Have you perhaps come across groups of young people with shaved heads, wearing the same black jeans and camouflage jackets without collars, wearing high combat boots, with the flag of the slaveholding Confederacy sewn on the sleeve? These are skinheads, or, in other words, skinheads. They call themselves the short word “skins”. Now almost no one writes about them, but among teenagers in big cities they are already a legend.

The first skinheads appeared in England in 1968. Today's followers would be surprised to learn that their predecessors got along well with mulattoes and blacks. The fact is that skins appeared as a working, and not a racial subculture, directed against both official culture, and in defiance of many alternative trends. For example, they considered rockers “fake” because they were a threat to the roads only on weekends, and on weekdays worked hard in the office. The one skinheads didn’t like were the “Pakis” (Pakistanis). And not as foreigners, but as traders. And the blacks and Arabs who worked with the skinheads in the same factories were their own guys.

Skinheads of the “first wave” got along well with mulattoes and blacks

The first skinheads were not skinheads in the literal sense of the word, it was just that their short haircuts with sideburns contrasted with what was fashionable at that time long hair. The style of clothing was not “militaristic”, but proletarian: coarse wool jackets or short coats with a leather yoke, rough trousers with an “eternal arrow”, a long, knee-length zoot jacket and heavy, durable high boots for construction workers and dockers. The first skinheads had no followers, and by 1973, when the guys grew up and started families, the movement faded away.

Skinheads of the “first wave”, 60s of the XX century

Skinheads were revived in the late 70s, when Margaret Thatcher's government liquidated entire sectors of the economy, which led to an unprecedented increase in unemployment and unrest in the so-called depressed regions. The new skins were no longer a working aristocracy, but a declassed environment; they were brought up not on relaxed reggae, but on aggressive punk rock. These guys beat all the immigrants indiscriminately because they were “taking their jobs.” Neo-Nazi ideologists worked with the new skinheads. Skin clubs emerged, and the slogan “Keep Britain white!” was heard for the first time.

"Let's keep Britain white!" - slogan of the “second wave” skinheads

Then the “first wave” skinheads emerged from their apartments, furious that their movement had become associated with the fascists. Fights between “old” and “new” skinheads took on the character of street riots (especially in Glasgow). The result of these clashes was the emergence of two skin movements - on the one hand, the Nazi skins ("new"), on the other, the "red skins", "red skins" ("old"). Externally, the red skins differed only in stripes with portraits of Lenin, Mandela, Che Guevara and sometimes red laces in their shoes. They became widespread in England, France, Poland, and Spain. Nazi skins took root in Germany, Holland, Scandinavia, Canada, the USA, and later in France, Denmark, and Belgium.

Hoxton Tom McCourt, bass player for The 4-Skins, 1977

In Europe, Germany has become an outpost of the Nazi-skin movement

In America there were groups of white skinheads, black skinheads, Puerto Rican skinheads, Jewish skinheads, and Latin American skinheads. In Germany, the Nazi Skins became famous not only for beating guest workers (foreign workers, mainly Turks and Kurds), but also for killing them. At the same time, the judges, who were more afraid of the “Red Terror,” showed rare favor to the skinheads (in the 80s in Germany, skinheads were convicted only once for the murder of the Turk Ramazan Avsi in the summer of 1986).

Meanwhile, skinheads turned into a political force: they smashed anti-fascists and dealt with trade unions. The authorities realized who they were dealing with when in 1987 in Lindau the skins attacked Christian believers during church holiday in St. Stephen's Cathedral (the city authorities refused to provide a municipal hall for the skinhead convention). The Vatican intervened, and the police clamped down on the skinheads.

Skinheads appeared in Russia in the early 90s

But soon the Berlin Wall collapsed, and the ranks of skinheads increased due to the Germans from East Germany, where unemployment and despair reigned among the youth. German neo-fascists began to be considered throughout the world as “experts” in working with youth, and Germany in the 90s became notorious for setting fire to immigrant dormitories.

After the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, skinheads appeared in Poland, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Bulgaria and Russia.

