Salv
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Teddy Girls - not strictly Golden Age but very interesting...
I hope the ladies don't mind me intruding in the Powder Room, but I wanted to share these fascinating photos.
First a bit of background - I trust that all the UK-based Loungers are aware of Teddy Boys, but for those other Loungers that may not have heard of them they were the first recognisable British youth sub-culture. There had been a fashion among the upper classes in post-war London for Edwardian-style fashion (hence Teddy boy) which was taken up by working class lads in south London by 1953. Suits featuring long jackets with velvet collars and narrow trousers, brocade waistcoats, shoe-string ties or elaborate bow-ties and Brylcreemed hair swept up in a high pompadour were the accepted Ted style. There were many photos taken of Teddy Boys, and many photo essays published. Not many photos were taken of Teddy Girls though, and in general the girls were considered much less interesting than the boys. A study of the youth cult published in 1961 called The Insecure Offenders by T.R Fyvel said of Teddy Girls ?¢‚Ǩ?ì?¢‚Ǩ¬¶a few of these can be encountered?¢‚Ǩ¬¶rather dumb, passive teenage girls. In my glimpses of them they seemed crudely painted up, pathetically young, appallingly under-educated, some of them in danger of drifting into prostitution - in any case as I looked at their expressionless faces, I felt sorry for their future families.?¢‚Ǩ?
However, in 1955 future film director Ken Russell was living in Notting Hill in west London and studying art in east London and photography just outside east London in Essex. His girlfriend was friendly with a Teddy girl called Josie Buchan, who introduced Russell to some of her friends. Russell photographed them, and also photographed some girls near his home in Notting Hill, and the photos were sold to Picture Post magazine who published in June 1955. These photos completely contradict the findings of T.R. Fyvel - these are not "dumb, passive, teenage girls." As Russell said of them "They were great. They were quite flattered to do the shoot, but they weren't a pushover. They were proud, they knew their worth. They just wore what they wore, and I thought up these little scenes."
The East End girls - from Plaistow, Walthamstow, Poplar and Bethnal Green and aged 16 to 19 - are immaculately dressed and clearly took great pains to look good for the photos. The Notting Hill girls are all younger - aged 14 and 15 - and look less elegant, but their rolled up jeans seem to have been influenced by American fashions, while their tailored jackets and blouses are distinctly British.
I love these photos. I've long been fascinated with the history of British youth cults - and have been involved in a few myself - and these photos fill in a large gap in our knowledge of the first of these cults. I appreciate that they are not 'Golden Era' photos, but the fashions on show certainly hark back to the Golden Era, and further back. I think anyone interested in the history of fashion, and particularly street fashion, can find much to like here.
So here are a few examples, and the rest of the photos can be found here.
Pat Wiles and Iris Thornton of Plaistow, east London:
Grace Living in Poplar, east London:
Vera Harrison:
...and my favourite photo, Jean Rayner, aged 14, on a bomb site in Notting Hill:
As an aside my mum was a Notting Hill Teddy girl and would have been 17 when these photos were taken. I've shown them to her, and while she doesn't remember these particular girls she knew the club where they were photographed.
I hope the ladies don't mind me intruding in the Powder Room, but I wanted to share these fascinating photos.
First a bit of background - I trust that all the UK-based Loungers are aware of Teddy Boys, but for those other Loungers that may not have heard of them they were the first recognisable British youth sub-culture. There had been a fashion among the upper classes in post-war London for Edwardian-style fashion (hence Teddy boy) which was taken up by working class lads in south London by 1953. Suits featuring long jackets with velvet collars and narrow trousers, brocade waistcoats, shoe-string ties or elaborate bow-ties and Brylcreemed hair swept up in a high pompadour were the accepted Ted style. There were many photos taken of Teddy Boys, and many photo essays published. Not many photos were taken of Teddy Girls though, and in general the girls were considered much less interesting than the boys. A study of the youth cult published in 1961 called The Insecure Offenders by T.R Fyvel said of Teddy Girls ?¢‚Ǩ?ì?¢‚Ǩ¬¶a few of these can be encountered?¢‚Ǩ¬¶rather dumb, passive teenage girls. In my glimpses of them they seemed crudely painted up, pathetically young, appallingly under-educated, some of them in danger of drifting into prostitution - in any case as I looked at their expressionless faces, I felt sorry for their future families.?¢‚Ǩ?
However, in 1955 future film director Ken Russell was living in Notting Hill in west London and studying art in east London and photography just outside east London in Essex. His girlfriend was friendly with a Teddy girl called Josie Buchan, who introduced Russell to some of her friends. Russell photographed them, and also photographed some girls near his home in Notting Hill, and the photos were sold to Picture Post magazine who published in June 1955. These photos completely contradict the findings of T.R. Fyvel - these are not "dumb, passive, teenage girls." As Russell said of them "They were great. They were quite flattered to do the shoot, but they weren't a pushover. They were proud, they knew their worth. They just wore what they wore, and I thought up these little scenes."
The East End girls - from Plaistow, Walthamstow, Poplar and Bethnal Green and aged 16 to 19 - are immaculately dressed and clearly took great pains to look good for the photos. The Notting Hill girls are all younger - aged 14 and 15 - and look less elegant, but their rolled up jeans seem to have been influenced by American fashions, while their tailored jackets and blouses are distinctly British.
I love these photos. I've long been fascinated with the history of British youth cults - and have been involved in a few myself - and these photos fill in a large gap in our knowledge of the first of these cults. I appreciate that they are not 'Golden Era' photos, but the fashions on show certainly hark back to the Golden Era, and further back. I think anyone interested in the history of fashion, and particularly street fashion, can find much to like here.
So here are a few examples, and the rest of the photos can be found here.
Pat Wiles and Iris Thornton of Plaistow, east London:
Grace Living in Poplar, east London:
Vera Harrison:
...and my favourite photo, Jean Rayner, aged 14, on a bomb site in Notting Hill:
As an aside my mum was a Notting Hill Teddy girl and would have been 17 when these photos were taken. I've shown them to her, and while she doesn't remember these particular girls she knew the club where they were photographed.
