Teddy Boy

Teddy Boy

The British Teddy Boy subculture is typified by young men wearing clothes inspired by the styles of the Edwardian period, which Savile Row tailors had tried to re-introduce after World War II. The group got its name after a 1953 newspaper headline shortened "Edward" to "Teddy" and coined the term "Teddy Boy" (also known as Ted). The subculture started in London in the 1950s and rapidly spread across the UK, soon becoming strongly associated with American rock and roll music of the period. The Teddy Boys were the first youth group in England to differentiate themselves as teenagers, thus helping to create a youth market.

Some groups of Teds formed gangs and gained notoriety following violent clashes with rival gangs, which were often exaggerated by the popular press. The most notable was the Notting Hill riot of 1958, in which Teddy Boys were conspicuous within racist white mobs who roamed the area attacking black people and damaging their property. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/nottinghillcarnival2002/story/0,12331,780023,00.html The Guardian] ]

In the 1960s, many Teddy Boys became rockers.

tyle

Teddy Boys made it acceptable for young people to care about what one looked like all the time and dress purely for show, instead of just having one's work or school clothes or Sunday best. This trend arose as young people's disposable income increased during the post-war years. Teddy Boy clothing consisted of: long drape jackets, usually in dark shades, sometimes with velvet trim collar and pocket flaps; high-waisted "drainpipe" trousers, often showing brightly coloured socks. Favoured footwear were chunky brogues, large crepe-soled shoes, often suede (known as brothel creepers). Plus a high-necked loose collar on a white shirt (known as a "Mr. B." collar because it was often worn by jazz musician Billy Eckstine); a narrow 'Slim Jim' tie, and a brocade waistcoat. These clothes were mostly tailor-made at great expense and paid for through many weekly installments. Preferred hairstyles included long, strongly-moulded greased-up hair with a quiff at the front and the side hair combed back to form a Duck's Ass at the rear of the head. Another hairstyle was the Boston, in which the hair was greased straight back and cut square across at the nape.

Teddy Girls

Teddy girls adopted a style similar to Teddy Boys; they wore items such as drape jackets, hobble skirts, long plaits, straw boater hats, cameo brooches, espadrilles and coolie hats. Later they adopted the American fashions of toreador pants, voluminous circle skirts, and hair in ponytails.

Revivals

During the 1970s, rockabilly music enjoyed a renewed period of popularity and saw a resurgence of interest in Teddy Boy fashions; the look was plagiarised by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren through their shop Let it Rock on London's Kings Road. This new generation of Teds adopted some aspects of the 1950s Teds, but with a large amount of glam rock influence, including louder colours for their drape jackets, brothel creepers and socks. Additionally, rather than using grease to style their hair, they were more likely to use hairspray. In the latter part of the 1970s, the new generation of Teds became the arch-enemies of the Westwood and McLaren-inspired punk rockers.

The early 1990s saw a revival of the original Teddy Boy style by a group of men known as The Edwardian Drape Society (T.E.D.S). Based in the Tottenham area of north London, they were concerned with reclaiming the original style that they felt had become bastardised by pop/glam bands such as Showaddywaddy and Mud in the 1970s. They have been the subject of a short film, "The Teddy Boys", by Bruce Weber, which premiered at the Cambridge Film Festival in July 2006. [ [http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/lifestyle/stage_screen/news/2006/06/29/d7c45d52-e42e-4f5a-8aa1-ad29f428f788.lpf Cambridge Evening News] ]

See also

*Greasers
*Mods and Rockers
*Rocker (subculture)

Footnotes


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Teddy Boy — Teddy Boys  Cet article concerne la sous culture rock n roll. Pour le jeu vidéo, voir Teddy Boy (jeu vidéo). Le mouvement des Teddy Boys est une sous culture du rock n roll britannique des années 1950 incarnée par de jeunes hommes (les Teddy …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Teddy boy — Teddy Boys  Cet article concerne la sous culture rock n roll. Pour le jeu vidéo, voir Teddy Boy (jeu vidéo). Le mouvement des Teddy Boys est une sous culture du rock n roll britannique des années 1950 incarnée par de jeunes hommes (les Teddy …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Teddy Boy — Teddy Boys, Teds, oder auch Cosh Boys genannt, sind ursprünglich eine jugendliche Protestbewegung, die sich erstmals Anfang der 1950er Jahre in England entwickelte. Neu an der Teddy Boy Bewegung war, dass sie sich bewusst nicht als Subkultur… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • teddy boy — / tɛdI bɔI/, it. / tɛd:i bɔi/ locuz. ingl. [da Teddy, dim. di Edward Edoardo , e boy ragazzo ], usata in ital. come s.m. (soc.) [persona che compie atti di vandalismo o violenza] ▶◀ giovinastro, hooligan, teppista …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • teddy boy — /teddiˈbɔi, ingl. ˈtɛdɪˌbɔɪ/ [loc. ingl., «ragazzo (boy) vestito alla moda del regno di Edoardo VII (Edward, e per vezz. Teddy)»] loc. sost. m. inv. teppista □ giovinastro, ragazzaccio, discolo …   Sinonimi e Contrari. Terza edizione

  • Teddy boy — Teddy boys N COUNT A Teddy boy is a man who dresses in a style that became popular in the 1950 s. Teddy boys were associated with early rock and roll music, and often regarded as bad or violent. [BRIT] …   English dictionary

  • Teddy boy — n. [< Teddy, nickname for EDWARD1] 1. a British youth of the 1950s or early 1960s who affected flashy dress, esp. of a neo Edwardian style 2. [Brit. Informal] any rough or delinquent youth …   English World dictionary

  • teddy boy — n a member of a group of young men in Britain in the 1950s who had their own special style of clothes and music …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Teddy boy — Teddy ,boy noun count a young man in the U.K. in the 1950s who dressed in narrow pants, a long loose jacket, and pointed shoes and liked ROCK AND ROLL music …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Teddy boy — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms Teddy boy : singular Teddy boy plural Teddy boys a young man in the UK in the 1950s who dressed in narrow trousers, a long loose jacket, and pointed shoes and liked rock and roll music …   English dictionary

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