It’s the 19th century, and the appearance on the streets of a representative of one or another youth subculture won't surprise anyone anymore. What is a subculture anyway?

Subculture (from Latin - “subculture”) is a piece of any culture that differs from the majority; public carriers of this culture.

Nowadays there is a large number of various youth subcultures. The most famous are hippies, rastafarians, emo, punks, goths, bikers, skinheads and others. Let's talk about who skinheads are.

The origins of the skinhead subculture

If we look a little into the history of the emergence of this subculture in Russia, skinheads (or skins, as they are popularly called) appeared here in 1991. Moreover, this movement arose under the influence of Western culture.

IN modern society There is an opinion that skinheads are supporters of Nazi ideology. But it is not so. There are several directions of this subculture:

• Traditional Skinheads. They are apolitical. They listen to reggae and SKA.
• S.H.A.R.P. (Skinhead Against Racial Prejudices). Against racial prejudice.
• R.A.S.H. (Red & Anarchist Skinheads). They adhere to the ideas of anarchism, communism, and socialism.
• NS-skinheads/Boneheads. They adhere to National Socialist ideas.
• Straight edge skinheads (sXe Skinheads). They adhere to a healthy lifestyle, believing that alcohol, cigarettes and drugs are bad.

Unfortunately, in our time in Russia, skinheads are neo-fascist groups. And it's a little frustrating and scary at the same time. As has already become clear, the skins have shaved heads, they mostly wear jeans and army combat boots. You can often see tattoos on them: Hitler’s swastika or a cross in a circle (a version of the celt).

Initially, skinheads listened to SKA and punk rock; now they listen to rock and patriotic music, because they consider themselves true patriots of their country.

Skinhead ideology

Who are the skinheads fighting against? What is their ideology?

Who do skinheads hit? This subculture adheres to the ideology of positioning itself as a national liberation movement; they believe that the white-skinned race is the superior race; they are the true racists and xenophobes. Therefore, skinheads are against Caucasians, Tajiks, Armenians, Chinese, Gypsies, Jews and blacks.

If we generalize everything, then skinheads are a group of young people who live according to their own specific laws, have their own attributes and symbols, and listen to certain music.

If you want to watch films about skinheads, I can offer you some. For example: “American History X”, “Made in Britain”, “Fanatic”, “This is England”, “Skinheads”, “Peria”, “Skinhead Position” and others.

I would also like to say: do not forget that there is criminal liability for inciting hatred based on national race. Don't ruin the life of yourself and your loved ones! Think before you join the ranks of skinheads.

Very often on the streets you can meet young people calling themselves skinheads. The word “skinhead” can be divided into two English “skin head” and is translated as “shaved head”. Compared to other informal movements, representatives of this subculture have the most complex and developed ideology.

Unfortunately, modern young people have lost the true purpose that the founders of this culture had. And nowadays, most skinheads adhere to rigid racist views, often fixated on fascism and nationalism. Although, there are also groups that adhere to a more peaceful, anti-fascist ideology.

Here is a list of existing directions of this movement:

• traditional skinheads - appeared in response to deviations from the original skin culture, they set the founders as an example of this current. Traditional skinheads listen to music in the style of ska, reggae, rocksteady (all other styles prefer rock and patriotic music);
• S.H.A.R.P. - Skinhead Against Racial Prejudices - this direction is against racial prejudice;
• R.A.S.H. - Red & Anarchist Skinheads – these representatives support the ideas of socialism, communism and anarchism;
• NS-skinheads - Nazi-skinheads / Boneheads - Boneheads (also called right-wing skinheads) - preach National Socialist ideas, right-wing and far-right views on politics and other values;
• Straight edge skinheads - sXe Skinheads - people who believe that bad habits such as alcohol, smoking and drug addiction are bad. This group is for healthy image life.

What do skinheads look like?

1. Distinctive signs of skinheads:

• “Celtic cross” (an image of a cross placed in a circle);
• classic German swastika;
• skull and Bones.

2. Skinhead clothing. Preference is given to the military style - everything to make it comfortable to move. Boots are also usually military boots with thick soles. Since we started talking about shoes, I’ll note that the color of the laces is of no small importance. By the laces you can determine whether you belong to one direction or another.

