THE FRED PERRY MURDER | France's fashionable fascists. Magadh, in Wednesday's Souciant.
In the 1980s, skinheads spread to continental Europe, North America, and Australia, even to Japan. To a certain extent it piggybacked on punk, tapping into the common currents of adolescent angst.
This was my first encounter with skinheads. The town I grew up in had a faction of skinheads that called themselves "The Dead Boys." They toggled the line between skinhead and punk. They were all decked out in black combat boots, black pants and jean jackets. I don't think they'd have been caught dead wearing a Fred Perry shirt. They terrified our small town and were constantly being written about in the local paper. They committed petty crimes, stole old lady's purses etc. They smoked a lot at the Mill Pond. I thought they were the coolest thing ever. I was 12 when I got my first pair of combat boots and smoked my first cigarette. Had they been wearing Fred Perry shirts, I might never have become a smoker.
cliffelam, I had a good friend growing up that was a SHARP (skin head against racial prejudice) named Kevin. If he witnessed someone being a bigot... look out. Kevin was a fearless badass that, in his mind, used his ability to pummel people for the power of good. Come to think of it, he definitely did dress in those types of shirts. They always looked like bowling shirts to me.
Missed us here in the US, AFAIK. It's like when I lived in Oz - one thing that struck me was that "sticking points" in different societies just don't match up. Abortion arguments? Defense spending? Gay rights? Healthcare? Taxes? Just can't predict what matters where. -XC