Fashion And Soul

[Pat]

An earlier post was right about fashions coming round again.As I'm shopping I keep saying that I should have kept all my old clothes from 60s and early 70s. Alan (my husband ) points out that it's not avery good idea as I was a size 8 when we met and am now size 12(10 on a good day ). He takes great pleasure in the fact that they wouldn't fit me

My friend Anne often wears dresses but I usually wear trousers to hide my podgy legs. It doesn't matter what you wear as long as you don't frighten the horses!!

KTF Pat

[Guest Trevski]

I'm with you on this.

A few months ago I saw posts that critcised the wearing of trainers (aparently you cant dance in them - thats where I've gone wrong since wearing Bamba in 78), "off the peg shirts" jeans and owt other than the "traditional" northern soul uniform....

I don't fit in then with my liking for some CP Company, Fjall raven, vintage adidas, smedley and jeans; I must be trying to be trendy

Can I join you then Byrney, always wear Ab 'n Fitch, Hollister, Ralph, Sebago. (But you ALWAYS were a trendy bugger ) Can't stand wearing something any other bloke can have from the high street, OR the 'traditional' outfit! ( and as for short sleeved shirts/tshirts that come down to the elbow, and look like a tent, )

Edited March 21, 2007 by Trevski

[Guest the dukester]

I'm not knocking what ANYONE chooses to wear (apart from the aforementioned 'Spencer's baggies' which give us all a bad name! ) But I take issue with the idea that Fred Perry shirts et.al. are somehow "traditional" Soul wear. There's no such thing. I still think the Soul scene needs to be just a little bit less conservative, in more ways than one, if it is to attract the younger punters it needs to thrive and grow.

FOR A START FRED PERRY HAS BECOME ESSENTIAL CHAV WEAR THESE DAYS, JUST LOOK AROUND YOU.

AND PEOPLE WEAR SPENCERS SOUL BAGS AT OUR SOUL NIGHT AND AS FAR AS I CAN SEE IT DOESNT GIVE ME A BAD NAME FOR LETTING THEM

A great many people mistake opinions for thoughts.

[Guest MattB]

i think the fact that fred perry is regarded as chav is the line not the designer, the original garments have an affiliation with mod culture i guess, whereas hoodies will huge logos are synonymous with the chav culture.

[Guest Ollie Lailey]

One of the main reasons I like going to northern soul events is that i really dont have to worry about what i'm wearing. I used to go to Mod nights in london , but not being a mod sometimes was made to feel a bit unwelcome by some of the patrons. When i go out i wear normally a fred perry polo, bootcut jeans and a pair of addidas trainers (forest hills at the mo') It's basicaly what ive been wearing for the last five years and im more than happy with it. I do think that there are some very smart people on the london northern soul scene (im sure elsewhere too but this is my experience) but there are also some right states, but its not about what you wear is about the music,for me anyhow.

[Guest mark shepherd]

FOR A START FRED PERRY HAS BECOME ESSENTIAL CHAV WEAR THESE DAYS, JUST LOOK AROUND YOU.

AND PEOPLE WEAR SPENCERS SOUL BAGS AT OUR SOUL NIGHT AND AS FAR AS I CAN SEE IT DOESNT GIVE ME A BAD NAME FOR LETTING THEM

A great many people mistake opinions for thoughts.

fred perry sportswear ( jd sports/house of fraser et al ) i couldnt agree more - ill fitting and inferior quality

there is oceans of difference between sports wear and limted edition gear (most of which is made in italy)

so much so that this autumn /winter sees a division in the brand when sportswear remains sportswear and all the limited edition stuff becomes the laurel range.

ive recently viewed and ordered autumn / winter 07, and its top drawer, im a clothes snob and its fast becoming my favourite brand, got a lovely wool peacoat as a sweetner and it retails at £295, you can buy the whole lot of sportswear for the same price

shep

[Guest edsuede]

I'm not knocking what ANYONE chooses to wear (apart from the aforementioned 'Spencer's baggies' which give us all a bad name! ) But I take issue with the idea that Fred Perry shirts et.al. are somehow "traditional" Soul wear. There's no such thing. I still think the Soul scene needs to be just a little bit less conservative, in more ways than one, if it is to attract the younger punters it needs to thrive and grow.

Not sure I agree that Spencers or any other kind of bags give the scene a bad name. Whilst I agree that there is no one 'traditional' type of soul wear, personally, I like to see people of all ages wearing what has at one point been traditional gear from the soul scene - whether it be Fred Perrys, suits, bags, vests, bowling shirts, circle skirts (girls only on that one !!!!), etc, but then perhaps that's because for me personally and, I suspect, alot of others, the music has always been linked with clothes and scooters. Way I see it, some people move on from the image that got them into the scene, others don't, some go to great time, expense and trouble to dress a certain way, others, by their own admission, couldn't give a toss - bottom line is, in much the same way that people like different styles of 'soul' music - whether it be R&B, Motown, Blue-eyed, Modern or Northern soul, etc, - the main thing is they love the music whatever they wear.

