skin-Heading into the 1960's:

A skinhead was considered a member of a subculture originating among working class youths in London, England in the 1960s that soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement spreading worldwide in the 1980s.

Per Urban Dictionary: A movement started in Britain in the 60s when the mod scene met the hippy scene. The mod scene split, and the “hard mods”, the ones who hated hippies, got harder. With a little influence from Jamacian rudeboys, the skinhead was born out of the hard mod.

Motivated by social alienation and working class solidarity, skins are defined by their close-cropped or shaven heads and working class clothing such as Dr. Martens boots, braces, high-ankle straight-leg jeans, and simple shirts. The movement reached a peak during the 1960s, and a revival in the 1980s but since then, it has endured in multiple contexts worldwide.

Skinheads were drawn towards more working class outsider subcultures, incorporating elements of mod fashion and black music and black fashion. In the earlier stages of the movement, a considerable overlap existed between early skinhead subculture, mod subculture, and the rude boy subculture found among Jamaican British and Jamaican immigrant youth, as these groups interacted and fraternised with each other within the same working class and poor neighbourhoods in Britain.

Origins and first wave in the 60's:

In the late 1950s the post-war economic boom led to an increase in disposable income among many young people. Some of those youths spent that income on new fashions popularised by American soul groups, British R&B bands, certain film actors, and Carnaby Street clothing merchants. These youths became known as mods, a youth subculture noted for its devotion to fashion, music and scooters.

Working class mods utilised practical clothing styles that suited their lifestyle and employment circumstances: work boots or army boots, straight-leg jeans or Sta-Prest trousers, button-down shirts and braces. Hardcore mods became commonly known as skinheads by about 1968. Their short hair may have come about for practical reasons, since long hair could be a liability in industrial jobs and street fights. Skinheads may also have cut their hair short in defiance of the more middle class hippie culture.

SKINHEAD FASHION:

Clothes- Straight-leg, dark wash jeans with cuffs rolled up (to show boots) are common among several groups of male skinheads. Lee or Wrangler jeans have been popular among this group. Flat-fronted slacks and bleachers (jeans splattered with bleach to resemble camouflage), as well as Combat trousers or cut-off shorts, are favoured . Skinhead girls often wear the same pants as boys, with the addition of camouflage or plaid miniskirts, regular skirts, and fishnet stockings.

Footwear- consisted of boots- in the 1960s army surplus or generic workboots, later Dr. Martens boots and shoes. In 1960s Britain, steel-toe boots worn by skinheads and were called bovver boots. Skinheads have also been known to wear brogues, loafers or Dr. Martens (or similarly styled) low shoe

Hairstyles- Traditionally, dating back to the 1960s, skinheads have been identified by their short or closely-shaved hair. However, not all skinheads do this. Crew cuts and pompadours are common among certain groups. Haircuts using a 2 or 3 grade clipper-guard is typical and some of them even cut it with a razor. Additionally, most male skinheads do not have mustaches, beards, or any other distinguishing facial hair.

• Some skinheads have also been known to have sideburns that are neatly trimmed.
• Female skinheads had shorter cuts in the 1960s and then, during the 1980s, began to sport feather cuts, which are shorter around the head, with more fringe around the front, back, and sides of the head, leading to a more feathery look. Some female skinheads even wear their heads almost completely shaved, with just fringe and bangs left in the front.

SKINHEAD MUSIC:

The skinhead subculture was originally associated with black music genres such as soul, ska, rocksteady and early reggae. The link between skinheads and Jamaican music led to the UK popularity of groups such as Desmond Dekker, Derrick Morgan, Laurel Aitken, Symarip and The Pioneers.

The most popular music style for late-1960s skinheads was 2 Tone, a fusion of ska, rocksteady, reggae, pop and punk rock. The 2 Tone genre was named after 2 Tone Records, a Coventry record label that featured bands such as The Specials, Madness and The Selecter. Some late-1970s skinheads also liked certain punk rock bands, such as Sham 69 and Menace.

WHERE ARE THE BUZZ CUTS TODAY?

What the skins had, says Toby Mott (British Designer & Punk Historian), was pride in themselves and their communities, and that gave them a certain dignity: “These guys weren’t aspirational or out for what they could get. They were seeing their way of life disappearing and, as they saw it, defending it. They weren’t apathetic thieves and small-time gangsters like the hoodie underclass of today. A hundred years before, they would have built the Empire.”

Today, says Mott, there isn’t really a skinhead scene. Like old Teds and scooter boys, they have their Facebook groups and reunion outings. But by and large, they grew up and got real.