Mod
Fashion-conscious ‘60s U.K. pop-culture movement By Jim AllenSharp-dressing, scooter-riding, soul-loving Brits
In the mid-‘60s, England experienced its first major youth-culture movement since the ‘50s rock & roll explosion. The Mods – short for modernist – utilized the momentum of Merseybeat to fashion a fast-forward lifestyle from the most exciting artistic elements swirling around them at the time. Mods dressed sharp, with bespoke suits and Cuban heels for the guys and multicolored mini-dresses and go-go boots for the girls. Graphic design’s emerging pop-art aesthetic showed up in action-packed logos on posters and records, and artfully deployed Union Jack and RAF imagery on everything. Mods rode tricked-out scooters to clubs where they popped uppers and danced all night to a mixture of Northern soul, ska, soul-jazz, and a new breed of rock bands whose punchy, power-chord-driven sound and R&B influences spoke directly to them: The Who, The Action, The Creation, Small Faces, and more. As the ‘60s wore on, many of these bands began moving in a more psychedelic direction, creating what retroactively came to be known as “freakbeat,” but the late ‘70s/early ‘80s saw a vibrant Mod revival with the likes of The Jam, Secret Affair, The Lambrettas, and The Chords.
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The Sharper Word: A Mod Anthology
Paolo Hewitt
