teddy boys and teddy girls.
The Teddy boys were arguably the first properly defined ‘youth culture’ and like the greaser subculture before them, the most important aspect of the culture was its passion for standing out. However, instead of standing out to cause an ethical and moral change, this was a completely new form of standing out, The Teddy Boys and Teddy Girls aimed to reject the post war austerity of the time.
The Teddy Boys wanted to hit home a message that the youth of the day was itself something that was distinct and would not be constrained by the generations before them. Their openly distinctive style usually consisted of, a drape jacket, drainpipe trousers usually with the socks showing, high necked loose-collared shirts, waistcoats and crepe soles. The Teddy Girls style usually consisted of the following: A drape jacket, pencil skirts, straw boaters and long clutch bags.
"Knowing the ingrown conservatism of any English working-class community and its opposition to dandyism and any hint of effeminacy, it must have taken a special boldness for the first Teddy Boys of South London to swagger along their drab streets in their exaggerated outfits"
youth culture and its origins