3. Skinhead hairstyles. As you probably already guessed, this is a clean-shaven head, but simply a very short haircut is also allowed.

4. Skinhead tattoos. The themes of tattoos are very diverse. These can be inscriptions and abbreviations, as well as ordinary patterns. Some tattoo their bodies with fascist swastikas or any other designs with a racist-Nazi theme.

Skinhead ideology

Most skinheads are racists and nationalists, and everything that follows from this is their main ideology: love for representatives of their nation, their culture and hatred for others.

Well, in the end I will answer the question “how to become a skinhead?” If you are close in spirit to the ideology of skins, then feel free to change your image and look for similar friends. Just never forget that all your actions must be legal.

Skinhead (from English skinhead - shaved head) - a special trend in fashion that arose thanks to the emergence of a subculture of the same name among working-class London youth in the 60s of the twentieth century and then spread throughout the world. Closely related to musical styles, such as ska, reggae and street punk (aka Oi!). Some of the representatives of this subculture grew up from the environment, others experienced significant influence from the West Indian ore-boys.

Initially, this movement was famous for its apolitical nature and was focused only on fashion, music and a certain lifestyle. However, over time, some of the skinheads became involved in politics and joined various extreme movements, both left and right, as a result of which neo-Nazi and anarchist movements separated from the traditional skinheads who remained true to their ideals.

Story

At the end of the 50s of the twentieth century, Great Britain was gripped by a real economic boom, which, despite all the existing restrictions, significantly increased the level of income of young people from the working class. Some of the young people preferred to spend all their money on new clothes, for which they received the nickname - mods. Their subculture was characterized by a special affinity for fashion, music and scooters. It was the mods, or rather their offshoot, the so-called hard mods, who were the first to wear work or army boots, straight or sta-prest, with buttons and suspenders. Unlike their more “refined” counterparts, these mods took particular pride in emphasizing their working-class affiliation, cutting their hair much shorter and not averse to fighting. Hard fashion finally developed into a separate movement around 1968 and around the same time they received a new nickname - skinheads.

Skinheads still retained some features of the previous mods, but they were greatly influenced by the style of the rud boys - immigrants from Jamaica who settled in England. Along with their behavior and some style features, skinheads borrowed from them a love for ska, rocksteady and early reggae. The latter was so popular in this environment that sellers even began to add the prefix “skinhead” to the word reggae in order to increase record sales.

The skinhead subculture was finally formed by 1969. By this time, skinheads had become so popular that the group Slade even took their appearance as an example for their stage image. Skinheads became even more popular thanks to Richard Allen's novels Skinhead and Skinhead Escapes, which featured plenty of sex scenes and fights.

However, by the beginning of the 70s, the former popularity of skinheads began to decline. Many of the representatives of this trend moved to other groups and began to call themselves in a new way: suedeheads, smoothies or bootboys. Previous trends that were once characteristic of mods, such as brogues, suits, slacks and sweaters, have returned to fashion.

At the end of the 70s, the skinhead subculture was resurrected again, thanks to the emerging punk movement. Around the same time, for the first time in the history of this subculture, some skinhead groups became involved in politics, and began to adhere to far-right movements such as the National Front and the British Movement.

Since 1979, the number of skinheads has increased significantly. One of the most favorite pastimes of these young people was fighting at football matches. However, despite this, among them there were still those who were guided by the previous style. One way or another, such behavior attracted widespread attention from the press. Skinheads, like fashion once upon a time, have become a new threat to society.

Ultimately, the skinhead subculture went far beyond the borders of Britain and continental Europe, appearing in Australia and the USA, but with its own local specifics.

Style

Traditional skinheads take as a basis the style of the original subculture that arose in the 60s of the twentieth century.

The Oi!-skinhead movement was subjected to great influence punk culture of the 70s, so their appearance is slightly different. They usually have shorter hair, taller shoes and tighter jeans. Tattoos have become popular among skinheads at least since the “revival” of the movement in the 70s. In the 1980s in the UK you might even find skinheads with tattoos on their foreheads or faces, although this practice is no longer as common. American skinheads preferred to adhere to the hardcore style, and this is one of their territorial features.

