RELATED SEARCHES
Sponsored Mod Movement Results:
Scooter And The Mod Movement
By:
Published: October 17, 2006
In the late 1950s, a new subculture began to emerge, one unlike any before it. The members of this subculture preoccupied themselves with the moment—the newest clothing trends, the latest musical styles, the hippest hangouts and the emergence of scooters as a preferred mode of transportation. These youths stayed out late, often just to see and be seen.
The Mod movement had arrived.
The Mod movement began in London around 1958, when a few cliques of teenage men with family connections to the garment trade made acquaintance. The term Mod simply connotes modernism or modern.
Perhaps more than anything else, music played an integral role in the lifestyle. Mods tended to gravitate toward nightclubs or hangouts to listen to jazz music. Later, as more and more adolescents caught on to the tastes cultivated by the Mod movement, soul and British beat music became favorites. Drugs played a significant role on the social scene, particularly amphetamines, which gave young men and women the energy needed for a long night on the town.
Fashion was a significant factor in defining the movement. After all, clothing can silently make strong social statements. Merely a decade before, demure styles dominated popular taste. Mod fashion presented a strong contrast with bold colors and strong silhouettes. Men adopted slim fitting, tailored suits, while women preferred that classic icon of 1960s fashion: the miniskirt. The garment, shocking for its time, embodied the anything goes attitude characterizing the decade.
Hairstyles, too, offered the occasion to make a bold statement, with avant-garde styles such as choppy bobs. Makeup emphasized heavily-lined eyes and pale lips. These looks, so original in their day, now define the Mod moment in popular history.
The scooter served as another staple of the Mod movement. It offered the perfect mode of transportation for the men and women who stayed out all night. An evening did not have to end simply because modes of public transportation had shut down for the night; hopping on a scooter could jet a person from one club to the next. The scooter's affordability also appealed to young adults.
After thriving for about a decade, the Mod movement began to die down during the second half of the 1960s. The Mod lifestyle began to give way to the flower power mentality of the hippie movement. Times were changing. Just as the Mod culture represented a sharp departure from the styles and ideals of a decade before, so did the new hippie subculture. As the hippies presented a passive outlook on life that was the total opposite of the frenetic energy of the mod ethos, love beads replaced tailored suits.
These days, while most regard the Mod movement as a sliver in pop culture history, some continue to cultivate Mod style and ideals through a thriving underground culture, which includes a strong resurgence in the urban scooter's popularity.
Sources:
Mod Fashion. 2003. 10 Oct 2006 .
Mod (lifestyle). Wikipedia. 2006. Wikipedia Foundation, Inc. 10 Oct 2006 .
The Mod movement began in London around 1958, when a few cliques of teenage men with family connections to the garment trade made acquaintance. The term Mod simply connotes modernism or modern.
Perhaps more than anything else, music played an integral role in the lifestyle. Mods tended to gravitate toward nightclubs or hangouts to listen to jazz music. Later, as more and more adolescents caught on to the tastes cultivated by the Mod movement, soul and British beat music became favorites. Drugs played a significant role on the social scene, particularly amphetamines, which gave young men and women the energy needed for a long night on the town.
Fashion was a significant factor in defining the movement. After all, clothing can silently make strong social statements. Merely a decade before, demure styles dominated popular taste. Mod fashion presented a strong contrast with bold colors and strong silhouettes. Men adopted slim fitting, tailored suits, while women preferred that classic icon of 1960s fashion: the miniskirt. The garment, shocking for its time, embodied the anything goes attitude characterizing the decade.
Hairstyles, too, offered the occasion to make a bold statement, with avant-garde styles such as choppy bobs. Makeup emphasized heavily-lined eyes and pale lips. These looks, so original in their day, now define the Mod moment in popular history.
The scooter served as another staple of the Mod movement. It offered the perfect mode of transportation for the men and women who stayed out all night. An evening did not have to end simply because modes of public transportation had shut down for the night; hopping on a scooter could jet a person from one club to the next. The scooter's affordability also appealed to young adults.
After thriving for about a decade, the Mod movement began to die down during the second half of the 1960s. The Mod lifestyle began to give way to the flower power mentality of the hippie movement. Times were changing. Just as the Mod culture represented a sharp departure from the styles and ideals of a decade before, so did the new hippie subculture. As the hippies presented a passive outlook on life that was the total opposite of the frenetic energy of the mod ethos, love beads replaced tailored suits.
These days, while most regard the Mod movement as a sliver in pop culture history, some continue to cultivate Mod style and ideals through a thriving underground culture, which includes a strong resurgence in the urban scooter's popularity.
Sources:
Mod Fashion. 2003. 10 Oct 2006 .
Mod (lifestyle). Wikipedia. 2006. Wikipedia Foundation, Inc. 10 Oct 2006 .
Featured Mod Movement Products:
