Some 70s, 80s and later badges from my collection

Looking on social media there seems to be numerous posts about the 80s music and fashion by Americans. I can see why a lot of people from Europe may get misled or confused when reading these posts and taking them as fact. Whilst this might be case in the USA whatever was happening there had very little influence on the alternative music and fashion rebellion that was taking place in my neck of the woods.

The following is totally based on my own experience of when the windows were put through of the quaint sleepy victorian museum which was the UK at the time.

Thrifting is very much an Americanism and was not a thing in the 70s and 80s – I will explain more later. Thrifty in Yorkshire was someone who was tight with money. Two examples would the person who would hang teabags on the washing line to dry to exceed the one pot of tea or two cups per bag or the person who wanted to go out at the weekend, so they would buy a two piece suit, keep the labels on it and return it after the weekend for a refund. Both of which I have seen with my own eyes 😉

The most important decade for music and fashion rebellion and invention in the UK was 1977-1987. I am lucky enough to have been young enough/old enough to have been caught up in what were great times despite the fucking awful political shadows that hung over the UK. The atmosphere and society had nothing in common with the USA. There was quite a negative view of the US. There was hatred of the blandness of American 70s disco and the boring MOR/metal dinosaurs that poured from the radio.

This article will be mainly about the fashion and hairstyles that I had during this period of my life. None of my clothes came from second hand as there were no charity shops, the places to get second hand things were either church fetes or school jumble sales, however I only remember getting some toys, boardgames, books and I think a couple of 7″singles one of which I still have Landscape’s Einstein A Go Go but no clothing.

When punk kicked off for a school kid it was more about listening to the records and an attitude. At my secondary school we had lots of books to take home everyday so most of us had army surplus canvas rucksacks with metal buckles. They seemed to be in two colours a sort of yellow sand colour and an RAF blue which I had. During lessons we would be customising and doodling on each others bags. Mainly punk new wave and ska band names, quotes from monty python, football teams sometimes swear words 😉 Below is rough hand drawn mockup to match the fountain pen used, minus swearing 😉

My school bag

I seem to remember I had some beetle crushers at school as the other kids had started getting Doc Martens as bands like the Undertones and The Stranglers were wearing them. My hairstyle was somewhere between a Beatles haircut and big un-styled DA. I wanted some Docs, so my mum took me to Leeds but they were quite expensive, so I ended up getting some sort cheaper dark red leather mountain boots from Lewis’s. They had a solid chunky souls and reinforced toes and after a while developed a fart sound if you pressed you weight on them a certain way 😉 Whilst not looking as cool as DM’s if you got a boot to the shin during lunchtime football games my friends knew about it 😉

Only a couple of kids wore anything punk in school one Dave H had leather jacket, creepers and drain pipe trousers and cut his hair like Sid. Another kid Matt B had an elder brother who played in a local punk band called Dive Dive Dive, wore some French combat boots, and a black shirt with had painted symbols on the collar. If you have seen how The Undertones dressed DM’s, jumpers, jeans and normal haircuts is good example of punk at the time.

The Undertones

In the last year of primary school there was needlework class which taught sewing and embroidery skills for all the kids. I seem to remember making an embroidered felt snake filled with beans. These sewing skills would be very handy later.

Also another key factor in new music growth and development compared to the USA was the UK had the John Peel Radio show from 22.00-0.00 Monday – Thursday which played all the bands and genres as they appeared. I think I started listening in 1978 when I got my first radio for my birthday and would listen every night mostly to the end or til I fell asleep 😉

My first deep dive into alternative fashion was with Ska/2 Tone which was the biggest single new fashion movement to hit the UK. It was in every school, on every street and at every football ground. During this time in the UK catalogues and stores were offering monthly terms on everything which meant it was possible for the not so rich to get their hands on new clothes and gadgets like Hi-Fi’s and radio/cassette players. My mum had a loyalty card for Debenhams and they used to have special evenings for store card holders to get extra discounts. This meant I got my white towel socks, Burgundy tassel loafers, braces and a range of different coloured Fred Perry shirts from these nights.

