I love this. Maybe I've been reading too much John Waters, but I really am finding beauty in the perverse and let me tell you, this is beautiful:
You guys... a Mod pajama for grown-ups! Someone took the idea of Mods sleeping in abandoned Brighton bomb shelters in their parkas (probably from Quadrophenia) and took it to the next logical step: a parka onesie!
I think one of the best things about this image is the shocked look on
the model's face. Even HE can't believe someone is selling this and
making him wear it for the photo shoot. But I'd rather believe that this
guy just woke up in his parka pajama and was a victim of an early
morning candid photo flash.
Now, maybe it's because I'm seeing more and more onesies in my life thanks to this little baby, but the thought has hit my mind, "What about us grown-ups?" I'm no ageist! Why can't we be waking up in comfortable onesies (preferably with feet) without being looked down upon in shame?
Well, folks, now you can wear one at night with no shame at all, and you can do it advertising your favorite band to all your family and friends last thing at night and first thing in the morning. Heck, this takes all the hassle out of getting ready for bedtime after a good club night.
Any single guys out there reading this? Imagine talking up that pretty girl at a club and winning her over after showing off your spiffy moves on the dance floor. Then, just as you're about to hop on your scooter with her on the back, you bust out with the onesie. All those bunk tickets in their actual badge-festooned parkas are gonna look at you with jealousy. See, in one swift move, you've gone from club wear to sleep wear without missing a beat in your Mod rhythm in front of your date. Recognize!
(And nice to know that even the makers of this pajama commercial have a sense of humor. Won't get fooled again, ey? We'll see about that as the money from sales comes rolling in.)
Christmas is coming up and you're probably thinking I'm putting this at the top of my Xmas list. But, this year, in the spirit of the holiday, I'm going to pass on the opportunity in order to give everyone else a chance to get it as a gift. After all, I'm sure this will be a season sell-out. It would hurt my feelings if someone gave this to me as a gift while other, more deserving Mod types, missed out on it. So friends, a box of See's Candy in place of this great item will be perfectly acceptable this year.
Now, if Christmas passes and by some slim chance these are still available, I just might have to purchase one to keep handy just in case someone ever puts on a Mod White Elephant sale. And if that happens and you're involved... keep your fingers crossed. You just might be going home with the most fashionable piece of Mod sleepwear since, well, this:
Well, whaddya know? Seems today is the ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the MOD MALE blog! Holy-moly! A year ago today, I decided to start flappin' my own gums about what I thought was so great (and not-so-great) about Mod stuff, starting with this post.
In honor of the 1-year anniversary, I'm having a little giveaway contest! If you want to skip this next boring story, just head straight to the bottom of this post. If you want to stay and read on, I decided to talk about what first got me into this whole Mod thing and why it's still such a big part of my life. To today I present to you... MY SECRET ORIGIN!
Let's get into the ol' time machine and head back to 1987... a horrible year in pop music, TV idols, and fashions. It was also my first year of junior high school and I was getting my first taste of acne. I hated 1987.
By the end of the 7th grade, I decided I just didn't share any of the same interests as my peers (see 1987 links above). My friend, Robert A., had already turned me on to The Smiths, the radness of Pretty in Pink's Ducky, and the coolness of pointed creepers. At this stage in my life, I wanted to be 'unique'. That's an important thing for a new teenager, wanting your own identity. And back then, liking a band like the Smiths really set you apart from the norm. So, I got full on into them and other assorted new wave acts. By the time I was in the 8th grade, I was walking around in black & white creepers and hair spiked up on one side. But even before then, on the last day of 7th grade, I read something that would end up seriously changing my life.
In our yearbook, if you had the money, you could buy a 'graffiti' square on a page and write whatever you wanted to write. Most people wrote messages to their best-frenz-forever or messages to their boyfriends/girlfriends about how they would be together 4-EVER. Well, these two 8th grade girls, who I remember walking around in black hair and 'new wave' stylings, bought a couple of squares and went in a different direction. Here is what they wrote:
'Mod'? I don't know what it meant, but it sounded cool and must have had something to do with all those bands I liked (with the exception of The Scorpions). The name floated around in my head, sounding mysteriously simple. Mod...
