Teddy Boy

The British Teddy Boy (also known as Ted) subculture is typified by young men wearing clothes that were partly inspired by the styles worn by dandies in the Edwardian period, styles which Savile Row tailors had attempted to re-introduce in Britain after World War II. The subculture started in London in the 1950s, and rapidly spread across the UK, soon becoming strongly associated with American rock and roll. Originally known as Cosh Boys, the name Teddy Boy was coined when a 1953 Daily Express newspaper headline shortened Edward to Teddy.

Wealthy young men, especially Guards officers, adopted the style of the Edwardian era. At that point in history, the Edwardian era was then just over 40 years previous, and their grandparents, if not their parents, wore the style the first time around. The original Edwardian revival was far more historically accurate in terms of replicating the original Edwardian era style than the later Teddy Boy style. It featured tapered trousers, long jackets and fancy waist coats.

Although there had been youth groups with their own dress codes called scuttlers in 19th century Manchester and Liverpool, Teddy Boys were the first youth group in England to differentiate themselves as teenagers, helping create a youth market. The US film Blackboard Jungle marked a watershed in the United Kingdom. When shown in Elephant and Castle, south London in 1956, the teenage Teddy boy audience began to riot, tearing up seats and dancing in the cinema's aisles. After that, riots took place around the country wherever the film was shown.

Some Teds formed gangs and gained notoriety following violent clashes with rival gangs which were often exaggerated by the popular press. The most notable was the 1958 Notting Hill race riots, in which Teddy Boys were present in large numbers and were implicated in attacks on the West Indian community. The violent lifestyle was sensationalised in the pulp novel Teddy Boy by Ernest Ryman, first published in England in 1958

Style

Teddy Boys made it acceptable for the first time in post-war Britain for young people to care intensely about what they looked like, and to dress for show, instead of having work or school clothes and Sunday-best. The trend arose as income increased after the war. Teddy Boy clothing was drape jackets, usually in dark shades, sometimes with velvet trim collar and pocket flaps; high-waist "drainpipe" trousers, often exposing the socks. Favoured footwear included highly polished Oxfords, chunky Brogues, Eaton Clubman's and Crepe-soled shoes, often suede (known as brothel creepers). The outfit also included a high-necked loose collar on a white shirt (known as a Mr B. collar because it was often worn by jazz musician Billy Eckstine); a narrow "Slim Jim" tie or western "Maverick" tie, and a brocade waistcoat. The clothes were mostly tailor-made at great expense, and paid for through weekly instalments. Preferred hairstyles included 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 (also known as 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. Later they adopted the American fashions of toreador pants, voluminous circle skirts, and hair in ponytails.

Their choice of clothes wasn’t only for aesthetic effect: these girls were collectively rejecting post-war austerity. They were young working-class women, often from Irish immigrant families who had had settled in the poorer districts of London – Walthamstow, Poplar and North Kensington. They would typically leave school at the age of 14 or 15, and work in factories or offices. The Teddy girls spent their free time buying or making their trademark clothes. It was head-turning, fastidious dressing, taken from the fashion houses of the time, which had launched haute-couture clothing lines recalling the Edwardian era.

The Teddy Girls didn’t care that their outfits shocked their families, as long as they were noticed by their peers. Rose Shine (nee Rose Hendon), one of the original Teddy Girls, notably photographed by Ken Russell in 1955, said "We got dressed up because it was always the teddy boys who got the look-in. We weren’t being noticed by them ... It was our fashion that we made up."

Music and Dancing

Although Teddy Boys are associated with rock and roll music, the style actually came before the music. Teddy Boys are and were a totally British phenomenon as opposed to the other styles worn in countries such as the United States. Prior to the advent of rock and roll, Teddy Boys were mainly listening and dancing to jazz and skiffle music. A well-known dance that the Teddy Boys adopted was The Creep, a slow shuffle of a dance so popular with Teddy Boys that it led to their other nickname of creepers. The song "The Creep" came out in 1953, and was written and recorded for HMV by Yorkshire-born big band leader and saxophonist Ken Mackintosh. Although this was not a rock and roll record, it was widely taken on by the Teddy Boys of the time. From 1955, rock and roll was adopted by the Teddy Boys when the film, Blackboard Jungle, was first shown in cinemas in the UK.

Revivals

, a popular ride for Teds]] During the 1970s, rockabilly music enjoyed a renewed period of popularity and there was a resurgence of interest in Teddy Boy fashions. The look was promoted by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren through their shop Let it Rock, on London's King's Road. This new generation of Teds adopted some aspects of the 1950s but with a large glam rock influence, including louder colours for drape jackets, brothel creepers and socks. Additionally, they were more likely to use hairspray than grease to style their hair. In the late 1970s, the new generation became the enemies of the Westwood and Sex Pistol-inspired punk rockers.

In the late 1980s, there was a move by a number of Teddy Boys to re-capture the original 1950s Teddy Boy style. This led to the formation of a group known as The Edwardian Drape Society (T.E.D.S) in the early 1990s. T.E.D.S. was then based in the Tottenham area of north London, and the group concentrated on reclaiming the style which they felt had become bastardised by pop/glam rock bands such as Showaddywaddy and Mud in the 1970s. The group was the subject of a short film, The Teddy Boys, by Bruce Weber, at the Cambridge Film Festival in July 2006.

In 2007, The Edwardian Teddy Boy Association was formed and has continued the work of reclaiming the original style, and works towards to uniting all drape-wearing Teddy Boys who wish to emulate the original 1950s style. Most Teddy Boys nowadays wear a much more conservative form of Edwardian dress than that worn in the 1970s, and this more authentic dress code emulates the original 1950s image. There are a number of rock and roll venues where Teddy Boys meet throughout Britain and Europe.

See also

Greasers

Mods and Rockers

Rocker (subculture)

Raggare A similar subculture in Sweden

External links

International Edwardian Teddy Boy Association.

References

Category:Youth culture in the United Kingdom Category:Musical subcultures Category:History of the United Kingdom Category:History of fashion Category:1950s fashion Category:1970s fashion