In 1980 I paid my first visit to Cookstown in County Tyrone and visited Charlie Eastwoods who had a good selection of cheap Doc Martens, so I finally got my first pair, black, 16 hole welted but with no stitching. Height was the important thing 😉

Short hair was in fashion, lots school kids had skinheads and boots and braces were the norm. I wasn’t allowed to get a Skinhead but I did manage to get a Madness haircut like Suggs. I remember my mum bollocking the local barber Icky for cutting my hair so short. 😉

I used to wear more Jumpers and Cardigans during this time. When I was in Dublin they had black Jumpers with Madness and The Specials across the front in white so naturally I got one of each. Also it meant I didn’t need to always wear a jacket in cold weather.

Rudeboy

Army and Navy shops or Army surplus stores at markets were great places to get Combat trousers – German Moleskins with the ankle laces which you could wear with shoes or boots. I also got a a couple US MA1 flight bomber jackets, and a couple of Harringtons.

I had a trilby which had badges on the band. My black Harrington had a Specials patch and Bad Manners patch as well as a selection of Ska band badges. My MA! had a Yorkshire Rose patch and badges. My other green Harrington I picked up in Dublin and got a Madness logo printed on the back.

As I mentioned before the needlecraft skills came in handy. Firstly at school, as I was able to turn my trousers up without my mum noticing ;). When I left the house they would be low but I would attach my braces so my trousers would be at the top of my boots. I tended to mainly wear my MA1 at school as did most kids either that or Harringtons were popular. Schools were mainly a mix of rudeboys, skinheads and Mods. A handful of Mods had fishtail parkers. There were also some punks and few metallers.

There’s a lyric in Madness’s Baggy Trousers

“The headmaster’s had enough today
All the kids have gone awayGone to fight with next door’s schoolEvery term, that is the rule”

Gangs

There was a lot of gang violence in the UK like A Clockwork Orange but on steroids even the districts of small towns had a gang for each district mix of punks and skins, who might carry nunchucks, knuckle dusters or baseball bats. In Leeds it could involve Samurai swords and crossbows when violence was extreme. For my school since it had a joint six form with another school they would form a massive group to go fight the other large school in the area. Mainly all teenage school years.
Another fun thing about the sixth form was there was a record player in the common room. Some brave souls fetched their punk and new wave records in but there was always and argument with metal fans who always wanted to to hijack the record player and play they dinosaur rock.
The sixth form school disco was were things sort of came to head. I seen to remember the Sex Pistols being played and punks, skins, rudeboys, new wavers pogoing and the metal grouping started head banging along. So naturally when they put some dinosaur rock on and they started heading banging the punks, skins, rudeboys, new wavers started to pogo and they got upset and started fighting ;(

Borstals were filled with skinheads and mods as there were often riots at the seaside mods and rockers part two and also riots at football matches(which was nothing new only now it was inside the football grounds whereas in the 70s boot boys fought outside the grounds and at service stations. Riots and violence were everywhere.

I found a very cheap tailor in the back streets of Leeds who made very cheap dog tooth trousers to order which I wore til they fell apart. From the picture below the top left shoes Leeds Briggate in the early 80’s and from the Army and Navy store on right of the street I bought my crombie and some combat trousers. I liked Burgundy as colour and one point had a burgundy suit trouser drain pipes – short in the leg to show white socks or to wear with boots. a burgundy Fred Perry, and a burgundy and white and grey, and black and white cardigans with a Y for Yorkshire which were very popular for a time.

The 2 Tone music period was very intense but the black and white bubble burst when The Specials split in 1981. The Jam split in 1982, The Selecter, The Beat, Bad Manners by 1982 had released their best albums and either split or took a break. UB40 and Madness had became more pop. I had started to listening to a wider selection of New Wave when The Special split in 1981 and three of them became The Funboy Three.