For what it's worth, I wear bags occasionally, along with a tailor-made blazer and Loakes Royal Brogues. I personally don't feel at any time that I've 'given the scene a bad name'. I've also noticed that some superb and well known dancers on the scene wear bags and vests, etc - and they certainly are great ambassadors in my view, for the soul scene. As a point of interest, I recently saw a young lad of around 14 at a local soul night - vest, bags - fantastic dancer!

On a more general note, in my view, attracting new blood has nothing to do with the clothes people wear - no disrespect to anyone here, but a 40/50/60 something whether dressed in contemporary or older fashion is still a 40/50/60 something! and our scene is getting older by the year. If any teenager in this day and age wants to come to a local soul night or weekender full of people the same age as their parents and grandparents, listening and dancing to music predominantly made in the the last century instead of hanging with people their own age then great - I for one will always make them welcome, but lets not kid ourselves here, there are never going to be large numbers of todays teenagers latching onto our scene, and it has b* all to do with large trousers. After all, would many of us as teenagers, truely, hand on heart have got into this scene in the 60s, 70s, 80s etc if it was'nt a young scene full of young people like ourselves?!?

[Guest mel brat]

I've also noticed that some superb and well known dancers on the scene wear bags and vests, etc...

[Guest Trevski]

I've also noticed that some superb and well known dancers on the scene wear bags and vests, etc...

Great that younger people are getting involved and are great dancers too, as I can't remember the last time I saw a really good dancer anywhere!

(pause and wait for inevitable flak...)

Where ARE all these "superb dancers" on the Northern scene? I've haven't seen any lately. If you're talking about so-called "traditional" style dancing then even when baggies were fashionable there weren't THAT many 'acrobats' who could even dance in time! I've seen some people doing the usual, tiresome acrobatic routine, but that's not the same as "good dancing" at all!

Just watch when their set routine is over. Some of them are completely clueless what to do! They can't pick up the rhythm, they can't vary the tempo, they certainly can't dance to seventies records let alone anything remotely funky or jazz tinged, in fact they can't dance to anything that doesn't fit the set routine they've learned by heart and have been performing like a circus seal for the last 30-odd years! The idea that Northern soul fans are "all good dancers" is an outdated myth I'm afraid.

well said Mel, I've been saying the same thing for years! Only one person I can think of, or have seen, that can do the business acrobaticaly AND footwork wise, is Keb. Most other acrobatic clowns can't put one foot infront of t'other when it comes to real footwork. Saw one guy at Middleton, going thru his 'routine' to a totaly inapropriate mid-tempo number, just didn't go with all that sad floorwork. Bin the gymnastics, you ain't 17 no more, and it always looked pathetic anyway IMHO, of course.

Edited March 21, 2007 by Trevski

[Guest Byrney]

MMMMM!!! Byrney your ideas intrigue me and i wish to subscribe to your newsletter...

Classic Homer , glad you got a captain cod reference in. Here's a picture of Suzanne Whitmore getting fashion tips from the captain of the good ship roxy

[Guest Karen Heath]

FOR A START FRED PERRY HAS BECOME ESSENTIAL CHAV WEAR THESE DAYS, JUST LOOK AROUND YOU.

AND PEOPLE WEAR SPENCERS SOUL BAGS AT OUR SOUL NIGHT AND AS FAR AS I CAN SEE IT DOESNT GIVE ME A BAD NAME FOR LETTING THEM

A great many people mistake opinions for thoughts.

London chavs don't wear Fred Perry-they wear Tommy Hilfiger etc and snide items from a car boot sale at that!

Edited March 21, 2007 by Karen Heath

[Guest Fatius Bumius]

Talking of Fred Perry, went in their shop in the Nottingham today, a really cool new window display too. Notts shop only tends to stock a small range of the classier stuff, not the Chav tracksuit bottoms.

In the window was a Numark deck, amplifier and speakers, and on the deck was a Desmond Dekker LP, in the other window they had LP covers hanging up, The Who, The Kinks, Mods May Day, about a dozen all together.

It's probably Fred Perrys marketing teams idea of a Chav scarecrow.

