Casual Fridays #5: The Kinks

Working to look sharp for a rare evening out on the town can actually be easy. The tough job is trying to look sharp on a daily, casual basis. Yeah, you might have your Friday night suit at your beck and call, but what does it matter if you spend the rest of your time in target t-shirts and jeans? Every Friday, I'd like to offer up some style inspiration for tightening up your casual look, because let's face it... sometimes you just don't feel like wearing a tie, but still want to keep it sharp.

Alright, this one's for all the scooter Mods out there! You're probably getting ready for a weekend of scooter riding, dressed in a parka covered in enough Mod badges to match the number of lights and mirrors on your scooter. But wait... take some inspiration from this shot of The Kinks, spending a quiet day on a couple of nice, Italian rides:

Taken from the We Are The Mods online radio station page.
(BTW, give that show a listen... I think the host has stronger opinons on Mod stuff than I do!)

What's this? You can actually see the great shape and design of their scooters since they're not covered up by a silly amount of Christmas decorations? And they're NOT wearing parkas?

Oh no, The Kinks know how to spend a day in sharp style. Check out Dave's chisel-toe shoes, narrow trousers and suit jacket. Ray's sporting a similar look, as he sits on his scooter, looking sharper than most of today's scooter boys!

But my fave here... Pete Quaife, of course! That's because he's sporting that sweet leather coat instead of a parka! Scooter-riding Mods... it's time to graduate to a 3/4-length leather coat for your weekend rides! (Psst! Here's a suggestion: get on Ebay and look up 'vintage car coat'. You might find something nice that'll set you apart from the rest of the parka army!)

Now, if you're don't plan on riding your scooter this weekend, then just pretend you are as you watch this video, featuring a beautiful 1970s Kinks song reminiscing about the 1960s!

Mod Gone Wrong: Scooter Madness

Okay, when does one cross the line into self-parody?

Want this photo on your wall? Just go here!

Hey, I'll give this guy credit for having the chutzpah, not to mention time and dedication, to blanket his scooter like this. Seriously, it's an insane feat of energy to get a bike this blinged-out! I just can't quite figure out what he's using to weigh the back of the bike down for balance... I mean he's not a big guy!

I understand that decking out your scooter is a unique thing to Mod culture and something that really helps identify the look. But I have always wondered when you know you've reached the "too much" mark. It was refreshing to hear, a while back, the attitudes of some of the original Mod(ernists) in regards to scooters. Many didn't adorn them this heavily (or at all) and some had no problem moving on to slicker cars when they had the ability. Scooters were an inexpensive way of getting around, and although you wanted to keep a nice bike, you didn't worship it. Along those lines, I subscribe to the Booker T. way of thinking: less is more.

Although I'm not into this style of decking a bike up, I really do hope it's on display in a museum somewhere. I'm getting down on the poor kid, but he must have blown his friends' minds when he first pulled up on this.