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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

Can one still be "mod" these days?

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Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

18:13 / 27.04.04

So my pal Hank tells me I should start dressing mod. "Seriously, this educated stoner look you have is contemptible," he says. He is a skinhead. Or rather, a S.H.A.R.P., which is a SkinH>ead Against Racial Prejudice. Basically, he gets in fights with racially prejudiced skinheads. Sort of like gangs, really. He tells me his look was the mod look for lower income folks back in the sixties. Wether or not that is true is something we can debate later. The point is, he told me with my tall, lean frame and great hair combinded with my family's money could get me a kick-ass mod look. "Will I have to ride a scooter?" I ask him. "Maybe," he says. "Definately buy a parka with a fur-lined hood, though."

I am curious about the mod look. I haven't seen too much of it, but the bits I've seen interest me. Except the scooter part, which would be very impractical because I live in Detroit, and I'm sure we've all heard the line "Riding a motor scooter is like having sex with a fat person etc. etc. etc.". So forget the scooter.

I've read up on the history of the mod look. I'm ready to spend some money and at least try to look mod for a few days. Tell me, is it possible? Can anyone still do the look correctly and not look like an asshole?

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

18:14 / 27.04.04

Never mind the crazy bold mess. That'll be fixed in a heartbeat.

04:48 / 28.04.04

well, I mean like don't you have to dress up in nice suits and stuff? besides the moped. isn't that it? that movie Quadraphenia is about mods so that ought to help you too. I myself like the mod look and want to do it too, cause nobody in my area does so...but like I need to buy a suit and shirts or something.
that mod cut is cool too, you know the one where its just down in front but then like spiked up only in the back, like Jamie Hince has got from the band The Kills. interesting that it utilizes the same concept as the mullet "business in front and party in the back." haha. mods are cool.

lord nuneaton savage

11:23 / 28.04.04

Whether it's possible to "be" a Mod in this day and age is debatable, but it is a cool, timeless look.

Just watching Quadrophenia 'aint gonna help though, the film is riddled with innacuracies and mod is about attention to detail above all else.

A help in this respect is a book called 'Mods' by Richard Barnes which gets the 60's thing down to a T with loads of cool pictures.

Also I woul advise looking at pictures of Paul Weller (Jam period and solo, NOT Style Council) he's been doin' it for years and very rarely puts a desert boot wrong.

Always make sure suits have three buttons, trousers are unpleated, desert boots have two holes etc. I know it sounds silly and elitist but that is kind of the point.

I was a mod for years, I'm not one any more but I still sneer at kiddies in the street that get the look wrong. It does kind of stay with you no matter how far you get away from it.

Good luck.

Tryphena Absent

17:49 / 28.04.04

He tells me his look was the mod look for lower income folks back in the sixties. Wether or not that is true is something we can debate later.

That is true actually, it was a very working class look and then later in the '70s it ended up branching off in to punk.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

18:09 / 28.04.04

So he wasn't full of shit...huh.

Thanks for the help, everyone. I'm off to Borders to take a look at that book and any others I can find. Any additional info would be appreciated. Websites, books, whatever.

I know it sounds silly and elitist but that is kind of the point.

Sweet! I love any excuse to be either silly or elitist. Both at once? Awesome. And if I look great while I'm doing it, so much the better.

lord nuneaton savage

11:13 / 29.04.04

The psyche thing is quite big in certain mod circles these days as well so dust off your frilly cravats.
Turqoise bumsters, oh yes.

02:56 / 05.05.04

don' forget the eye-liner!!

[great regret of my life, selling that parka... : ( ]

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

17:58 / 07.05.04

Having a bit of trouble finding books on the subject. The fashion section in the book shops in my area seem to consist of just the one shelf, and the staff is so useless it takes incredible self control not to hit them in the mouth. One woman, after I had explained what I needed (books containing info on early sixties fashion), took me to the health and beauty section. I wanted to knee her in the face.

Fuck 'em. I really didn't want to have to order anything, but I see I have no choice now. I won't know what to buy without any pictures, and my online searches have been fruitless so far.

