Mod Gone Wrong: The Mod Onesie!

Finally... something to really write about!

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:

Image taken from one of my faves, the Anorak Thing blog.

How I Learned To Stop Worshipping The Parka

I remember those hot, humid, sunny days, walking around my neighborhood in La Puente, CA, sniffing the roses and enjoying the smoggy air... all while wearing a parka! Yes, when I was younger, I wore a parka... rain or shine.

There was a time when my parka, or anorak, pretty much defined me... mainly, because I usually had 'M-O-D' spelled out somewhere on it, either in badge or patch form. I was proud of that parka. I felt like I was carrying on a tradition started by sixties Mods, popularized by Quadrophenia, and celebrated by bands like the Merton Parkas and The Sussed. But then, gradually, I phased the parka out of my wardrobe completely. Well, here today, I'll explain how I turned away from worshipping wearing a parka.

I was about 16 years old when I bought my first 'parka,' which was really just a short non-fishtail army jacket with a hood that you could zip up inside the jacket to hide it away. Sadly, I don't remember much about the patches and badges I stuck to this jacket, but I do remember what I did to the back of it. One evening, while watching an episode of Twin Peaks, I took up some fabric paint (red, white, and blue) and MOD-ified my anorak with a famous Mod song title, Mod symbology, and some 'Mod' band logos spanning the '60s-'80s. Since that jacket was lost during one of my family's moves and I have no pictures of it, allow me to re-create it here through the magic of Photoshop:

Recreation of my first high school parka.

Yup. I used to walk around my high school campus letting people know my butt was the Face. No joke. And, yeah, those were the bands I flaunted to the world. Uh-huh, The 2nd Generation.

I only wore this for about a year or so because my father soon handed down his own army parka to me. No, he didn't earn it fighting overseas... he picked it up at a surplus shop. But for me, this was the real deal! Now, I don't really know a whole lot about the different types of army jackets there are, but once, I walked into an army surplus shop while wearing this anorak, and it really impressed the Korean store owner. He told us it was pretty rare and offered to buy it from me. But I kept it. I had to... it was Mod.

Of course, there was no way I could walk around campus in a plain ol' army parka. No, I had to add the 'Mod' touch to it. So, I took my old Jam t-shirt, cut out the design, and sewed it on to the back. Now, everyone would know who my favorite band was! Then, I added a couple of rally patches, a Who target patch, some Mod badges to the front and voila! I was a walking Mod advertisement! The only thing missing was an "EAT AT MOD JOE'S" sign somewhere on the jacket.

My parka... today.

I wore this parka for a few years, from high school and into college. It kept me warm in the winter and smothered me in the summer, but I didn't care. In college, it kept my clothes clean during the Bay Area rains. It kept me warm when I rode on the back of someone's bike, especially across the Bay Bridge. Sometimes, it acted as a warm blanket when I partied too hard and had to spend the night over someone's house. I wore this thing even when it began to fall apart. But eventually, I phased the parka out of my wardrobe.

The older I got, the more I realized that I didn't want or need a parka to speak for me. I didn't care if the whole world knew I liked whatever Mod bands were on the parka. And as my wardrobe improved over those early years, I didn't want to cover it up with a beaten-up old army anorak. I started to see so much more value in a nice overcoat, something that looked sharp on the outside, while protecting the clothes underneath. I thought Paul Weller was on to something in those early Style Council photo shoots. And I saw other friends who demonstrated just how much more polished a sharp coat looked over the typical parka:

Photo from around 1994 of old pal, Jarrod L., of the Le Drugstore 1968 blog.

Really, after seeing a photo of the style gauntlet being thrown down like that, how do you go back to the parka?  I was ready to move in a different, more stylish direction. So, I hung my parka deep in the back of my closet, and replaced it with a variety of overcoats. At age 18, this was my preferred cold weather jacket:

These days, I prefer this look:

Fellow dapper-nisto Douglas Dillon, my wife Irene, and I, enjoying an evening out. Photo courtesy of Douglas's more stylin' half, Rosa Dillon.

Now, the thing to remember is that the parka has one main function: to keep your clothes clean while you ride your scooter from point A to point B. That's really it. But that same function can be accomplished with a nice, slick overcoat.

Oh sure, I understand how useful parkas can be in certain situations*. They're probably great for riding through a dirt storm on your scooter or protecting your clothes from all those bugs flying in to you. And I understand their use in the foggy weather conditions of London, the harsh winters of the American east coast, or the never-ending rains of the upper west coast. But why on Earth would you wear a parka in the warmer states, warmer countries, or, heck, south of the San Francisco Bay Area?

Heck, I live in the Bay Area and no matter how cold it gets here, I still don't toss on the ol' anorak! Why would I want to cover up a nice ensemble with an army parka or let the parka display what I'm about? I don't need a parka to announce to the world what I'm into. That's what my actual clothes underneath are for. I'd rather have a nice, sharp suit take precedent over a parka covered in patches and buttons.

And yes, I know plenty of Mods wore them in the sixties. They were probably affordable, accessible, and really useful in protecting your clothes in harsh weather or while fixing your scooter. But hey, as this photo shows, not all Mods wore parkas! Or at least they didn't wear them all the time.

Photo of Nottingham Mods, courtesy of the Jack That Cat Was Clean blog.

Yes, the parka has risen in prominence since then thanks to the 1970s revival.