Later that summer, I was hanging out with a couple of cousins and they noticed my Smiths records in my room. One of them said, matter-of-factly, "We have a friend who likes The Smiths. Yeah, she's mod too." There was that word again. "Mod?" I asked. "Yeah, she's into all that weird music you like."
I remember looking through an issue of one of those Columbia Music House catalogs (remember, 12 records for the price of 1?) and in there was a section on all the new wave stuff I liked. You know what that section was called? 'Modern Rock.' Ah-hah! I figured it all out. 'Mod' was short for 'modern rock!' It totally made sense.
I couldn't wait for the 8th grade to start so I could share this info with my friends. They had to know that we weren't new wavers because new wave music was already old by 1987. No, now that music was called modern rock and we were mod because we liked it.
Further proof hit me at the beginning of the 8th grade when I was looking through my School is Hell book and noticed a comic dealing with the 81 Types of High School Students.
One of the 81 types of students was... The Mod. And he looked exactly like what I would expect one to look like (minus the duck-bill).
This discovery was extremely important to me. Not only did I have an identity separate from my peers (who were still listening to Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam), but, more importantly, I was into something that my dad and his generation were not a part of. See, when he wasn't talking about how great The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and 'TheSixties' were, he was always trying to school me on my own music: punk and new wave.
My dad was living in the Bay Area around this time and kept up with cool music. He had albums by the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Elvis Costello. He was aware of bands like the Meat Puppets, The Smiths, and Flock of Seagulls. And he used to rub it in my face that he knew my music more than I did! In the 7th grade, when I told him I liked Echo & The Bunnymen because of their song 'People Are Strange' off the Lost Boys soundtrack, you know what he did? He made me a cassette tape of the Lips Like Sugar album and included the original Doors' version of 'People Are Strange'. Not only did he know my music more... he knew the original stuff being copied! And this drove me crazy. He was always one up on me.
But now... I was one up on him. I was mod. And this was such a new thing, there was no way he'd be in the know about it. Finally, I had my own thing. Well, one day while visiting him in Berkeley, he and I were walking back from a day on Telegraph Avenue. I had a little skip in my step as I listened to him go on about Bob Dylan and the Beatles before trying to talk to me about my own music. I lured him into trying to act cool with me so that I could get him with a gotcha question. And then I went for it.
"Oh yeah? You think you're so cool, Papa? Man... I bet you don't even know what a mod is."
He looked down at me in surprise and paused.
"Oh yeah, kid... okay, tell me. What's a mod?" I had him!
I told him all about how new wave just wasn't new anymore and how it was now called 'modern rock' and how kids that were into that music were called 'mod' because it was short for 'modern rock'. I smiled knowing I had just widened that generation gap.
Then he responded, "Really, kid? That's what you think a mod is? Interesting..."
I looked up at him, "What do you mean? That's totally what a mod is!"
He sighed... "Kid, let me tell you what a mod really is." This conversation wasn't going like I planned. But then he gave an explanation that still resonates with me to this day.
"Kid, mods were around in the sixties. They were young guys, teenagers, who rebelled against the society they were living in through the types of suits they wore. You know how punks dressed shabby in torn-up clothing? Well, mods wore really nice suits with thin lapels and skinny ties. They wore army jackets called parkas to protect their clothes and rode around on Vespas, italian scooters. And they used to get into fights with Rockers."
His statement about rebelling against society by wearing nice suits hit my 13-year-old mind hard. I was used to seeing people dress outlandish in order to be somewhat 'unique.' But my dad just turned me on to a wild idea of dressing nice as an act of rebellion. I pictured myself in a suit with 'thin lapels' and a 'skinny tie' and walking through a crowd of kids in bad mullets, baggy pants, and Reebok hi-tops. I was utterly fascinated...
...until he said, "The Who were a mod band." It was like a record needle scratching across my mind. The Who? The band I read about in the Guinness Book of World Records as being the loudest ROCK band in the world? The band that looked like this?