15:53 / 08.05.04

Mod can be a bit difficult to pin down. One the one hand it's very specifically 3 button suits, desert boots, ben sherman and scooters; but it's also arguably Jerry Cornelius frock coats, op art shirts, flared stripey trousers and floppy haircuts; early mod involved poor kids buying Italian suits to look like rich kids, drinking espresso, trying to accomplish a 60s 'modernist' lifestyle on a budget - think Cary Grant riding around Rome on a scooter with Audrey Hepburn in tow. There's also a point where mod blurs into skinhead, which is a British working class amalgam of the mod look crossed with the Jamaican rude boy look.

So it's complicated. The only answer is to focus on whichever areas appeal the most to you and then attempt to create that in your life with truly scary levels of attention to detail.

As far as the clothes go, if you're going the smart mod route you really need to get a suit made for you. Otherwise it won't look right. There's a list of tailors on this website that know how to make a mod suit. Most of them don't really charge a great deal more than the price of a decent off-the-peg suit. I think all of the suggested tailors are in the UK though, but there are 3 very good essays on getting a suit made and understanding tailoring terms. The website is also a mine of information on all things mod, so is worth checking out:

http://www.modculture.co.uk/

Alternatively, you could buy an off-the-peg suit in the mod style and take it to a tailors to get it altered to fit properly. Not an ideal option, but a possibility, and a means of avoiding getting involved with tailors who may not have a clue what you're on about.

If the Jerry Cornelius look is what you're after, you could do worse than check out:

http://www.velvetillusion.co.uk/

Who do a wide range of psychedelic mod clothing. Not really my thing, but I did manage to score a fantastic pair of chelsea boots from their shop in Camden last weekend.

You might also want to check out:

http://www.newuntouchables.com

which is another UK based mod website, but has lots of information and links to other relevant sites. Should keep you busy for awhile.

12:43 / 10.05.04

no point getting into the clothes without getting into the tunes

and coming from detroit at least you have a ready access to a whole lifetimes worth of obscurist 60s soul music, plus the motown sounds that are still big in the mod scene over here. add some cool jazz, ska and bit mod acts like the small faces and bobs your uncle. 70 mod revivalist bands are best left alone (except the jam)

as for the look, a crombie looks good with a suit in winter, chelsea boots can be acceptable, as can flirting with what a previous poster was talking about as the skin / rudeboy look that came slightly later.

the class origins of mod are quite complicated though, not all the working class kids of misty eyed nostalgia, tho some say the middle class kids soon got lost in psychdelica.

have fun, and if you can get a bespoke tailor for the finer touches

a

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

19:37 / 11.05.04

More online searching came up with this list:

Fashion Tips for the Mod Boy

Helpful hints if you want to be a mod (or just pose like one!)

SUITS:

made to measure
rounded jacket fronts
two to four-button stance
covered buttons
side vents, up to 5" or even 10"!
waisted-jacket with center back seam vent
mohair suit (often two-tone)
narrow lapels
black, blue, striped, Prince of Wales check

SHOES:

Clark's Desert boots
Hush Puppies
cuban heels
mock crock
cycling trainers
slip-on moccasins
super-pointy winklepicklers

HAIR:

short and clean-looking
dry, no grease
Perry Como cut
the "College Boy"
the "French Crew" and "French Crop"
back-combing

TROUSERS:

narrow, 14-17" bottoms
side seam ankle split- up to 3"
all pants ride on the hips
corduroy
no turn-ups

SHIRTS:

Ben Sherman
cycling shirts
Fred Perry, knit, 3-button opening
long pointed collars
pastel colours
button-down collar corners
worn with slim knit tie

OUTERWEAR:

cardigans
Levis button-fly (as faded as possible)
Harrington jacket-zip front, suede
nylon macs
parkas with fur-trimmed hoods

Is all this accurate? Can I trust it? Following these guidlines, will I get a wardrobe that's truly ace?

lord nuneaton savage

10:50 / 12.05.04

Yup, not far off. Not sure about the 2 button jackets though. I think people did wear them in the 6ts, but whenever you see photos it's always 3 or 4 buttons. I wore a 2 buttoner to a mod night once and got slagged all evening. Never did that again.