• Hair

Most skinheads cut their hair with a razor with a No. 2 (sometimes No. 3) attachment. Thus, the hairstyle was short and neat, but the head did not appear completely bald. However, over time, hair length became shorter and shorter, and by the 80s, some representatives shaved their hair “clean up”. Among skinheads, it is usually not customary to wear a mustache and beard, but sideburns are extremely popular, and they have always been carefully maintained.

As for girls, in the 60s most of them continued to adhere to the mod style, however, starting from the 80s, the Chelsea haircut became especially popular, when the hair on the top of the head was shaved very short, leaving the back, temples and bangs long. Some girls preferred a more punk version, leaving only their bangs and temples long.

• Clothes and accessories

First of all, skinheads have always been famous for their button-down shirts, short or long sleeves, and polo shirts. Favorite brands include Ben Sherman, Fred Perry, Brutus, Warrior or Jaytex. Also popular are shirts or Everlast, shirts with button-down collars, V-neck sweaters or similar sleeveless vests, as well as cardigans and T-shirts. Some skinheads targeting Oi! or the hardcore scene wore plain white shirts. This style was especially common in North America. The most popular jackets were harringtons, bombers, denim jackets (usually blue, sometimes decorated with light spots using bleach), dunk jackets, crombie coats, parkas and much more. Traditional skinheads sometimes wore costumes made from a special fabric (a shiny material resembling shag, the color of which shimmered depending on the angle and light).

Many of the skinheads preferred Sta-Prest trousers or jeans, mostly brands , or . Typically, the trouser legs were rolled up to emphasize the beauty of high boots or open if the legs were wearing moccasins or brogues at the time. Sometimes the jeans were also decorated with bleach stains. This style was especially popular among Oi! skinheads.

The girls wore almost everything the same, and in addition mini-, fishnet stockings or short skirt suits with ¾-length sleeves.

Most skinheads wore suspenders that were no more than one inch wide. Wider suspenders may be associated with the far-right neo-fascist wing of White Power skinheads. Traditionally, suspenders are crossed at the back, however some Oi! oriented skinheads don't do this. Traditional skinheads wear black or white suspenders, sometimes decorated with vertical stripes. Often, due to the color of this accessory, skinheads determine the group to which its owner belongs.

The most common headdresses among skinheads were: pork-pie hat, felt hats, caps, woolen winter hats (without a tassel). A less common option were bowler hats. They were mainly preferred by seaheads and fans of the cult film A Clockwork Orange.

Traditional skinheads also often wore silk in the breast pocket of their crombie coat or in the pocket of a suit made of their favorite iridescent material. Often a given piece of fabric was chosen in a contrasting color. Sometimes it was wrapped around a small cardboard so that it looked like a neatly folded handkerchief from the outside. Among skinheads, it was customary to choose colors that corresponded to their favorite football club. Sometimes wool or silk scarves with the symbols of their favorite team were wrapped around the neck, wrist or belt loop.

Some iceheads carried canes, which is why they received another nickname: brolly boys (from the English brolly - umbrella).

• Shoes

Initially, skinheads wore simple military boots from army supplies. Later, Dr. brand work boots became popular in this environment. Martens, especially cherry colored ones. Them skinheads they polished them to a shine and always made sure that their favorite shoes looked neat. In addition, skinheads wore brogues, moccasins and low Dr. boots. Martens. During the 60s of the twentieth century, Dr. high boots became especially popular. Martens with steel toes hidden under the leather, which turned out to be quite appropriate in street fights. IN last years skinheads switched to other brands of shoes such as Solovair or Tredair because Dr. Martens are no longer produced in England. Gradually, sports shoes of the brands or Gola became fashionable among skinheads, in which they were comfortable to attend football matches.

Girls usually wore the same shoes as boys, and in addition, the so-called monkey boots. The brand of choice for this model has long been Grafters, but today the same boots are made by Dr. Martens and Solovair.