At that, he turned me off. No way were those guys 'mod'. When we got back to his place, he started pulling records out. He wanted to show me a photo of them as mods. The photo he showed me did NOT win me over.
All I saw was a geeky guy with a big nose in too-crazy-and-colorful-for-my-thirteen-year-old-mind clothes. I didn't buy these guys as anything having to do with what I thought mod was, but I was still interested in the concept of this subculture of kids walking around in suits as a way of snubbing the society around them.
The 8th grade went on for me and I delved further into all the music KROQ was playing at the time. And despite my dad thinking The Who were a mod band, I still asked him about what sixties mods were like. He would talk to me about Dick Hebdige's Subculture book and would go on and on about how mods were 'working-class' kids. I loved hearing about them. And even though mods only existed in the 1960s, I still pictured them being into stuff like Echo & The Bunnymen.
One day, I was hanging out with one of my uncles. I sat on his bed relaxing while he was playing me various songs from the sixties, something he used to love doing. I endured it, even though I didn't really care for The Byrds, The Beach Boys, or any of the other bands he made me sit through. Then he told me, "Okay, I'm going to play you a song but I don't want to tell you who it is. Just listen and let me know what you think." "Oh geez," I thought. "Here we go with more..."
The song he played me was unlike anything he ever played me before. It was loud, manic, and totally punk rock! I looked at him in surprise. "You like this kind of music?" I asked. He just smiled. Yeah, you know what song he played me, don't you?
When it was done, I asked him who it was. "That's The Who?!" was my response when he told me. And that's the song that completely sold me. From that point forward, I wanted more than anything to be a mod. I wanted to be the only mod at my school, maybe even the world.
Later that year, I learned about the Jam from another student who claimed his brother used to be a mod. The Jam led me to the Mod revival, which jived more with the music I was into at the time. Plus, it made me realize that there were mods after the 1960s. By the beginning of high school, I was getting into ska music, which would sidetrack me for a bit. Eventually, though, I'd finally get my first suit and, in time, my first parka. Sure, over time, I'd make several mistakes while slowly morphing from new wave kid to mod kid, but I learned from them and hopefully improved as I got older (open to debate).
Soon, I discovered that there were Mod scenes happening all around, from Berkeley to Los Angeles to other parts of the world! Looking back, it's funny to me that on that walk with my dad in 1987, when he first told me what a mod actually was, there was a whole rocking Berkeley Mod scene going on around me. And as I sat in my bedroom in La Puente, CA, thinking about being the only mod around, my future wife was blocks away already part of a Mod scene.
This whole Mod thing has been a huge guiding force in my life. It's turned me on to great music, great clothes that I still obsess over, and even great design. I've met amazing people through it who have become life-long friends and have helped me become a better person over time (open to debate). Through the Mod thing, I've met the most amazing woman who continues to tolerate my behavior, even though we still fight over closet space. And each day, I still find something about this subculture to get excited over.
Thank you all for sticking with this blog over this past year and I hope it hasn't bored you yet.
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Okay, in honor of the 1st year of the MOD MALE blog, I'm having a little give-away thing. What can you win?
The 2011 book, The Perfectly Dressed Gentlemen by Robert O'Byrne!
A great little guide on how to be an even more dapper Mod (or gentleman, in general), with illustrations by the talented Lord Dunsby. You can read more about it on the Retro To Go blog. Please keep in mind that this contest is not affiliated with any of these people. I just happen to have an extra copy and would like to give it to a Mod Male blog reader.
Here's all you have to do:
Become a follower of this blog, if you're not already, and leave a comment on the blog telling me how you got into the Mod thing OR how you got into whatever it is you're obsessed with (i.e., goth music, a baseball team, your favorite author). Doesn't have to be Mod-related.
Or,
'Like' the MOD MALE Facebook page and leave a comment on the page, telling me how you got into the Mod thing OR how you got into whatever it is you're obsessed with (i.e., goth music, a baseball team, your favorite author). Doesn't have to be Mod-related.