21:36 / 12.05.04

Following these guidlines, will I get a wardrobe that's truly ace?

Possibly…but it could all go horribly wrong if you wore Cuban heels with a Perry Como haircut, pastel colours, a cardigan and a nylon mac… That would just be weird.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

02:01 / 31.05.04

So I've begun shopping around. Family only willing to pay for part of it, so I'll need to find another sponsor...someone wealthy with an interest in me looking great. I'm thinking of finding myself a sugarmomma. Shouldn't be too difficult...

A friend recently told me "you know, you're going to have to dress like this all the time. Otherwise you'll just be a guy who occasionally wears a suit for no reason." I hadn't thought of that. So be it, motherfuckers!

By the way: what's the story on single breasted v.s. double breasted suits?

22:59 / 31.05.04

By the way: what's the story on single breasted v.s. double breasted suits?

Single breasted all the way, as far as I'm concerned anyway. Unless you're going for flamboyant psychedelic mod, but that's a whole different ball game. What you bought so far?

I disagree strongly and severly about this whole getting your parents to dress you aspect, mind. Sickening. You're missing out on the whole "saving up your wages in order to get alterations done on a suit" aspect. For me, one of the interesting things about mod is that it was a working class thing - you had to strive to go about looking that sharp. A degree of effort and sacrifice should be involved.

The weird phenomenon of rich kids spending hideous amounts of their parent's money to look like poor kids trying to look like rich kids 40 years ago is just plain odd, and somehow misses the point. Modernism. It's about a specific ethic and approach to life, as much as it's about a particular mode of dress.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

19:00 / 01.06.04

I disagree strongly and severly about this whole getting your parents to dress you aspect, mind. Sickening. You're missing out on the whole "saving up your wages in order to get alterations done on a suit" aspect. For me, one of the interesting things about mod is that it was a working class thing - you had to strive to go about looking that sharp. A degree of effort and sacrifice should be involved.

I hear and understand your point, Gypsy. But do we have to phrase it "getting my parents to dress me"? Are you trying to embarrass me into paying for it myself, which has never been my style?....huh? Yes? You are? I see.

Fuck it, you're right. You're not the first to bring this up, actually. I've been avoiding financial responsibility for this look because it would mean buying a lot less dope than I currently do. But hell, I dig the clothes, and this sounds like a fun experiment. Down with dope! Up with pants that don't have pleats!

20:01 / 01.06.04

Down with dope! Up with pants that don't have pleats!

Absolutely.

18:13 / 02.06.04

Modernism. It's about a specific ethic, and approach to life

I'm no kind of expert, but that's how I've always seen it.

So, " Modernism, " from the Penguin English dict:

" 3. the theory and practices of modern, art, literature, music, etc, esp. a search for new forms of expression involving a deliberate break from the past. "

I'm being a bit awkward here, I fully appreciate, but what, having said that, do clothes and music from forty years ago really have to do with this as a movement ? Isn't the whole " mod " thing now in fact post-mod, or worse still, retro ?

lord nuneaton savage

11:05 / 03.06.04

It's retro but in an enjoyably shameless way. Don't worry about it too much and you're fine.

14:23 / 03.06.04

The smart mod aesthetic has always influenced my work clothes.

Fitted three button suits, you just can't go wrong with these. The style is always in-vogue, mod or not. Pinstripes make you look taller and slimmer but beware of cheap suits with "fake" pinstripes (printed on). The idea of covered buttons makes me cringe however, a little too Hard Days Night.

Winkle pickers (very pointy chelsea boots). God these make my heart flutter. For a contemporary take check out Swear's last two season's (shops in Covent Garden and Carnaby street) for some classic yet modern mod styles. They've discontinued they're chelsea boots (damn them!) but I think you can still get the shoe version.

