Subculture's Mod: Alysha Stirling

After Scarlett's interview being such a hit I thought I would interview another Mod girl who I think influences a lot of young girls with her style and grace. As I follow Alysha on social media sites I always see her dressed smart and looking good, wither she's going to work or college. So luckily for me she agreed to do a short interview for this blog, lets get started!

 

How did you get into the mod scene Alysha?

I first got into the mod scene around about a year ago. I've always loved the sixties. I looked at pictures and saw how mod girls would dress. I had a few style disasters at first but I got there in the end!

 

What's your favourite thing about being a Mod?
I love being a mod because I feel different, smart and confident. I don't feel as though I blend in. My boyfriend is also a mod, I'm lucky to have him! It's lovely to have a relationship with someone who loves exactly the same things as you.

Who are your biggest influences for your style?
I mainly get outfit ideas and inspirations from old photographs from the 60s. I think they're the biggest influences!

Are you a vintage shopper or a high street shopper?
I'm a bit of both, I like to rummage around vintage & charity shops to see what I can find. I love the idea of wearing something that no one else has. Most of my skirts are vintage but I love Fred Perry and H&M too.

What's your favourite type of music to listen to?
I love Britpop, Northern Soul, Rhythm and Blues and old 60s rock n roll such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks and I love the small faces!

Who are your most adored bands/artists?
I would probably say Oasis are one of my favourite bands, I grew up listening to them. The Who, Small Faces and Northern Soul is high up on the list!

Where would you say the best place to find other mods to talk to?
I haven't had much experience at Northern soul dos, but when I've been I've always met lovely mods! Twitter and Instagram is full of both young and old mods too.

If you could take one item of clothing and one record with you to a party, what would it be? My one item of clothing would be my vintage fur coat and my record would be 'Whatcha Gonna Do About It?' by the Small Faces.

Alysha down the Quadrophenia alley

What are your favourite events to attend?
I love going to gigs and also Northern Soul nights, although I haven't had much experience of them but I've loved it whenever I've gone! I also love going shopping in Brighton, I'd love to go to the Mod Weekender one year

What are your top 5 wardrobe essentials?
A pencil skirt, a roll neck or polo, loafers, tights and my trusty Art Gallery Clothing bag

Your bee hive is pretty legendary!! how long does it take you to do & how did you learn to do it?
It only takes me about 10-15 minutes to do my beehive, my hair is quite long but thin so back combing alone doesn't hold. I back comb the top and grip a hair donut to the back of my head, then I smooth my hair over, grip and hairspray! I know it's cheating a bit, but it ends up wonky otherwise.

Thank you to Alysha Stirling for doing the interview and I hope you all enjoyed it!

Alysha & her close friend Stacie Stewart

 

Subculture's Mod: Interview with young Mod Scarlett

I did say that the next interview was going to be Northern Soul Dancer but I just got a reply for my Mod interview, so we shall start with this one first. This interview comes from 15 year old Mod Scarlett, she has recently featured in a documentary about Mods called 'Faces in the Crowd' directed by Emma-Rosa Dias due out in the new year so keep your eyes open for it!

Scarlett chilling on her dads scooter

How did you get into the Mod scene?
Through my Dad, he is a mod and I grew up with the music and gradually began to like it.

What is your favourite thing about being a Mod?
It's cool, you're always looking sharp, and you get noticed a LOT more when you don't blend in with the crowd.

Who are your biggest influences for your style?
Mainly old 60s- 80s photographs, they inspire me to pair certain items together. Seeing what they wore and how they wore it originally is how I interpret the scene best. Twiggy was my first hair influence and I eventually adapted it to my own.

Are you a vintage shopper or a high street shopper?
I'm Both! Love proper vintage but then items from the high street can look great depending on how you wear it.

What's your favourite type of music to listen to?
Sixties Rhythm and blues, soul, and at the moment I'm beginning to like the mod revivalist bands, such as Beggar and Small Hours

Who are your most adored bands/artists?
First band I got into were The Small Faces, some of their early unknown songs are absolute crackers! (favourite is 'Baby don't you do it' -the best ever!)