Contest will end next two weeks from today, on August 9 at 6:00pm PST. That evening, I'll put all the names in a bowl and pick a name at random. (And if you 'share' the Mod Male status update for this post on Facebook or share it on Twitter (@modmale), I'll add your name TWICE to the bowl!
On Friday, August 10th, I'll announce the winner on this very blog! That's right, this contest will last two weeks only! GOOD LUCK!!
We can learn so much from yesterday’s fashion icons. And living in a post-Mad Men world means we can even enjoy aspects of current male fashions! Every Friday, I’d like to start your weekend off right with a little style inspiration from either then or now. Hopefully, my fellow Mod enthusiasts will find the whole or some detail of the whole to appreciate and maybe even adopt.
I can't believe that after all this time I still haven't featured The Who in a 'Sharp Stylings' post! Come on... these were the guys I first got into way back when. These were the guys who sold me with 'My Generation.' And these were the guys I used to study while leafing through my beaten-up copy of Richard Barnes's The Who: Maximum R&B book.
And one of my favorite photos from that book is this one right here:
I used to study the detailing in all these outfits, particularly John Entwistle's. Although I'm not a fan of the 'goth' look, if you're gonna go all black, follow Entwistle's model. Even though he's dressed without an ounce of color, the details of his gear add in that needed splash of pizzazz.
Let's start from the bottom up: slightly-pointed winklepicker boots with a Cuban heel. Nice way to add in a little height... not that John needs it, but I sure would! Then, you have his narrow-fitting trousers cut at the right length. Top that off with a wide-buckled belt and you have my favorite trouser/shoe look. Wide belt, narrow trousers (preferably, with slight flares), and pointed boots.
Now, let's move on to the upper portion of the ensemble, first with the black button-down shirt with what looks to be white buttons. Great collar on that shirt, although I'd prefer to leave it unbuttoned at the top (unless a tie is involved). But now, the best part of this look: that amazing suit jacket! Great width on the lapel, high gorge with a 3-button front, and a buttoned flap breast pocket. Love that detail! If you look closely enough, you'll notice the side pockets also button up. Just an overall flash look on John Entwistle!
Okay, don't get me wrong. The other guys look very slick as well, even the generally casual Keith Moon. His neutral trousers with the flap pockets and buttoned-down belt loops can't be beat! And Roger Daltrey's looking sharp with a dark, striped coat and that patterned scarf/ascot over his shirt. Pete Townsend's keeping it mellow with a 2-piece tan suit, but as you can tell, the guy who stands out, even while wearing just one color, is John Entwistle. Wonder if Johnny Cash was taking notes?
I'll end this post with an awesomely cool clip of The Who on French TV. A clip that proves just why Keith Moon is one of the greatest drummers of all time... so great, he drums beats out of thin air!
What's that? You haven't heard the big Mod news this month?
Well, seems the Mod community has been abuzz with news of the release of the1973 Quadrophenia LP 'Director's Cut' happening today. Heck, if I didn't have real-world obligations, I'd have spent the time writing various Quadrophenia-related posts in celebration of the month of Quad-vember! I can spend several posts on Quadrophenia the movie alone ,which will happen in time, but today let's take a look at the original LP.
I'll go ahead and say it: Quadrophenia is probably my favorite Who LP. It's an album that, for me, has really stood the test of time and sounds as great today as it did when I first heard it as a teen... which is weird. Based on the album's sound, I should not have liked this album at all at that time. I was still young, a bit narrow-minded, and put off by anything 'heavy rock'-related. I was into new wave, punk, power-pop, soul and r&b with my taste of jazz limited to a Columbia classic jazz compilation and a cassette tape of Kind of Blue. I HATED strongly disliked anything post-1967 and pre-1976.
My first real exposure to Quadrophenia, aside from my father telling me I had to see it to learn more about Mods, was a purchase of the movie's original soundtrack during a San Francisco visit when I was about 16 years old. We were staying with my uncle and I remember putting the 2-disc album on with headphones (so as not to disturb the adults' conversations) and kind of liking the Who songs. I listened closely for any Mod-related lyrics and got a little excited when I did hear them. But what I loved most about that LP were the actual '60s numbers, especially those by the High Numbers, the Cross Section, James Brown, and Booker T. Those would be the songs I'd play over and over again.
