nico said:
Lubitel, I guess "Teddy" boys and girls were like what the "mods" were in the sixties, but their style grow up in second half of the fifties.
P.S. hope someone from UK will be able to give you some more infos ...
Possibly!
Shortly before the Second World War a number of fashionable London tailors attempted to introduce a suit with a long jacket and over-large shoulders. War killed the fashion, but it was copied in the United States, where it was known as a "Zoot Suit". Associated with Jive music and Black and Hispanic youth, the outfit was denounced as unpatriotic: the chosen dress of criminals and despised ethnic groups. There were a number of "Zoot Suit riots", where predominantly white US servicemen beat up civilians wearing such clothes.
After the war London tailors again tried to launch a long-line suit, but this time with narrow shoulders - the style was known as the "Edwardian". An attempt to produce a male counterpart to Dior's new look, it flopped miserably - but was taken up by some young people, who, in years of austerity, conformity and collectivism, embraced an "antisocial", ostentatious look. They adopted much of Zoot Suit culture, added unique hairstyles and footwear, and were duely demonized. In 1953 the Daily Express newspaper referred to "Teddy Boys" ["Teddy" is a familiar abbreviation of "Edward" and thus "Edwardian"]. The name stuck. The group became the major audience for early Rock and Roll in the UK, but acquired a (frequently justified) reputation for violence and extreme racism, climaxing in the Notting Hill race riots of 1959, often known as "The Teddy Boy Riots".
The fashion faded away soon afterwards, but still appeals to a few rockabilly fans, often in its more ludicrous form.
Cheers, Ian