Do you own a scooter?
Unfortunately no, I'm too young, but my dad has a gorgeous 1961 Lambretta Li

Would you say everyone should try the Mod scene?
I think if everyone tried it, it wouldn't be as special, but if they want to then it's the best subculture to choose.

How would people go about looking into becoming a Mod? Are there websites/forums you can suggest?
I found forums such as The Mod Generation didn't really help me being a young mod, but books like A-Z of Mod, and Mods! really educated me properly into doing it the right way.

Scarlett and the Faces in the Crowd's film crew
 

If you could choose one item of clothing and one record to take to a party with you, what would it be?
My black mac and my 45 of 'Come on now' by the Kinks. the mac is essential and the record is such a tune!

How did you get to be in the documentary 'Faces in the Crowd'?
This producer, Emma- rosa Dias contacted me after Stacie Stewart told her about me, because I'm so young they did a feature on me and I got meet Eddie Piller.

Scarlett with Emma Rosa Dias and Eddie Piller

Thanks to Scarlett for agreeing to do this interview, hopefully she will inspire some younger people to join the Mod scene. I look forward to seeing her in the documentary as well as a lot of other people you may recognise from the scene, a big thanks to Emma Rosa Dias for doing a Mod documentary its long over due!

Competition Time

This is the first blog competition I've done, what you'll have to do is follow me on twitter jlbolt1 and retweet my post for this competition. If you retweet my post you can have the chance of winning a Paisley Scarf (see picture below).

I will announce the winner on twitter as well as on here, so keep you eyes open as I will need to get your contact details.

This Competition closes on Thursday 12th December, good luck!!

Subculture's Skinhead: Interview with female skinhead Ebony

I thought it would be a great idea to start interviewing influential females from different subcultures, Ebony was my choice for the Skinhead edition. A very pretty and confident Skinhead with a great eye for fashion, luckily for me she agreed to do the interview via facebook and sent me some great pictures to go along with it. So lets get started!

Ebony, what influenced you to become a Skinhead?
My parents were a big influence, I've always taken an interest in the type of music that's linked with the scene and the style of clothing that's worn.

Would you say you that being a Skinhead should be something everyone should consider trying?
Nope, the scene isn't for everyone.

What is your favourite Skinhead social events to attend?
scooter rallies.

What are your favourite bands/artists?
Desmond Dekker / The Maytals.

What's your main choice of music to listen to?
I'd say Ska, reggae and a bit of 2 tone are my favourites.

What do you love most about being a skinhead?
Style, attitude, and pride.

Ebony Djing

How did you get into Djing?
A good friend of my mum's is a well known dj based in London, and at one rally this year he told me he wanted to teach and train up a young skinhead girl to go double act with him.. I've always wanted to learn, and it was just coincidence that i fitted what he was looking for.

What would your advice be to girls who want to get into the scene and also cut their hair, as some girls get nervous about that part..?
You've got to have a "not a care in the world" attitude to want to shave your hair... If you have doubts about doing it, it's pointless :-)

If people were looking to become a Skinhead how would they go about it? Is there like a website or forum people can check out?
You'd basically have to know people... or have the balls to go out to gigs and meet people. Once you've earnt your respect, you'll then be added to pages on the internet to meet other skinheads etc.

I have been given permission for all photos used
 

Thank you very much for Ebony for agreeing to be interviewed as part as my subcultures Skinhead edition. Its been great to talk to people from other subcultures other than Mod, next interview will be with a Northern Soul dancer.

Northern Soul Dancing

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the wonders of Northern Soul dancing. Now I'm no where as good as I would like to be but I know many people that are, one of which has had 206,000 views on her most recent YouTube video where she dances Northern Soul to Pharrell Williams song 'Happy'. I've seen her on the dance floor and she glides around the floor like she's on roller skates, with a lot of rhythm and a hell a lot of soul !