At this point, I still hadn't seen the movie... remember, these were the days before OnDemand, Netflix streaming, and YouTube. But once I did, well... let's save that for another time. Okay, yes, I became obsessed. That obsession grew once I found a copy of the original 1973 Quadrophenia album, which included the booklet, about a year later! Despite the 'hard rock' operatic sound of the album, I played it constantly. (Okay, sure, I probably opened my mind to this album mainly because of the Mod on the cover.) The first song alone, 'The Real Me,' captured all the teen angst I had at the time. But you throw in songs like 'Cut My Hair,' 'Helpless Dancer,' 'Sea and Sand' and 'I've Had Enough,' and WOW-EE! Just the type of album I was needing... an album that was talking about what it was like to be young with the whole world against him. I leafed through the booklet's photos, absorbed the liner notes, and ate up all the lyrics, especially any Mod-related ones.
And yes, Jimmy the Mod became a kind of hero to me. I admit it. We all go through angst in different ways as teens. Those days for me consisted of going to school, not relating to many people, coming home, shutting my door and delving into music. I had no Mod girlfriends, no full-on Mod scene, and no Mod events I was aware of to attend. Heck, I lived in La Puente, CA where many of my neighbors had become full-on cholos. The loneliness and lameness that I thought Jimmy felt... yup, I was there too. (Oh, to be young again.)
I thought Jimmy was the Mod be-all and end-all. The parka, the short hair, the suit, the sneakers... well, maybe not the sneakers. But he was the guy who I thought represented all Mods, especially me. Yes, friends, I too felt like I bled Quadrophenic. (...groan.)
Age 18, trying to figure out which of my 4 personalities to settle on for the day.
I'm looking through the Quadrophenia booklet now and remembering how those photos made me think about how much I thought our lives were so similiar. We both lived in dreary towns; we both had a hard time relating to our elders; and we both grumbled when taking out the garbage. Of course, we weren't completely alike: Jimmy's parents had to endure the horrors of WWII, he was allowed to have pin-ups of naked ladies on his walls, and... waitaminute, WHAT?!
Jimmy's parents let him put up photos of nude women on his walls? And they let him go out and party and come home late in the night? And he repays this by throwing rocks through car windows before overturning them?
Yeah, it around the time of realizing this stuff that I first grew away from the idea of Jimmy as any kind of 'hero'.
I'm an old man now (my wife disagrees, bless her heart). I don't relate to Jimmy the Mod. And I don't see Jimmy as any sort of Mod icon. Don't get me wrong, he's a great character that teens can identify with, especially if you're a teen who thinks you have troubles. I was there once. Angst... it's a heavy thing. But I look at these Quadrophenia photos and I just see a Mod kid who doesn't dress that well and was allowed to have naked photos of women on his walls. Plus, if you're gonna have a Mod icon, why not shoot for the best?
I just finished reading the Quadrophenia issue of Mojo and paused at how Pete Townsend described Jimmy: "So, Jimmy is one of the children, he's one of the numbers. He's not quite down there with the tickets." Well, let's ignore the Mod terminology Townsend's using here and get to the point... according to Pete Townsend, Jimmy wasn't that slick! He was a troubled kid toward the bottom of the Mod totem pole.
Dude was a 'number.' Straight from his creator's mouth!
Well, what's the point of this whole write-up? I was once an angsty Mod teen, once thought Jimmy was cool, and STILL really dig the original Quadrophenia LP (and not just because it's got a Mod on the cover). Speaking of which, excuse me while I put that album on before ordering the 'Director's Cut'!
October's been a crazy month so I still haven't had a chance to write about our recent trip through the streets of Europe. However, there was one stop there that I was happy to skip: the Pretty Green store on Carnaby Street. I'm sure many of you are already familiar with this shop which specializes in overcharging people for dumpy, somehow-associated-with-Mod casual wear like this and this.* Oh yeah, and it's owned by one of those baggy-jeans-wearing Oasis guys.
