Teddy Boys - Ryan Sampaio

Teddy Boys

The Teddy Boys is a subculture that began in London, in the 1950's. They were partially inspired by Dandies and their styles from the Edwardian period. It was a style that Savile Row tailors attempted to re-introduce post World War 2, a style which soon rapidly spread around the UK. They wore very smart 3 piece suits, with long overcoats and quiffed hair.

The Teddy Boys were also the first youth group in England to differentiate themselves as teenagers, which helped create a youth market. Later in the 50's, the became more influenced by post-war American Rock n Roll style, in which zoot suits became more fashionable. They also later influenced the greasers, a sub-culture in the states.

The media represented the Teddy Boys in a negative way, describing them to be 'aggressive' and 'violent.' This started to occur when some of the Teds began to form gangs and had many clashes with rival gangs, which were often exaggerated by the press. A notable incident was the 1958 Notting Hill race riots, in which the West Indian community were attacked by gangs of white people, where many Teddy Boys were believed to of been involved, in these series of racially motivated attacks.