My fashion didn’t change too much at first. I started to grow my hair somewhere between Paul Young and Stuart Adamson and then it was a bit like early 80s Bono for a year but I cut it. Fashion was a strange mix of New Romantic shirts, tapered trousers with a turn up and still white socks. I started wearing football casual gear at matches like Pringle jumpers, white Adidas trainers with a green stripe or DMs and these very near white pale jeans which were the fashion. It was the time of the chameleon fashion flux.

Haircuts

Sometime in 1984 I started to wear more black clothes. I was quite fortunate as Leeds had developed not only its own music scene in the 80s being the birthplace of Goth, but also had numerous Goth and punk clothing stores like X Clothes, Fab- Gear and Other Clothes.

80s Fashion

It also had lots of shops that sold incense, Patchouli and bangles. There was even occult bookshop in Woodhouse. The first Goth / New Wave club in the UK opened in Leeds in late 1979 Le Phonographique. Leeds had already got the reputation in the alternative music scene for place where people wore mainly black. A lot of older Victorian buildings especially around Boar Lane were blackened from years of industry and pollution which added to dark atmosphere.

I found I still have my original shopping bag from Other Clothes clearly made to last 😉 There was very nice friendly blond haired Gothic lady working there who was great at giving customers advice. So I guess you might be wondering what things I bought from such a great shop well I bought the following and maybe not all at the same time, single row studded bracelets, a single row studded belt, a five row studded belt, a belt with western shaped chrome discs, boot straps with studs, belts straps western style, color tips, a skull bolero tie, black jeans, a lovely black shirt with vintage gold paisley print, a pair of suede buck boots and I think my favourite ever pair of shoes pointed winkle pickers with a zip on the front, 3 buckle strap fastenings. I managed to resole and heal them three times before they fell apart 🙁 I also still have a great pair of boots zip on the front and straps. More of a rounded toe but classic 80s goth. I also got a pair dark punk trousers, two back pockets with D ring fasteners, a D Ring pocket at the side on one knee. At the front each leg had zip which when undone showed a Japanese sunburst pattern. These trousers and my first pair of PVC jeans became my favourite gig trousers tucked inside my DM’s. I also bought a couple of jackets a black suede tasseled jacket I customised with skulls and my first leather jacket with a red lining.

Here is a very rare picture of me with my natural red hair as in the 80s Goths had lots of hair colours but clothing was mainly black with maybe some purple, white or paisley.

First Goth Clothes

I also got the sunglasses from Other Clothes so the black and gold paisley, the black jeans, the zipped winkle pickers (naturally the feet are cut of as no-one was that bothered about getting the full look in the 8os) and the single row studded belt. Like the Sisters Of Mercy I am smiling so not really Goth 😉 A sort of bonoesque hair cut which I am sure I cut off short so I could have more spikey hair but then I decided to grow it again for awhile it was very like Frank Kearns from Cactus World News and eventually I managed to get it to my waist. I was crimping it like mad so I had to get the split ends removed quite often. I only dyed it in black in the 90s after friend convinced me to let his wife dye it.

Cactus World News

The Army surplus store in Leeds market now started dying the German moleskin shirts and trousers black. The longsleeve combat shirts looked great and were quite a common site at gigs in both colours. I think I had one green and three black ones. Leeds has lots of craft shops so it was possible to buy dye or do your own customisation to clothes as most trousers were too long and had to be taken up or cut off. Whatever industrial dye they used on the Army surplus store didn’t not seem to fade but had very strong smell for several months.

The Polaroid camera was popular in the 70s. In the 80s it was replaced by Kodak Elektralite and disposable cameras. Disposable cameras were shit. Cameras were not allowed at gigs and you could be thrown out for using them. This is a reason that apart from Pro pics there is very little captured of the visual feast of fashion and design across the UK. Also it was more about living for the moment, drinking rather than posing 😉 Thankfully the fakery, control and manipulation of social media and mobile phones did not exist. Music was the antidote to life.