Being a MOD for the day!
Every August Bank Holiday weekend in Brighton, thousands of parka wearing, scooter riding men & women come to town for Modculture. For those too young to remember, the Mods & Rockers of the 60's used to meet up (and sometimes fight) here on the South Coast: the former on scooters & the latter on motor bikes. (If you want to know more about that era a great movie to watch is Quadrophenia).
Nowadays, it's just a great excuse for Mods, of all ages, to party to swinging 60's music, show off their Lambrettas & Vespas, and get back into 60's fashion. The Bikers have different weekends to show off their vroom vroom machines and I may get to one of their meet ups one of these days as I also own a leather biker jacket,. Any excuse to dress up!
2017 UPDATE BEFORE YOU READ ON........
I had such a brilliant time just dipping in on the cold, wet Sunday last year that I vowed to come back this year and party!
Trying to look like mods, for the mod weekend in brighton!
My new best friend Pete and I dressed up as mods, had a lovely pub supper, and then went dancing our socks off (drinking a great deal of water and a few tequilas) in Brighton to the Small Fakers & Ready Steady Who, both of whom replicating the music of our youth, just brilliantly. The highlight of my night just has to be Itchycoo Park one of the first records I ever bought!
the small fakers at concord 2 in brighton.
The weather was perfect this year, real summer, so I decided that one of the few dresses I have bought this summer, by Arthur S. Levine, Tahari, would be perfect as a 60s dress, along with my attempt at a beehive, my white plastic beach shoes (believe it or not, the girls in the loo queue at the club asked me where I got them!), a white cardi from Mint Velvet & monochrome vintage sunnies. Now I'm on the hunt for 60s vintage as well as 50s vintage dresses. Pete and I just had the best time and want to go to many more Mod conventions.
I have also worn the dress this summer with my comfy but gorgeous sandals bought from FitFlop, oh so long ago. So am making the most of this slightly retro look with different accessories and, of course, the obligatory white nails. I could get into 60s fashion in a big way after this weekend!
at the serpentine magazine restaurant for a smart summer lunch. dress by Arthur S. Levine, Tahari, & sandals by fitflop.
Now back to last year's Mod convention in the day time. I actually bumped into lovely Liz & her partner, featured in the first photo of the Mod fashion below, in the bar at the club this year. What a small world! Hope you enjoy seeing all the scooters & fashion from last year.
I have always loved Mod fashion: (fashion-wise, way back then, you were either a Mod or a Rocker): Mary Quant for her sharp hair cut & mini-dresses in the 60s, and Oasis for their Parkas and mod look in the 90's. So I didn't need an excuse to get into the only 60's dress I own adding huge earrings and my favourite retro sunglasses to complete the look.
Wearing my parka for Modculture, held in Brighton every August Bank Holiday weekend.
I appear to be becoming a bit of a petrol head in my old age! Just loved the scooters, the lights, the chrome and my little jaunt back to the 60's. I think I would quite like a boyfriend with a scooter and lots of chrome!
I took my newly acquired Olympus PEN 5 camera to capture most of these shots. It was nearly an absolute joy to use (the 7 is more user-friendly) as it's light & small and really great for getting shots of the very friendly Mods I met on a grey and not so sunny Sunday afternoon. They're really rockin' the Mod look.
I had a great time, both years, and will make sure to go for even longer next year. I hope you enjoyed my share of nostalgia and please let me know if you like Mod fashion and if you have any 60's outfits hidden away that you dig out for the odd party or event!
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