For a time, skinheads preferred to wear boots painted in the colors of their favorite club, but over time, the color of the shoes, like the suspenders, began to carry symbolic meaning.

The media often uses the word "skinheads", and in the vast majority of cases it carries a negative connotation. Let’s not allow ourselves superficial judgments and let’s figure out who they are, and why in the minds of the British a skinhead is still more often dressed in a Crombie or Harrington than in the usual bomber jacket.

As we described in the previous article (see), in the sixties, the youth of Great Britain were captivated by the image of fashion - a young esthete, hedonist and dandy.

In the second half of the decade, several ways of developing this image were outlined. The world of music was captured by a wave of psychedelia, and fashion could not stay away. Parties became a veritable kaleidoscope of surreal patterns and bright colors. Young people developed a completely different style for themselves, who became known as “hard mods”. It was simpler, more practical and strongly contrasted with the images of bohemia.

It cannot be argued that this was a deliberate opposition to fashion. The differences between hard fashion and representatives of the “golden youth” and the creative intelligentsia were natural: the difference at the level of the social environment led to a divergence in tastes and outlook on life. However, by the end of the 60s it became more noticeable within the subculture itself. Those mods that went on a rampage during the famous pogroms in the south of Great Britain in the mid-60s can safely be considered hard mods. They loved to fight, engaged in thefts and robbery, carried bladed weapons and often united in real gangs. These were young people born after the war.

The adolescence of this generation came at a time when the difficulties of the war and post-war years were left behind: it was possible to live without thinking only about how to feed themselves and restore the country. The fashion revolution of the sixties, aimed at teenagers, was beginning. Everyone wanted to keep up with the times. A lot of music, clubs and stylish clothes appeared around, and all this could be yours - if only you had the money!

The booming British economy provided jobs, making it possible to earn money through honest work for a stylish suit and a motor scooter. It was possible to take an “easier” route - crime in all its forms helped to get money for new clothes, drugs and trips to the most fashionable clubs in the city. On Friday night, fashionists behaved like playmakers, pop idols and high society people, but the day came, and many of them had to go back to work or look for illegal income.

“I was called a hard mod... The media seized on the story of the pogroms [the famous clash between mods and rockers in the south of England in 1964] and described the mods as a crazy crowd of drug addicts, prone to violence and disorder. Of course, there was a grain of truth in the nonsense that the newspapers wrote. Among the mods there were those who went to Brighton, Margate and other cities just to cause complete chaos there. I must admit, I was one of them.

Reputation was everything. I started carrying a weapon (an axe) with me and was ready to use it if necessary... Appearance was very important - everyone around was literally obliged to wear a wool suit"

John Leo Waters

British hard fashion of the late 60s, London

The fact is that, despite the desire for elitism, the origins of the fashion movement largely lay in the working environment. The poor and disadvantaged areas of south London were home to many mods and ordinary teenagers who absorbed the city's culture with the vivacity of their age.

Brixton was one such area and included a large Jamaican diaspora. A declining economy, a crime wave, a hurricane that devastated eastern Jamaica in 1944, and the promise of jobs from the British government attracted immigrants from the Caribbean to London. A sharp influx of foreigners from a distant country played a crucial role in the transformation of hard mods into skinheads. In 1962, the former British colony gained independence, but such a large-scale political event could not but have negative consequences for the population. Many Jamaicans continued to emigrate to the former metropolis.

In a new place, Jamaican youth introduced their London peers to their culture. The island had its own subculture: rude boys - literally “rude guys”, but in Jamaican English they are more likely “hard”, “severe”. The Rude Boi were from working class backgrounds and were often violent towards each other and those around them. Their life was not easy, because they often grew up in the most disadvantaged areas of Kingston, the capital of a not very peaceful country. Like many young people, especially the more daring ones and often involved in crime, Rud Boi tried to dress like a brand: suits, skinny ties, Trilby and Pork Pie hats. Perhaps this style was inspired jazz musicians USA. The Rude Boys preferred the latest and most modern local music: ska and then rocksteady.