Well yesterday, I came across this item off the the wonderful Modculture site:
What you're looking at here is an official "replica Quadrophenia parka." And yes, I just typed those words out. Folks, it's an army jacket. Or more accurately, a copy of an army jacket worn by 'Jimmy' on the cover of The Who's Quadrophenia LP. FOR SALE. Hey Pretty Green, why not sell a replica Blow-Up camera? Or how about a replica of the one of the coffee cups seen in an early Style Council photo?
Now like I said, this thing is actually for sale because, y'know, why get a real army parka when you can buy an authentic movie parka? What's so fancy about this particular jacket? It's a limited edition with only 100 copies made. Am I missing something here?
So I bet you're all wondering how much this thing is? Get ready for it: £500! Yes, you read that right. In American dollars that's... a lot of money!
Listen, I'm all for people digging on cool pop culture memorabilia. Y'know, maybe a reproduction of Darth Vadar's mask or an official Batman utility belt. But a non-descript army jacket that looks no different than a real army jacket? For £500?
Hey, if you want to spend the cash to look unslick, be my guest. Me, I'd rather spend it on a tailor-made suit.
*Okay, seems like they've started adding ready-to-wear suit jackets and trousers to their collection. That's a good thing, right?
Friends, I know what you're thinking, but no, no, no, I wasn't born with a pair of cufflinks in my mouth. In fact, it was actually pretty late in the game (in my eyes) before I even got my first suit. And no, this doesn't count:
Don't worry kid, you'll be diggin' it in about 12 years.
My first steps down the ol' Mod trail were difficult as I did not have the benefit of a sibling guiding my path, a group of friends already way into this, or knowledge of any fanzines dedicate to the culture. All I had was a vague, basic description of Mod style that my dad shared with me: thin ties, parkas to protect their suits, and scooters.
Out of these three things, what stuck with me most was the thin ties. For me, that became the defining factor of what separated a Mod from the regular guy on the street in the late 1980s... a time of wide, obnoxious, Ralph Lauren ties. So, for the next couple of years, that was what I noticed in the photos I hunted down. And early on, the main photos I had to go on were from a couple of Jam records, a picture of The Who, one Specials LP, and one Madness LP. Yes, these were all a part of my first fashion inspiration.
At this time in my life, around the age of 15, my dad had just turned me on to the idea of shopping at thrift stores for clothes. Prior to this, my wardrobe had just shifted from Bugle Boy sweaters and pants to Smiths t-shirts and, well, Bugle Boy pants. See, I was never one of these guys who came to school one day sharing a love of '80s alternative music and the next day transformed, overnight, into Mod guy(!). I saw people at school pull similar transformations, like switching overnight from Depeche Mode t-shirts to flight jackets covered in ska pins or showing up on a Monday in new, pre-Hot Topic goth wear after spending the last several months in Esprit labels. No, an immediate shift in style like that and I risked being labeled, *gulp*, a poseur.
No, wouldn't want anyone to think I was a poseur or anything.
My switch from new-wave-KROQ kid to Who-patch-covered-parka kid was a long, deliberate process. I felt I had to first get the music down before jumping into the clothing. Plus, other than thin ties and suits, I still didn't know much about the clothing. I had yet to see Quadrophenia or read the Richard Barnes Mods book. But, those Jam, Specials, and Madness albums gave me a clue. (Note, I didn't mention my Who LP... Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy was not the path I was leaning toward.)
So, one day, I went on a thrift store trip with my dad, grandma, and aunt. I went straight for the suit section and started hunting for my first Mod suit. And boy, did I find it! A two-piece, B&W, houndstooth number... just like the one I could swear Paul Weller or the Specials would wear! I ran to my dad, "Look, a Mod suit!" Yes, it was slightly large on me and, yes, I'd either have to get it tailored to fit or else grow another inch, but still, this suit was totally Mod! All that was missing was the thin tie.
We got back and I hung the suit up so I could study it. I opened up my Jam LP and tried to compare the two looks I saw.