I do understand that Northern Soul isn't everyones cup of tea but I think everyone should at least give it a try, even if you just purchase a Norhtern Soul collection on CD or give it a listen to on Spotify. After going to my first All Nighter I was completely hooked, everyone who goes to a Soul night are so friendly and welcoming. People who have been going for years love new comers to the scene, its a way to spread the word about Northern Soul nights and therefore keep the All Dayers and Nighters functioning.

If your not sure about going to a popular night as your first encounter then research to see if there's one locally to you which is always a good starting point. The best website for finding out what's on at the weekend and due in the week all over the Country, Europe and the World is; http://www.soul-source.co.uk/. This website has a great deal of information and also a forum where people talk about Soul and sell/buy records off of each other. Soul Source tell you about the main events such as Stoke, Blackpool and 100 Club but also about all the little events that happen too.

 

 

Levanna Mclean, ifthisislev youtube video and twitter account https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZLLPaX4SS4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

you must watch this video her dancing is fabulous!

 

Give Northern Soul a go, you won't regret it!

 



 

 

 

My top 5 wardrobe essentials

These are the things that I think everyone should have in their wardrobe, there will be a time in your life when you'll need to wear them and rather than borrow off a friend, purchase them because you will wear them more than once. You might not agree with all my suggestions but I think its a good place to start, check to see how many of the 5  items you have in your wardrobe.

 

 

 

1. Shift Dress

I am a big fan of wearing dresses, they make you look very feminine and if worn correctly with really bring attention to your greatest assets. Shift dresses I think are perfect there not too clingy but not too baggy, they hang in all the right places, generally short (but you can get longer ones) and you can choose from three designs which consist of long sleeve, cap sleeve and thick straps. Round neck and high neck tend to be the most popular shapes for the top half, round neck is better if your big busted and high neck is better for the smaller busted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Leggings/Tights

Leggings are great for if your going on a night out and its a bit chilly (like it is now) but you don't have any nice jeans to wear. Make sure they fit well, not too loose or too tight (no one wants a camel toe). Tights an essential as they go well with skirts and dresses, generally they aren't as thick as leggings. They are available in every colour of the rainbow I'm sure, black I think is the better colour to go for but you really have to make that call your self.

 

 

 

 

3. Pencil Skirt

I love pencil skirts, I think they look great and there also really comfortable. Pencil skirts are sexy but without flashing to the whole world, its all about the length in this case. Wearing heels with this skirt really brings the look together, looks great on the bum too and you don't really have to wear tights with this either. I would say tuck the top into the skirt just because I think it looks better or wear a crop top (maybe the wrong time of year for that though).

 

 

3. Knitwear

I do love a jumper, this time of year they are so comfy and warm while still looking good. Popular styles of jumpers at the moment in the high street shops are baggy and bat wing ones, I like bat wing jumpers a little annoying to wear under a coat that's the only problem. When it comes to the design on the jumpers, I only really seem to have round necks and I wear plain or stripped ones. No reason as to why it just seemed to have worked out like that. Roll neck or Turtle necks are very comfortable, they usually come plain unless you buy an original.

 

4. Trench Coat
Everyone wants to look like a rogue inspector from an old detective film and what better way to do it than getting a Trench Coat. Mines the 'traditional' colour of beige but you can get them in Brown, Black, Blue and I'm sure Red is available too. By the coat coming with a belt, it really makes the whole look a lot better by nipping you in at the waist. Collar up actually looks really nice but you do look a bit like a Godfathers Mrs when your wear the coat like that (not that its a bad thing).

5. Loafers
I've been wearing Loafers ever since I was at school because they are so comfortable, a good pair do need a bit of breaking in but once they've been broken in they are great to wear. They come in gorgeous colours and shades, burgundy is my favourite coloured loafers which I'm yet to purchase but they are on my wish list. Dr Martens do what I call heavy duty loafers (think there just called loafers) but they have the thickest rubber soles. You can get Loafers with tassels, without tassels, with buckles or just plain (just as pretty as each other).


This was quite a short post today, trying to think of things to come up with. That was my Top 5 wardrobe essentials which I think works all year round but especially due in spring, autumn and winter. Don't forget to layer up this time of year, no one likes being cold but also don't go for the marshmallow look either.

