Pathetic isn't it? I'm not going to pick it apart piece by piece (however perverse listing the Beatles arrival in America as sparking interest in Mod fashions might be) but I will quickly list up the photograph that reminded me of this article- and particularly the idea that Oasis in 1994 "redefined the Mod style":
There's nothing remotely Mod about that is there? I mean the fact that Tony McCarroll is wearing a cheap and ill-fitting Harrington is about the nearest thing I can see to even a cliche Mod look. And this is what I'm fuming about; the way that the term Mod has become lazy shorthand for British, white and slightly alternative.
The original Mods were reacting to a decade of post-war austerity by dressing noticeably better than they were expected to be able to. For them it was important to be recognised for their stylishness and for their attention to detail. This was how the Mod movement began. With time and popularity, this fastidious individualism was lost as an easier to achieve look emerged- loafers were replaced with desert boots and suits with 501s and Fred Perry sports shirts. Scooters stopped being neat and stylish as ludicrous amounts of chrome and lights were added, army surplus parkas became part of the look for their practicality- and practicality was the last consideration for a true Mod. This look- the image that Franc Roddam's Quadrophenia replicated so well- is what people associate with Mod now, which would be fine if it weren't the only thing that people associate it with. I don't want to be harshly critical of this look but it is not enough to throw on an oversized green overcoat, jeans and desert boots and claim to be a Mod. And the fact that someone wears ill-fitting and poor-quality versions of these Mod staples should not mean that he or she is recognised as a Mod.
Being a Mod takes effort and patience and knowledge and dedication and courage. It is about refusing to accept mediocrity, it is about seeking to be the best that one can. That picture of Oasis does not show them 'redefining Mod' any more than it shows them decoding the human genome and the shoddy, ill-fitting, overpriced and utterly nondescript clothes in that trumped up sales brochure are about as Mod as a pair of crutches.
What the general people mean when they say Mod is pretty much the opposite of what a true Mod knows the name to signify.