During this time, the anorak became a canvas on which to display all of your Mod interests, just in case wearing slick Mod clothing underneath it wasn't enough. As noted previously, even I was guilty of this. Targets, Union Jacks, band logos... heck, I was a walking Modvertisement! These days, however, I follow the Booker T. and the M.G.'s school of thought: less is more. Remember, subtlety goes a really long way. These days, my parka is long retired. I believe this is its last reported public sighting, around 7 years ago:

Photo of Karen F., of the 97 Things To Do Before I Turn 97 blog, hi-jacking my parka. Photo courtesy of my wife, Irene (who says she never went through a parka phase).

Some of you out there still think the parka is a Mod gem, I know it. In fact, you're probably humming this in your head right now, while reading this post... in your parka. Well, alright then, let's take a trip in the Wayback Machine to see how the parka would have affected some classic, stylin' looks.

First up, let's check out Mr. Modfather himself, Paul Weller, back during his early Style Council days when he started wearing a beautiful white mac. This was probably one of my early non-parka influences:

Well, imagine if he was walking down the road, parka-fied!

Okay, remember this dapper little kid?

Now, let's see how he comes off with a parka covering up his threads:

Okay... the kid's got enough sass to almost pull it off...

Let's move on then to a sixties Mod icon. What about Steve Marriott? Here he is, sharp as ever.

Now, imagine if he time-traveled to today, visited Carnaby Street, and found the Pretty Green shop. OH NO!

Now, if all these arguments fail to convince you that it's time to trade in your parka for an overcoat, well then, think of this: remember Sting's 'Ace Face' character in Quadrophenia? Y'know, the guy with bad hair who Jimmy had a total bro crush on? Yeah, not even that guy wore a parka:

'Nuff said!
  
Obviously, these opinions are all my own and probably in the minority. 
For further info on parkas as a part of Mod history, please visit the following sites:
http://anorakthing.blogspot.com/2010/09/parka-power.html
http://www.fishtailparkas.com/fishtail_parkas.html
And, I'm happy to see I'm not the only one who thinks the parka has had its day. The ModCulture site was 10 years ahead with this opinion:
http://www.modculture.co.uk/the-death-of-the-mod-parka/

*The parka can also be used creatively as in the band name, The Merton Parkas, and in the name of one of my fave blogs, Parka Avenue.

Sharp Stylings #16: Quadrophenia's Jimmy?!?

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.

Yes, Jimmy.

I can get down on this film a lot, but I reached down to find something positive to say and found one really good outfit in the movie:

It's like Jimmy had an off-day here as he actually looks pretty cool. Striped blazer, grey tab-collar shirt, beautiful horizontally-striped tie (my favorite detail in this ensemble), dark pants, and loafers (not desert boots, for once)! I like this outfit so much that despite how nice his scooter looks, I really wish it wasn't in the way so that we could dig what he's wearing in more detail.

In all honesty, this scene and outfit looks so different from anything worn in the rest of the film! If this was the type of look that was concentrated on in the film, instead of the 'lumpen' Mod look, I wonder how that would affected some post-Quadrophenia Mods.

See, even Steph's happy he left the parka and desert boots at home. Sting who?

Okay, after all this Quadrophenia talk, I promise to lay off the subject for the next few weeks or so.

Mod Gone Wrong: Quadrophenia 'Mod' Guy

Yeah, you probably think I'm a one-trick pony when it comes to criticizing Jimmy from Quadrophenia. You probably think I'm going to spend the rest of this post pondering why Jimmy would be wearing chunky, beat-up desert boots with, from what I can remember, a newly bespoke suit.*

But today, I'm letting ol' Jimmy off the hook. Instead I want to talk about the guy marching on his right. Seriously, what's up with that guy? Let's zoom in on him a bit to see what I'm talking about:

Was this a bad costuming choice or did this random dude, taking his lunch break, see some filming going on and run over to join the crowd? Look at the lapels on that 2-button suit! Did Quadrophenia not hire a gaffer to check up on things like this?

And I love just how cocky he looks. He probably has no idea what the movie's about, but he's still just so pumped up thinking about how impressed his friends are gonna be when they see him up on the big screen.

The guy looks totally wrong in this scene, but he's having such a great time, it's hard to hate on him.

*It's been almost 10 years since I've last seen the film (something I plan to rectify if I'm to engage in informed discussions on all things Quad). For those of you with a fresher knowledge of the film, remember the (possibly deleted) scene where Jimmy's getting measured by his tailor and later picks up his new suit? Is this the same suit he's wearing with those desert boots as he goes off to fight rockers? If so, ooh... Mod gone wrong... and a great way to ruin your bespoke suit.

Discovering the 1973 Quadrophenia LP

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'!

Mod Gone Wrong: The Pretty Green Parka

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?

Quadrophenia Commercial Spoof

Y'know, living in the U.S., it's hard to appreciate just how much Mod culture has infiltrated the public consciousness in the U.K. I once thought that Mods had fallen beneath the radar, even out there, but this commercial proves me wrong.

I find it pretty funny, myself, but I'm curious as to what the thoughts were when this first aired. Are Mods in the U.K. pretty much a common, well-known culture to be spoofed like this much like Haight-Ashbury hippies would be in the U.S.? Is Quadrophenia as well-known in the U.K. as, say, Saturday Night Fever is out here?

Also, what are YOUR thoughts on the above video?

My First 'Mod' Suit

We all had to start somewhere.

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.

The Desert Boot

First off, I'd like to share a link to an article on local tailor Al Ribaya of Al's Attire in North Beach:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/28/LV0M1JS11E.DTL

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:

You gonna tell this guy he ain't lookin' good?
Photo from the Steve McQueen Style blog.

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, but remember, 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.