Okay, so something wasn't quite right... I thought it was the shoulders maybe. Paul Weller's suit shoulders weren't as big as the shoulders on my suit. That had to be it. (As you can tell, at this stage in my life, my Mod attention-to-detail Spider-sense still wasn't quite yet honed.) My dad just looked at the suit and made a face... he knew something I didn't.
Later that day, his friend came over for a visit. My dad pointed out my suit to him and said, "Hey, the kid thinks this is a Mod suit." His friend looked it up and down and said, "Naw, man, the lapels are too wide." I looked again... that was it! He was right! The lapels on my jacket were HUGE compared to Paul's!
Yup, imagine this in black and white.
I never wore this suit. After experiencing my first failed attempt at a Mod suit, I put this in the back of my grandmother's closet and didn't think about it again until fairly recently. But I learned something important that day... it wasn't just thin ties that made, what I considered then, a Mod look. It was also thin lapels.
About a year later, my buddies and I were off to our first actual Mod show. Unfortunately, I still didn't have a suit yet that fit me. One of my friends, kind as he was, brought over a jacket to lend me from his older brother's closet. I took a look and thought, yeah, the lapels seemed to be a little thinner. But I wondered... what could I do to make them even thinner? Oh my god, I got it! I asked another friend to add a THIRD button to the jacket which would raise the cut and thin the lapels out perfectly. So, my friend sewed the button in... as in sewed the button straight through both sides of the jacket without a button hole so that I had to pull it over my head to wear it! But it didn't matter.... this, my friends, actually looked like something Paul Weller would wear! I was ready for my first Mod show.
And it started a love of 3-button suit jackets from that day forward.
Yeah, I get down on the Mod target a lot, as seen here and there. It's not at all that I don't dig it, really, but it's just so over-used as a Mod image. It's as if putting a target on anything makes that thing 'MOD!' I just don't buy it. Plus, in my eyes, only one guy has really ever made the target look slick:
My fave image of the Mod target as clothing on Keith Moon.
As seen above, the target as a design motif can be pretty cool. The Parka Avenue blog has a nice write-up on the target-as-Mod-icon worth checking out: http://parkaavenue.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html. For me, though, the standard blue/white/red target has been done to death.
However, over the years, I've always appreciated the attempts at either creating variations on the ol' blue/white/red image or coming up with something new altogether. For instance, as a teen, I thought this was amazing and oh my god why didn't anyone think of doing this earlier:
It's like the standard Mod target, but something's just a little off...what could it be...?
Wow! By reversing the colors, I was blown away by the look. (Hey, as a teen I was easily impressed, so lay off.)
I was also really taken, at the time, with the color contrast of this, my ol' Squire pin:
Back when I used to walk the streets thinking it was a Mod, Mod world.
Such a simple, great design that can really work well with other color schemes. In fact, the Anorak Thing blog had a great post a while back on the varying Air Force roundels that have influenced many a Mod badge: http://anorakthing.blogspot.com/2011/06/bullseye.html.
But why limit it to just 3 colors? During my last year of high school, I saw the Mod target taken to a new, cool level with this record sleeve:
Oh yeah... bringin' back memories of senior year in high school!
I loved the liberty taken with the old Mod icon on this sleeve... and no, I'm not talking about Paul Weller and his love beads. Adding in an extra ring along with the green and yellow colors made the the target seem new again. After this, why go back to the standard?
Today, with so many awesome graphic designers out there, the target can be an excellent tool or jumping-off point for nice designs. Saw this recently for an all-dayer thing that recently occurred:
I just like how they built the imagery over a usually stale target.
Some time ago, this guy I know tried to take the target and build it up with slightly psychedelic paisleys for a club night. Don't know if it was successful or not:
And no, I didn't swipe the idea from Ben Sherman... in fact, didn't see their version until a month later!
Back in high school, I would spend so much time trying to research anything Mod and, thanks to The Who, anything pop-art. That's how I came across Jasper Johns, the guy I thought responsible for the target imagery in the first place:
I'm horrible because I used to cut images of his paintings out of books to hang up on my wall... one of many things I'll have to answer for come Judgment Day.
Now, oddly enough, there was another pop artist around this time playing with targets: Sir Peter Blake.