Parka's, always the rockunroll star's staple. I prefer not to look like an ex-army lout so I don't bother with these but there are lots of very interesting (but not very "authentic") updates of the parka available at All Saints this season.

Mod-style doesn't have to be by-the-book, in fact I think you lose the joy of dressing up the moment you start to get anal about such things. Keep it smart and tailored and there's not too much you can get wrong.
Avoid doing it via Topman and go for the extra mileage by spending the extra money.

Top recmmendation (if you can avoid all the terrible tourist bait) is Merc on Carnaby Street. Good place to start looking at suits and the general style.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

01:25 / 05.06.04

Took a suit to get altered the other day, and found that few tailors in my area have any idea what "mod" is, plus I lack the tailoring terms to accurately describe the look I'm going for. I know I need some vents in the jacket, and maybe I'll have it waisted.

I may have to try a more fashionable district. I'll check out Royal Oak or Ferndale, two places so hip I'm automatically suspicious of them.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

19:30 / 15.06.04

Christ. I hate dealing with these tailors. They all suck ass.

not-so-deadly netshade

20:32 / 20.06.04

Tell me about it. I live in NYC and STILL have fucking trouble! I have to "cheat" with my clothes all the time, and pray that nobody looks to close at the clubs...

10:32 / 21.06.04

If you're having difficulty finding a tailor in your area that knows how to make a mod suit, or in fact, doesn't have a clue what you're talking about. Then you might want to consider going tailored rather than bespoke. First you need to find an off the peg suit in a mod style that you're happy with, and which is vaguely your size (obviously erring on the larger cut).

Take this to a tailor and get it tapered in so it fits properly, shoulders adjusted, whatever else you want done on it, etc. That way your tailor only has to worry about making it fit you, which shouldn't be a problem. Not as good as bespoke, but unless someone is being really really attentative and pedantic, they're unikely to spot the difference. Most of the tailors I've spoken to have actually reccomended this option, given the huge price discrepancies these days between tailored off the peg and bespoke. Still something cool about getting one made up for you though.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

17:11 / 22.06.04

I've already given up on having one made for me, as very few tailors in this area are even willing to do it. Not to mention it's effin' expensive.

Had a bit of luck recently: as it turns out, my father, being the international business man that he is, has a tailor. Maybe I can get my shit done cheaper than I had planned. The only adjustments I need right now are to have the jacket waisted and vents put in. The butterfly cuffs I don't really need, I'm thinking.

not-so-deadly netshade

00:24 / 24.06.04

Just out of curiosity, J...what kind of suit did you start with off the peg before bringing it in?

VonKobra,Scuttling&Slithering

08:57 / 25.06.04

Hahahahaha OK I'm gonna be hated for this but fuck it...

I was a Mod in the 80s, the Jam and all that, but I was a Skin before that. And after, actually. I was more of what we called back then a Hard Mod, in that we combined the Skinhead elements (DMs,Levi 501s) with the Mod (Fringe cut, 60s Coats, Target t shirts).

This, of course, was pretty much anathema to a real Mod from say, 65.

But I feel it was just as valid, as we were working class kids trying to establish our own Fashion. Something that had oh, I don't know, borders and rules. Something OUR OWN. It was just an adaptation of what had gone before.

And this is why I think a Mod in 2004 is a look you make yourself... I think bands like the Hives, INC, they are modern adaptations of the Modernist ideal and look...

I saw a Lonsdale 69 ringer shirt in white with a red stripe and blue stripe down one side the other day. Perfect Mod shirt. Goes nicely with the Burgundy Moleskin TIGHT TIGHT pants I found in an op shop for 2 dollars.

I never did like Desert Boots.

And bloody hell mate, if you're thinking of getting a Fishtail... I just can't think of anything more ridiculous than someone swannin about in one of those without a fuckin bike, you know? The Parka is supposed to keep you warm.

HAPPY TOGETHER NOW... FEELIN YOU CLOSE TO ME BAAAABYYY... HAPPY TILL THE END OF TIME....

