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Are the Kinks Mod?

14/8/2017

Maybe someone can fill me in on this one - in @MichaelRees84 ‘s battle of the bands on twitter, the Kinks recently beat the Small Faces by popular vote.

Obviously this doesn’t mean they’re more Mod (if there is such a thing), but it’s something I was thinking about - they weren’t exactly as uptight and buttoned up as the Small Faces were … you might even say they kept up a slightly hippy-esque style. Yet they are spoken of in the same breath.

They were of the period and dressed a bit similar, but I can't say I've ever seen them on scooter. They seem somehow a bit more eccentric to be into the Mod scene.

Of course this is my opinion - perhaps you've got some insider details.

Anyway here’s a few of the more Moddy pics that I can take inspo from.

3 Comments

Rod link

14/8/2017 07:31:07 pm

IMO 1964 was the watershed year for Mods. Prior to that it was an elite group of faces and stylists with a gradually spreading influence around the clubs and coffee bars of west London. By the time of the 1964 riots it had gone mainstream and became severely egalitarian and diluted from that point on.

Also young English kids who were influenced by the Mod look and their music who decided to form bands such as Townshend, Marriott and Davies - by the time they'd got their skills to the point they could release records it was already 1964-1965 and for me the zenith of The Look had already peaked. Also a lot of these lads - most obviously The Who - were stage managed in their threads. So if you look to British bands from the sixties as icons of Mod style, beyond individual items or some key photos you're on a bit of a slippery slope. Marriott may have looked the dogs bollocks in 1964. A year later he was wearing flowery shirts with his tie inside his collar like a cravat, and a year after that he was wearing a paisley jump suit with bell bottoms. The Kinks flirted with The Look too and definitely appealed to Mods but we're stage managed in hunting pink jackets too before succumbing to the frilly shirts and velvet/brocade jackets of the psychedelic look which The Who and The Stones also joined for a minute.

Lots of Mods said they loved The Who's music and energy but didn't rate them as dressers as the Mods reckoned they themselves were always better dressed than the band.

16/8/2017 12:48:55 pm

Thanks Rod - this is actually a very significant insight and confirms some of my own suspicions.

Part of my own interpretation was definitely that the movement shifted from the mid-60s onwards from lofty individualism to a kind of egalitarian solidarity as you say. My reference point lies somewhere between 1959-62 currently for the "real" (if there is one!) look.

I also like your point that basically the bands are generally behind the curve in respect to the fashion.

I see the band clothes as a kind of gateway drug which led me into wanting more - and finding out there was much deeper to go as far as the look went.

Rod link

16/8/2017 10:54:14 pm

Yeah I pretty much agree reagarding the general timing of The Look and it's evolution. I take my personal cues from the very early sixties but I reckon most of those early faces were more concerned with the suited look. Those lads no doubt we're a bit snooty when it all exploded into 'street style' but one thing we have to thank for that explosion is the inclusion of more casual items - Levi's, bowling shoes, polo shirts, cycling shirts, Harrington jackets etc., which can provide a framework for your outfits from formal to casual.

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