Self-Portrait with Badges 1961 - This must be where the idea to cover up your jacket in badges came from!
Peter Blake is an interesting guy, especially when it comes to Mod iconography, such as his painting of... you guessed it:
The First Real Target, 1961
Most famous (I think) for his design of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LP, Blake has also gone on to design record sleeves for The Who (Face Dances), Band-Aid (Do They Know It's Christmas?), and Paul Weller... and what's that I see on the sleeve:
That's a pretty awesome cover, you gotta admit.
According to interviews, Sir Peter Blake refers to himself as a 'lifelong Mod' and has recently teamed up with Fred Perry to offer a limited range of shirts taking cues from his art style:
The target can be a great visual tool in design, but overall, I'm just a little burnt-out on its use to identify anything as Mod. These days, you won't find any targets on me. Not on my suits, not on my coats, not on my shirts. My target days are behind me because I think that at my age, I shouldn't need to brandish a target to let anyone know what I'm all about. Too easy.
Pretty cool write-up on what he's about and I'm excited to be picking up my first Al's Attire bespoke suit tomorrow! (Blog post on that coming soon.)
*************************************** Okay, now on to today's subject at hand: the desert boot.
Not gonna lie to you folks, not a fan of desert boots. Yes, I know they are a staple of casual Mod wear and many people do look good in them. I repeat, many people do look good in them. But, they're just not my thing. A friend recently posted a pic of some zebra-striped desert boots (see below) for discussion, so I thought I’d talk about the desert boot, in general, here.
A quick Cliff Notes history of the desert boot, specifically the Clarks Desert Boot: According to the Clarks website, the Desert Boot debuted in 1950, designed by Nathan Clark, who recently passed away on June 23, 2011. Inspired by the suede, crepe-soled boots WWII servicemen acquired in Cairo, Clark designed a version made for comfort and (a lot of) walking for the general public. Sixties Mods, at some point, took to these shoes and helped popularize them, and today they’re a hit all around. (I recently overheard a couple of older guys looking at a pair in a store window commenting on how “in style” they are these days.)
Nathan Clark with his designs.
My wife and I often see a man in the neighborhood who looks to be in his late ‘40s/early ‘50s and usually dressed in a Levis jacket, 501 jeans, a sixties-ish hairstyle, and black desert boots. The guy looks mellow and cool, and he ROCKS those desert boots!
Like I said before, I think desert boots look fine on other people when worn correctly. They’re casual shoes and I hear they can be quite comfortable. Many of my friends sport them throughout the week and I think they look great in them. Plus, I bet they're perfect for those times you need to get down 'n' dirty working on your scooter! But for my personal tastes, I just find them just a bit too bulky and clunky. I’m more of a narrow, chisel-toe, leather shoe guy. Or, even a narrow sneaker kinda guy when I’m really crazy lazy or about to go on a long hike.
As history has shown, many people have made these things look good over the years. For instance:
These desert boots show their use as they keep this Carnaby Mod from tipping over.
From the Belt and Braces blog.
Yeah, now that's how you wear a pair of desert boots. (Of course, I'd much rather be wearing John's or Pete's shoes here.)
On the other hand, many people have worn them with just the wrong type of outfit, like, y’know, an actual SUIT. Sorry guys, not a good look. I know he’s a ‘Mod’ hero and all, but nah, just doesn’t work. In fact, one of the lessons I learned from Jimmy was that not every fashion choice in the '60s was a good one. Case in point:
Oh, that's right... he's off to fight Rockers. No wonder the suit and sloppy shoe look.
Did you know they now have patterned desert boots? Some things just aren’t meant for customization:
As you can see from some of the photos earlier, desert boots can look really cool with the right outfit. They are a CASUAL shoe that look good on many people. And I know many Mods in the 1960s wore them with suits, butremember, not everything done in the sixties was a winner and for me, desert boots just don’t do justice to a nice two-piece suit. If you’re gonna take the effort to tie a tie around your neck, then you can find a nice pair of dress shoes to complete the look. Leave the desert boots for the following morning.
