano and African-American communities. The jackets were usually in dark shades, featuring velvet trim collar and pocket flaps.
High-Waist "Drainpipe" Trousers: the todays skinny jeans that often were exposing the socks.
High-Necked Loose-Collared white shirt: It was also knowned as a Mr. B. collar, because it was often worn by jazz musician Billy Eckstine
Narrow "Slim Jim" Tie or Western bolo Tie
Brocade Waistcoat.
Shoes: Highly Polished Oxfords, chunky brogues, and crepe-soled shoes, often suede (known as brothel creepers or beetle crushers).
Last but not Least Hairstyles:long, strongly moulded greased-up hair with a quiff at the front and the side combed back to form a duck's arse at the rear. Another style was the "Boston", in which the hair was greased straight back and cut square across at the nape.
Teddy Girls
Teddy Girls or Judies wore
drape jackets
pencil skirts
hobble skirts
long plaits
rolled-up jeans
flat shoes
tailored jackets with velvet collars
straw boater hats
cameo brooches
espadrilles
coolie hats and long
elegant clutch bags
In the next years they were inspiredbut also they adopted the American fashions of toreador pants, voluminous circle skirts, and hair in ponytails. The clothing choice of these style was not always for aesthetic effect because these girls during sth post-war years wanted to reject post-war austerity. Another main characteristic of this style group is that most of these girls were from the workking-class and the poor districts of London. Many of thiw clothes that they wore were made by them a fact that make the style choices and the clothes even more unique.Their style originated from a head-turning, fastidious style from the fashion houses, which had launched haute-couture clothing lines inspred by the Edwardian era.