[Guest alison]

those taken of you in the 70s, all hair and moustaches, or the ones taken in the 60s? - I know when I looked the smartest.

tone Your Man @ C&A

That brought back a memory of you propping the bar up in some Gloucester dive, whilst two yokels discussed you within inches of your face...."D'you think he's one of those then ?" "Might be, he's got turn ups and a moustache... "Aye, and an earring so he must be"

My how we chuckled at their ignorance and lack of sartorial elegance

[Guest the dukester]

Can I join you then Byrney, always wear Ab 'n Fitch, Hollister, Ralph, Sebago. (But you ALWAYS were a trendy bugger ) Can't stand wearing something any other bloke can have from the high street, OR the 'traditional' outfit! ( and as for short sleeved shirts/tshirts that come down to the elbow, and look like a tent, )

And thats from a guy who used to wear a rather fetching hair net and beard snood in chocolate stained white (......so 2003 I think darling)

[Guest the dukester]

Not sure I agree that Spencers or any other kind of bags give the scene a bad name. Whilst I agree that there is no one 'traditional' type of soul wear, personally, I like to see people of all ages wearing what has at one point been traditional gear from the soul scene - whether it be Fred Perrys, suits, bags, vests, bowling shirts, circle skirts (girls only on that one !!!!), etc, but then perhaps that's because for me personally and, I suspect, alot of others, the music has always been linked with clothes and scooters. Way I see it, some people move on from the image that got them into the scene, others don't, some go to great time, expense and trouble to dress a certain way, others, by their own admission, couldn't give a toss - bottom line is, in much the same way that people like different styles of 'soul' music - whether it be R&B, Motown, Blue-eyed, Modern or Northern soul, etc, - the main thing is they love the music whatever they wear.

For what it's worth, I wear bags occasionally, along with a tailor-made blazer and Loakes Royal Brogues. I personally don't feel at any time that I've 'given the scene a bad name'. I've also noticed that some superb and well known dancers on the scene wear bags and vests, etc - and they certainly are great ambassadors in my view, for the soul scene. As a point of interest, I recently saw a young lad of around 14 at a local soul night - vest, bags - fantastic dancer!

On a more general note, in my view, attracting new blood has nothing to do with the clothes people wear - no disrespect to anyone here, but a 40/50/60 something whether dressed in contemporary or older fashion is still a 40/50/60 something! and our scene is getting older by the year. If any teenager in this day and age wants to come to a local soul night or weekender full of people the same age as their parents and grandparents, listening and dancing to music predominantly made in the the last century instead of hanging with people their own age then great - I for one will always make them welcome, but lets not kid ourselves here, there are never going to be large numbers of todays teenagers latching onto our scene, and it has b* all to do with large trousers. After all, would many of us as teenagers, truely, hand on heart have got into this scene in the 60s, 70s, 80s etc if it was'nt a young scene full of young people like ourselves?!?

RIGHT ON ED !!!! THIS GUYS GOT STYLE AND THE MOVES TO MAKE ALL ON HERE JEALOUS................... ME THINKS

[Trev Thomas]

For what it's worth, I wear bags occasionally, along with a tailor-made blazer and Loakes Royal Brogues. I personally don't feel at any time that I've 'given the scene a bad name'.

and very smart you looked too..............pity about the arsenal shirt

[Guest the dukester]

Edited March 22, 2007 by the dukester

[Trev Thomas]

TREV, OH TREV... I WAS GOING TO CHOOSE A COWBOY OUTFIT FOR MY NEXT SOUL NIGHT, BUT YOU SEEM TO ALREADY HAVE ONE BELOW YOUR NAME

[Guest MattB]

Mate is that a picture of you? dont find this strange but i had to save that, classy picture, really cool! I dont think this thread is trying to say that young people would feel obliged to dress in a certain way to attend soul gigs or be put off by how people dress!

And as for numbers coming up, me and my gang have been into it for a few years but now with the event of brighton beach kids are saying "whats that your listening too matt, sounds cool" rather than turn that crap off and then place some pig awful libertines!!

The scene is blossoming for the younger market, my only complaint is not being able to get round to more gigs!!

[Guest edsuede]

Mate is that a picture of you? dont find this strange but i had to save that, classy picture, really cool! I dont think this thread is trying to say that young people would feel obliged to dress in a certain way to attend soul gigs or be put off by how people dress!

And as for numbers coming up, me and my gang have been into it for a few years but now with the event of brighton beach kids are saying "whats that your listening too matt, sounds cool" rather than turn that crap off and then place some pig awful libertines!!

The scene is blossoming for the younger market, my only complaint is not being able to get round to more gigs!!

The picture is of late 60s/early 70s 'love god' and fashion icon Jason King aka actor Peter Wyngarde. At his peak in the early 70s he was voted as the man most Australian (I think) women wanted to be seduced by (ironic in view of his sexual preferences). Whilst there are obvious similarities between me and JK - i.e. a love of fine tailoring, and....erm....the love god bit I'm not worthy to mentioned in the same breath!

Good on you and your mates for joining the soul scene - keep on keepin' on.

[Guest mel brat]

RIGHT ON ED !!!! THIS GUYS GOT STYLE AND THE MOVES TO MAKE ALL ON HERE JEALOUS................... ME THINKS