Teddy Boys
テディボーイズ / 1950s– / Style / Subculture Style
Working-class youths appropriated Edwardian upper-class dress. Postwar Britain's first youth subculture, it set the pattern for every youth culture that followed.
At a glance
Visual cues
- Long drape jackets
- Slim ties
- Crepe-soled shoes
- The quiff
Best used for
- Borrowing dress from a higher class and shifting what it means
- Building a group look tied to music through agreed details
Use this style
Take the compact brief into a project or hand the structured version to an AI tool.
Detailed guidance and sourcesProduction rules, reference works, comparisons, research and citation formats
Dictionary entry
- Type
- No lettering, the hair and the shoe declare the affiliation
- Composition
- Drop the jacket long and add contrast collar and cuffs to stress the vertical
- Material
- Thick crepe soles, narrow woven ties, cloth that takes a drape
- Caution
- The more carefully the Edwardian detail is reproduced the more authentic it looks, and the joke about class quietly disappears.
- Further study
- Appropriating the Edwardian style / the reception of rock and roll / class and the politics of dress
Related entries
- Mod (モッズ)Same Subculture Style lineage.Compare Teddy Boys and Mod
- Punk (パンク)Shared effects: Rebellion.Compare Teddy Boys and Punk
Often confused with
More from Subculture Style
Continue through styles in the same Subculture Style family, prioritised by shared effects.
- Zoot Suit (ズートスーツ)Shared effects: Rebellion / Play.
- Hippie Style (ヒッピー・スタイル)Shared effects: Rebellion / Play.
- Art Brut (アール・ブリュット)Shared effects: Rebellion / Play.
Browse all Subculture Style entries
Cite this entry
The dictionary is meant to be linked to. Take whichever form fits where you are writing.
- Link
- https://indexstyle.org/styles/teddy-boys
- Markdown
- [Teddy Boys — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/teddy-boys)
- HTML
- <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/teddy-boys">Teddy Boys — IndexStyle</a>