Ska represents musical genre, which originated in Jamaica at the turn of the fifties and sixties. Combining American rhythm and blues with the Caribbean styles of mento and calypso led to the emergence of a completely new and very distinctive sound.

In the second half of the sixties, ska music evolved into rocksteady. Compared to its predecessor, this style is characterized by a slower tempo, syncopated bass and the use of small groups with an electric bass guitar (early ska groups were large ensembles and mainly used double bass). The most important ska bands and performers were and remain Toots and The Maytals, The Skatalites, Bob Marley and the Wailers (the latter's leader became one of the most recognizable musicians in history), The Upsetters (the band of the famous producer Lee "Scratch" Perry), Derrick Morgan , Max Romeo, Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker and many others.

So, on a wave of emigration, Jamaican youth culture came to the shores of Foggy Albion. It is not surprising that due to their close age, love of music and desire to look interesting, the English guys began to adopt the ore fighting style. The Mods traditionally loved American soul and rhythm and blues, but were also quite interested in Jamaican music. A huge credit for this goes to the English label Melodisc Records, founded in 1949 and releasing Afro-Caribbean music. The company began recording Jamaican musicians in London and, building on the success of these recordings, founded the Blue Beat Records division. It specialized in the music of ska and rocksteady, beloved by ores, mods, and then skinheads.

One of the brightest musicians, with whom the label collaborated was Prince Buster, a man who made a huge contribution to the development of ska and the popularization of the genre in the UK.

The youth of south London with great interest visited clubs aimed at Jamaicans, which were called “ska bars,” learned to dance ska and adopted elements of the style. Records of African-American and Caribbean music were selling like hot cakes in stores.

Thus, when some of the mods began to gravitate towards psychedelic music in the late sixties, the south London mods already had a special connection with the music of Jamaica, and the hard mods did not follow the bohemians. Native Londoners and immigrants, hard fashion and ore fighting merged into a subculture that came to be called skinheads. The name of the subculture is made up of two words: “skin” - “skin” and “head” - “head”. There is a version that this word was taken from the vocabulary of American infantrymen.

“...Fashion and music changed. Clubs started playing weird music like The Byrds and Jimi Hendrix, and the mods had no choice but to go to Jamaican clubs - only they didn't stop playing black music. So the mods went to ska clubs and adopted the rudboy style, but since they weren't black, they couldn't call themselves that, so they borrowed the word "skinheads", which was the name given to US Marine Corps recruits who had their heads shaved when they went into army. In the Marine Corps, only the officers called a recruit a “skinhead,” like, “Hey, you skinhead, come here!” So originally the skinhead style was a white version of the rudboy style."

Dick Coomes

These people moved further and further away from the refinement of mods, and after several decades the connection between the two subcultures was barely traceable. But let’s take a closer look at the first generation skinheads, the so-called Traditional Skinheads.

What did they look like? To the usual “Sta-Prest” mods, which kept their shape perfectly, several more equally practical elements were added: jeans, suspenders and heavy work boots. Haircuts have become shorter and simpler. Some, in the fashion of the fighting or the practicality of the workers, shaved almost baldly. Skinheads wore mohair, beloved by mods and hard mods, but with a slightly elongated cut, and plaid “button-down” shirts, the collar of which was secured with buttons.

The classic and famous MA-1 bomber jacket was extremely popular, which later became an icon of the subculture image and, in fact, its synonym. Even jackets have not disappeared from the wardrobe of hard mod skinheads. Among outerwear, the windbreaker was also popular - a cotton semi-sports bomber jacket with border stripes on the collar, sleeves and elastic at the bottom, as well as a working jacket for British dockers.

A curious detail was the manner of tucking the trousers. Lightly at first to show the boots, then harder to show off the colored socks taken from the Rudo Boi style. According to the recollections of those years, once the organizers of the concert gave the famous reggae singer Desmond Dekker a suit, and he asked to shorten his trousers by fifteen centimeters. In imitation of their idol, teenagers began to roll up their trousers. Not to mention that, to a certain extent, Mr. Dekker also contributed to the fashion for short haircuts among the future skinheads who admired him.

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