Bass Loafers, 60s Christmas ad

Picked this mainly for the photo, as its great!

London Fog Trench Coat

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Get the right look - Makeup

1960s makeup, eyes become more dramatic, fake eye lashes were used more, bright coloured lip stick and pale foundation. Face painting was also very popular in the 60s with hippies and festival lovers, I have a few examples of the popular make up styles of the era.

Twiggy: The most popular make up style of the 60s, loads of eye liner and fake eye lashes. The part of this style that really makes this look pop is the painted on bottom eye lashes, makes the look stand out perfectly. You do really need a steady hand to do this look well, once you've practised a few times it does get easier and quicker to do.
The best colour to use for this look is black eye liner but you can use other colours but the look won't look as original. Colour eye shadow would be a better way to make the look stand out rather than colour eye liner, just match the colour to your outfit to bring your look together.

Audrey Hepburn: If your like me and have dark dramatic eye brows then this look might work better for you. Just slightly draw in your brows to make them more dominate in this look, use little or light foundation and powder, eye liner on the top lid, little mascara on the bottom lashes and a red lipstick to really make the look stand out.
I think Hepburn was beautiful with little makeup on but this look really makes her stand out, this is a great makeup style to use for a night out minimal but affective. (Double up eye liner)

Elizabeth Taylor: One of the most iconic looks for Ms Taylor in her whole career, dramatic doesn't even describe this look. The eyes are the main and only focus to this look, as you can see the face has little foundation on, a natural lipstick and a bronzer rather than blusher on the cheeks. This is most definitely an evening look, if you don't want people to be able to take their eyes off of you this is the best look by far to go for.
Now don't go over the top with this, eye brows have been drawn over to make darker, eye liner has been extended to meet the brow and over the whole top lid. Then filled in with blue eye shadow (use a colour that matches your outfit), liner has also been used on the bottom too a thick line to meet with the top at the corner of the eye. False lashes have been used for this look also, don't buy lashes that are too big as this style is already dramatic enough.

Priscilla Presley:  This image I am mainly focusing on the lips, out lined with a darker lip liner and a paler lipstick makes them really stand out. Her eye make up is really dark, looks like she has a thick eye liner on the top with black/dark eye shadow with very big false eye lashes. She has a nice thin liner on her bottom lashes, very dramatic eye brows and a lovely pink blush. (Drama eye liner)

 Jean Shrimpton: A great minimal make up look from Jean here, she has the same eye make up as the Twiggy example but with a pale eye shadow which makes her eyes look brighter. She has a nice light pink lipstick on with quite a lot of pink blush on but it really works well with this 60s style.

 Hippies Face Paint: Face painting in the 60s was very popular with hippies, the only time you would now really want to use face paint is to a party and if your going to do it you might as well do it properly. YouTube will have some great tutorials of how to do a 60s face painted look.

60s Advertisement: Yardley of London and Mary Quant.

These are some of the eye liner looks you can try out, my favourites are 'Drama', 'Egyptian' and 'Luxe'. Hope you liked this blog entry, leave your comments if you enjoyed the read.

Hairstyles of the 1960s

Being a fan of the Mod scene a lot girls have short hair, which I prefer on myself but there are other 1960s hairstyles you can have if you don't like having your hair short. When I had mid length hair I use to put my hair in a beehive and use rollers to make my hair curly so there are other ways to style your hair for that 60s look. Here are some examples of the type of styles you could look at doing.

Hairstyles

Mary Quant: Vidal Sassoon was the inventor of the short but stylish Mod hair cuts. The bob being one of the most popular hairstyles around at that time. Very neat, clean and smart, you need to get a short hairstyle like this trimmed regularly as you won't be able to see once its grown out.

Twiggy: This hairstyle is what I call the Pageboy look (I don't know if that's correct or not), one side is always longer than the other with a side parting. Short hairstyles look great and are easy to look after.

