A Modern problem
Modernism is a significant part of the scooter scene’s make-up and has been around longer than almost anything else, but is it becoming divided?
The scooter scene has always been made up of many factions that happily sit side by side, and that’s part of the reason why it’s so diverse. We often accept that those from a Scooterboy or Northern Soul background are the scene's mainstay, which is true to a certain extent. However, as a sub-culture, the Mod element has been around the longest, going back more than 60 years. Some are in denial that being a Mod was their way into scooters, while others, me included, are proud of the fact. Let’s face it, the late 1970s Mod revival is responsible for a considerable number of the scooterists around today; whether they were inducted at the time or a few years later.
It doesn’t matter if you were into the Mod thing for just a few months; it affected your life forever. For many, it’s just a distant memory of the music and fashion, not to forget how their scooters were decorated. There are those, however, who, once they became submerged in the culture, stayed with it. Not just for a few years but for life, whether in the 1960s or in more recent times and here lies one of its problems. Much of it depends on what period a person entered into the Mod ethic, and because it has been around for so long, it is very diverse.
If someone were a Mod in the 1960s, they would have been subject to the clothing and music styles of the time. Fast forward to the revival in the 1970s, and both the music and fashion on offer were far removed from that of the original Mods. The same applied to those who became involved in the so-called ‘third wave’ of Mod that ran parallel to the Britpop culture of the 1990s; each time, it was different. Even if Mods try to immerse themselves into a previous era, it’s impossible. The world has moved on. You can act it out, but that’s all; you can’t go back there.
This is where the problems start, because the Mod movement is made up of people from different eras, and they all have their own opinions on it, even more so with the advent of social media. It seems like there is a hierarchy that’s determined by which era an individual is from, and the closer to the present, the harder it is to be accepted. As an example, if you became a teenage Mod in 1979, you would have been born in the 1960s, so couldn’t be an original Mod. Does that mean you aren’t worthy just because of when you were born? If anything, g it was more difficult to achieve the correct look in the 1980s than at any other time in history. Bespoke tailoring was beyond the reach of most revivalists and there were few outlets outside of the village jumble sale at which original clothes could be found. It’s also now the case that there’s disagreement as to what is classed as Modernist style, with many purists regarding others as being careless with the accepted standard.
There is another crucial fact in all this because as we get older, trying to relive our past becomes harder. The Mod culture was one of several post-war teenage fashions that rebelled against the establishment. It was all about being different, whether it was Teddy Boys, Mods, Punks, you name it. How we dressed and looked as teenagers is far removed from what we wear now. Try as hard as we can, few of us are as slim as we were back then, and chances are that men haven’t so much hair on their heads. That means we won’t look the same, however smartly we dress and keep up our fitness levels.
A lot of this has led to some people wearing ea ing all sosortsts of attiattiree andand, dadaree I sasay, not giving the right vibes for what the culture was about. This has led to the disparaging ‘comedy’ or ‘plastic’ Mod labels, but the problem with any culture is that it has different levels of standards that intentionally or unintentionally divide its followers. The Mod ethic was always about being different and staying ahead of everyone else, a sort of one-upmanship against your rivals; that intensity is what made such sharp dressers in the first place but that intensity could now divide the movement beyond repair.
You may ask where all this analysis leads to? The answer is to often bitter rows, usually played out on social media for all to see. You don’t have to look far to find it, and at times, it is quite caustic and the infighting seems to be intensifying. Because of the 60-year-plus existence of the movement there will be differences of opinion, but should someone wanting to be part of it now be banished because they don’t quite conform with how it was in the past? We all know the scooter scene has an ageing following and often question how long it has got left. The Mod part of it has been, and always will be, an important part of the scene’s makeup; but it doesn’t seem such a happy place at the moment.
I expect a possible backlash from this article, but it needs saying, and perhaps it is time to join together because, in the end, if divided, it will fall.
Some are in denial that being a Mod was their way into scooters, while others, me included, are proud of the fact.