*pops Dexys*

*heads for Dancefloor*

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

20:18 / 26.06.04

And bloody hell mate, if you're thinking of getting a Fishtail... I just can't think of anything more ridiculous than someone swannin about in one of those without a fuckin bike, you know? The Parka is supposed to keep you warm.

I'm not entirely sure what you are saying here, or even who you are speaking to.

Having a scooter in Detroit is a bad idea for these reasons:

1. The roads are many and terrible, and I'm doubtful a scooter could survive long here.

2. In this city, anything that can be lifted by three men will be stolen immediately. Even if it's chained to something, or resting inside your house. Seriously, a scooter would be stolen or destroyed within weeks of me bringing it home.

3. This is not a scooter-friendly place in any sense of the word. Maybe in larger cities it's semi-practical, but not here. Everything is too far apart. You have to take an expressway to get anywhere.

So in conclusion, fuck a scooter. Maybe when I get to tokyo, or if I'm ever in Europe for some reason. But not here.

12:26 / 02.07.04

just to say anyone looking for bespoke in the elephant & castle area drop me a line

my tailor dresses the south london scooter club and knows exactly what he's doing

bespoke for under £400? oh yes, suits you, sir.

a

01:08 / 04.07.04

Bespoke for under £400 eh? You have captured my interest. You want to PM me his details? I’m only up the road from elephant.

And this is why I think a Mod in 2004 is a look you make yourself...

Totally agree with you. Mod should just mean modernist. Which, to my mind, makes the concept of 65 mods (or even 80s revive mods) as somehow more authentic “real” mods than those in 2004, or 4504 for that matter, a bit daft. Unpopular, but right. I think it should be more about creating and cultivating a specific modernist aesthetic within your life, than trying to emulate the past. How can modernism possibly be about pretending to live in the past? Everything evolves all of the time. I think the phrase “Clean living in difficult circumstances” gets it about right. Creating a space within the urban environment that conforms to your personal aesthetic, through the medium of music, clothes, transport, lifestyle, personal environment and attention to detail in all areas.

I’ve never liked desert boots either. Chelsea boots all the way, as far as I’m concerned.

I just can't think of anything more ridiculous than someone swannin about in one of those without a fuckin bike, you know? The Parka is supposed to keep you warm.

I get what your saying, but isn’t that a bit contradictory? I quite like the look of the parka myself, and as winter coats go, you could do a lot worse. Surely if you like how the fishtail looks, and I do think it sets off a suit quite well, then that should be the most important criteria. Bike or not. I don’t see how that’s much different from choosing not to wear desert boots cos you don’t like the look of ‘em.

The Timaximus, The!

23:17 / 05.07.04

I never did like Desert Boots.

I’ve never liked desert boots either.

I have to disagree. I'm not really into dressing mod (though I do like the look and listen to the music), but I am a month into my first pair of Clark's Desert Boots, and find them great. Very comfortable, and thoroughly broken in after a couple-few days. Unless they fall apart after a short time *knocks on wood*, they'll probably be my new shoe of choice. I wish they didn't just come in suede, though.

About the rubber soles, how's the traction? I like that there's no tread to pick up rocks and stuff, but living in Southern California, I haven't had a chance to find out how slippery they can be.

lord nuneaton savage

10:40 / 06.07.04

Clarks do leather desert boots, they do suffer from looking a bit like pasties though.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

18:03 / 07.07.04

Just out of curiosity, J...what kind of suit did you start with off the peg before bringing it in?

Nothing fancy; just something I picked up at the local Lord & Taylor's. I'm a fairly tall, slim fella, so it already had a mod-ish cut to it. Four buttons, single breasted, thinner lapels and whatnot.

My sister, bless her, has just bought me some striped hipsters. I'm enjoying them. They give the impression that I have an ass, something I've wanted for years.

04:14 / 03.08.04

hey do you know of anyplace where you can get the skinny ties? or just really cool ties at that? and specifically in the U.S. emphasis on in the U.S. so like, you know I don't have to pay much more for it being from over there..

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