Skinhead culture was originally a mix of Rude boys from Jamaica mixing with British working class dock youths. The aesthetic grew around turning your working class clothing into respectable attire. You’d shine the doc martens you wore because they were slip resistant, turn up the ankles of your jeans to show a clean crisp cuff, tight skinny suspenders as this was the 60’s and a Fred perry or Sherman shirt. They would mix with west indie immigrants at dancehalls and listen to Ska, Blue Beat and Rocksteady. There was also a whole scooter/Teddy culture that was a kind of proto subculture. But all that nazi shit came years later as the BNP co-opted what was a tough working class subculture into what most people know today. And don’t get me wrong, the original skinheads were as racist as any blue collar British youth in the 60s/70s. But the origin is in my opinion one of unity.
Skinhead culture was originally a mix of Rude boys from Jamaica mixing with British working class dock youths. The aesthetic grew around turning your working class clothing into respectable attire. You’d shine the doc martens you wore because they were slip resistant, turn up the ankles of your jeans to show a clean crisp cuff, tight skinny suspenders as this was the 60’s and a Fred perry or Sherman shirt. They would mix with west indie immigrants at dancehalls and listen to Ska, Blue Beat and Rocksteady. There was also a whole scooter/Teddy culture that was a kind of proto subculture. But all that nazi shit came years later as the BNP co-opted what was a tough working class subculture into what most people know today. And don’t get me wrong, the original skinheads were as racist as any blue collar British youth in the 60s/70s. But the origin is in my opinion one of unity.
The far right co-opting the look and image of anything that looks ‘tough’ when they themselves aren’t? Who woulda thunk it!?
As a fan of Viking shit, yeah…