Fashion Essay Example: Street Style Feedback

I did enjoy this week's culture. I was familiar with The Mods before. I have always had a penchant for subcultures and their influence on how young people behave. As a result, courtesy of my efforts to find more about the subcultures, I came across information about The Mods and the impact that their subculture had on Britain during 1960s.

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I have seen before in the story instances where people who belong to a certain subculture take something that belongs to a culture that is deemed and use it to make fun of the superior culture.

There are other examples drawn from Street style where a subculture takes sartorial elements that do not belong to that subculture as a means of sticking their finger to individuals who are higher up in terms of socio-economic status. For instance, the American Mafia used to have a habit of dressing in expensive suits that would normally be dressed by United States government officials as a way of making fun of the American government system. The Mods adopted Italian suits that they saw on Blue Note jazz sleeves and used them as a trade mark for their subculture (Crocker, 2015).

I do not agree with the Guardians journalist who criticizes the re-emergence of the Mod culture in the United Kingdom. The journalist argues that it is wrong to borrow from a certain subculture without embracing all elements of that subculture. I find no problem with a new subculture borrowing some elements from an old subculture. As a matter of fact, all subcultures that have been in existence in the past, have always borrowed some elements from subcultures that preceded them. The inclusion of race in the journalists argument is not a valid argument but rather a cheap shot at the Neo- Mods who are predominantly white (Horsfield, 2013).

I did enjoy this weeks viewing, The Mods and the Rockers. The Mods and The Rockers did not go to war because of sheer clothing. The Mods and The Rockers did go to war because of rivalry and supremacy battles. The Mods thought that there subculture was superior and The Rockers thought that their subculture was superior. The Rockers had a penchant for motorbikes and Rock n Roll music. The Mods on the other hand had a penchant for modern things. The Mods were interested in creating a new type of person that was different from what they saw in their families and their society. The Mods viewed themselves as forward thinking and elitist. The Mods were had a fondness for music, moves, medication and stylish clothes. Teenagers in the 1960s were lucky because they were the first post-war generation that did not have to do national service. As a result, they had the freedom to enjoy everything that the world had to offer. By 1963 in Britain, modernism was mainstream, and the older generation did not like it. The older generation was bothered by the strange new ways that the young people were using to enjoy themselves. The Mods were looked down upon by The Rockers for riding scooters. The Rockers despised scooters because they were slow and apparently designed for girls. The Mods considered The Rockers to be inferior whereas The Rockers accused The Mods to be effeminate because of their love for fashion. The rivalry between The Mods and The Rockers reached its height in 1964 when members of the two subculture engaged in combat. The Mods and The Rockers used knives in their fights. The British society viewed The Mods and The Rockers as a menace to society. The worst violence was experienced in Brighton where families were trapped in the conflict, eliciting many questions about the moral status of British youth. During The Mods and the Rockers war, there was stone throwing, and there were also scuffles (Horsfield, 2013).

I think the success of Bill Cunningham is pegged on the fact that he has an ardent follower of different subcultures for many years. Bill Cunningham has consistently followed street fashion by taking photographs and writing about different attires and subcultures associated with the fashion. I think Bill Cunninghams photographs are good and his legendary status should not only be attributed to his Point-of-View documentary (Crocker, 2015).

I do agree with the author to a small extent that street style photography has turned out into a gift getting exercise, where bloggers accept gifts from labels so as to write positive reviews about certain labels. According to me, accepting gifts from labels undermines the integrity of the process. Bloggers and journals should adhere to journalistic ethics and professionalism in their conduct. It is unethical for a blogger to write a positive review about a certain label when in the real sense; the blogger knows that there is something wrong with fashion associated with the label (Crocker, 2015).

I do agree with the author that street style photographers nowadays generally photograph different variations of the same look. This could be because present day photographers do not do photography because they have the passion for street style fashion. The photographers could be doing photography because they just want to make a quick dollar. Also, most of the present-day photographers of street fashion lack creativity (Crocker, 2015).

References

Crocker, L. (2015). Did Street Style Die During New York Fashion Week? Daily Beast. Retrieved on June 5, 2017 from http://www.thedailybeast.com/did-street-style-die-during-new-york-fashion-week

Horsfield, M. (2013). There's a new breed of mods in the UK: it's just a pity their music is no good. The Guardian. Retrieved on June 5, 2017 from https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/apr/26/modern-mods-music-no-good