Brigitte Bardot: The beehive is one of the most iconic 1960s hairstyle, preferably you need long hair for this style to look right (longer than mid length) and be easier to style correctly. I've done it with mid length hair before it can be done but it takes patients and a lot of time to get right. If you want to try it on mid length hair, watch a YouTube tutorial some are really good!

Audrey Hepburn: The most simple of all hairstyles is wearing long hair or mid length hair down and to accessorise with a thick head band or a clip. Push back your fringe with the head band for the Hepburn look.

Catherine Deneuve: Catherine is wearing a wide bun (not one of them Essex buns), this is a neat properly formed bun with brushed hair. I have nothing against buns that are nice and don't look like they are about to fall off of your head.

Jackie Kennedy: The short bob that either flicks out or under. In this pictures its flicking out, you can get this look by either using straighteners or the 'set' way which would be using rollers. You might want to use medium rollers so the flick is larger rather than tight. You can also use rollers to flick your hair under, smaller might be better as they will sit under your chin better.

 

Jean Shrimpton: Accessories that were worn a lot in the 60s were headscarves mainly when girls had left their rollers in they were used to keep them in place but now days we wear them as headbands, which make them look a lot better. 

I'm going to leave you with this wig newspaper advert from the 60s, if you cant get the hairstyle your trying to achieve you could always buy a wig?!

Bright winter sunshine is in my eyes

You might think that doing a blog entry about sunglasses in the winter is a bit crazy but I've spent most of my day squinting while trying to drive. Winter sun is actually really bright and very dangerous to drive in as the floor is usually wet and the sun bounces right off it.

While your driving around this winter, why not look good at the same time?!  

I am one of them people who have a lot of pairs of sunglasses, not expensive ones, usually about £15 or under. The darker the better so when you take them on holiday they can handle the harsh summer sun but for winter in England you might want a brown lens pair.

 

 

 

I've collected some pictures from Google of original 60s sunglasses so you can decide on the type of style you prefer, this way you can buy new sunglasses from for example H&M instead of spending your time hunting around vintage shops and websites for that perfect pair.



 

Personally I prefer square sunglasses, big enough to cover the whole eye and brow. Sunglasses come in every colour you can possibly imagine, the colour I'm not really into is probably the colour most associated with the 60s which is white. Its each to their own though, I like black, red, brown and blue. I also steer clear of pink, orange, yellow and purple which are the colours for more 'Flower Power' 60s.

 

You have to keep in mind when buying accessories 'is this going to go with anything I own?'

 

Styles

 

Butterfly: Audrey Hepburn is wearing a gorgeous pair of sunglasses, a great size for her big eyes and not too round. As the picture is in black and white its hard to tell the colour but to me they look like tortious shell which is probably my favourite colour for sunglasses.   

 

 

Square: Brigitte Bardot is wearing a lovely pair of sunnies in this, very eye catching white and a dramatic shape. Get a pair of sunglasses like this if you want to be noticed, pink lipstick would go very well with these glasses too. 

 

Round Bug Eye: Twiggy is the 60s model I associate with sunglasses, these pair are unusual as they have see through frames and a light black lens (great for winter sun). With sunglasses that have light lenses, always make sure you do your eye makeup as you will look like your asleep. You want your eyes to 'pop' through the glasses and be noticeable. 

 

Oversized: I think this is Jackie Kennedy (not sure though), I think a lot of people like over sized sunglasses they are best for if your not looking your best or if your hung-over. I think they always look better when you have your hair down and it doesn't matter if your not wearing a lot of makeup as they cover most of your face. 

 

Over sized 'Lennons': Jean Shrimpton is wearing what I call over sized John Lennon glasses, they are perfectly round, the frames aren't too thick and there's a small nose gap too. White frames again in this one, very popular in the 60s but its up to you in how original you want to go or if you would like to stay more modern. 

 

Cat Eyes: Marilyn Monroe is wearing a smaller pair of glasses in this picture, which go to a point at the ends. These are great if you want some glasses that are more eye catching and noticeable compared to your 'normal' kind of styles. 

 

Ray Ban's: They have always been the must have designer glasses and they still are, if you have a patience to save for a pair then do so.