Figure 1.-.

My first long trousers were jeans, although mum didn't really approve of them. As far as denim out of school goes - it was still frowned on by some parents in the 60s/70s. We had them, both long and short versions. My little brother even wore them to school. My mum wouldn't let us wear them, however, when out with her - even shopping - or on a Sunday for some reason. There was a big change in my life after moving on to secondary school as,as I told you,that move coincided with us being rehoused to a different part of London. Anyway that's not a lot to do with clothing (except that in the new area there was much less of a mixture of people - class, race everything - and so it was not so interesting because of that. You had to conform more just to survive as a teenager and that is why I became a skinhead eventually). Anyway what I was thinking about was something that I mentioned below and that was the different attitudes to jeans around that time especially as a few years later almost everybody had them including adults. As I said my Mum did eventually buy us a pair each - but they came from the market.

Cubs and Scouts

I think that my brother had been on at my Mum for a while that he needed jeans for cub camp because they played some sort of "war" game and were crawling through the undergrowth or something and he was getting his legs scratched and stung by nettles and so on. I know that my Mum wouldn't have it and told him that it wouldn't kill him and I thought it was ridiculous beacuse the games me and Michael used to play on the bombsite and such were much more "dangerous". Anyway he kept on and when he moved into the scouts - which you could do at ten and a half he did get long trousers for them - but they were uniform trousers and only meant to be worn for scout meetings and so on. Having got them he did then want to wear them as an alternative to our school shorts for "best" when we went visiting and so on but Mum wouldn't allow it. Finally he came back from a scout camp with them all muddy and creased and with grass stains on them. I remeber that he came back wearing a pair of our casual shorts with his uniform because his scoutmaster wouldn't let him wear them in that state. Mum went mad - and she finally got it out of him that he had worn them for the camp activities one day. Mum went straight round to the scoutmasters house the next day with the trousers and asked him what he was thinking of. I wasn't there but I could imagine what it must have been like. Anyway it turned out he hadn't even known what had happened and my brother would never have been allowed to wear them if he had (apparently they travelled in their uniforms and then packed them away and only wore them for parades or for coming home). My Mum was even madder at my brother then and threatened to stop him going to scouts - but he pleaded and got round her and he himself cleaned up the trousers to her satisfaction.

Our Jeans

We had jeans, both long and short versions. My first long trousers were in fact jeans, although mum didn't really approve of them. My older brother and I got them at the same time as a result of the incident with his Scout trousers at camp. The end of tht incident was that mum did buy him the jeans he wanted and I got a pair too as I said - but I chose grey not blue like his! As far as denim out of school goes - it was still frowned on by some parents in the 60s/70s. We had them, both long and short versions. My little brother even wore them to school. By that time mum's aversion to jeans had weakened. But when going out anywhere with her, she didn't want us wearing them.

Jean Shorts

I myself never had "proper" shop bought jean shorts. I discussed these a little bit when I described my play clothes (at the end). As you can see at that age - 11/12 (and as I discussed regarding jeans (long) themselves) I was starting to be more influenced by what other boys were wearing and what was acceptable to them (youth "fashion") rather than what I actually liked myself as I had done a lot up until then.When younger my first priority was comfort - both in wearing and in being able to dress/undress quickly without any bother. The "look" only came second - but it was the "look" as I wanted it ideally - e.g. green in colour and not "baggy" (bagginess also meant less comfortable to me). Things shifted at around this age - the "look" - as determined by other boys being more important than comfort.

Mum's Attitude

My mum wouldn't let us wear them, however, when out with her - even shopping - or on a Sunday for some reason. She wasn't too happy about buying them, but I think finally concluded that it would save money with us messing up our good trousers.

Michael's Jeans

My best mate Michael (the one who's mum was Irish) didn't go to our Sunday School as he was a Catholic and went to mass at another church. I know he did have a suit for that completely different to his school uniform. He often did wear jeans - even on a Sunday - for play. It was not as if his Mum was any less concerned about how he looked than mine was. It maybe was because Michael had older brothers who were allowed jeans and also because he had a Dad who had some say too - not so much over Michael I know because he was the youngest boy and his Mum was like my Mum was with me a lot - but over his brothers. Because his brothers were allowed jeans they naturally came down to Michael and so when I met him on a Saturday afternoon he was often wearing them. I rarely wore my grey jeans - only when we were playing cowboys and indians and I, for some reason, wanted to be a Civil War soldier on the Confederate side following a film I'd seen. It wasn't that Michael didn't have play shorts - he did but they had been his brothers' who were 2 or 3 years older and when he did wear their old shorts when it was hot they were old-fashioned looking and other boys would sometimes comment about that which may have affected his thinking. Anyway I'll tell you of a time when I did really want to wear my jeans and my Mum wouldn't let me which sticks in my mind. This involved Michael.

Football Match

Anyway I'll tell you of a time when I did really want to wear my jeans and my Mum wouldn't let me which sticks in my mind. As I say I hardly ever saw Michael in the week. Our play times were Saturday afternoons (after shopping and so on for me and dancing for him) and Sunday afternoons (Mass for him and Sunday School for me - and both of us having to endure our Family Dinners - which is unfair of me because Mum spent ages cooking it and wanted us all to sit round the table properly and talk but I just wanted to go out and play and hated sitting there for what seemed hours. Michael too - and he had an even bigger family!). These times were precious and we packed a lot in and there were also the school holidays in between when either he or I were away. If I was going to Leeds and he was going over to Ireland at the same time in the holidays that was great as we had some days together. If I was away when he was in London and then he went away later that was miserable as we'd be on our own (well besides all of the other boys we played with but they weren't the same) and then school would start again!

The Market

Mum thus did eventually buy us a pair of jeans each - but they came from the market. And I have yet to tell you about the market and the clothes we sometimes bought there - that was another great place to spend a day with Michael too!) and were cheap.

My Brother

My brother of course wanted to wear his new jeans all of the time out of school - but Mum wouldn't have that. She said that she'd bought them for scout activities at camp like he'd asked for and he could wear them at other times only when suitable. To be honest I think my Mum regretted buying us jeans as they went against her way of thinking at that time.

Our Move

There was a big change in my life after moving on to secondary school,as I told you,that move coincided with us being rehoused to a different part of London. Although we had a proper council flat then with three bedrooms (we only had one at the old flat and Mum slept in the front room) I did miss all of the old places that I told you about - the bombsites and the "beach" and the big park there.The new flat was more towards central London and there was much less open space - and it was also further from the open sections of the river there being all sorts of factories and warehouses blocking access to the river itself. I also lost touch with my old friends - especially Michael - but that may have happened anyway.

Clothing Changes

Anyway that's not a lot to do with clothing (except that in the new area there was much less of a mixture of people - class, race everything - and so it was not so interesting because of that. You had to conform more just to survive as a teenager and that is why I became a skinhead eventually).

Attitudes Toward Jeans

Anyway what I was thinking about was something that I mentioned earlier and that was the different attitudes to jeans around that time especially as a few years later almost everybody had them including adults. There were two distinct attitudes about jeans at that time. Some boys had them but many parents saw them as being only for "rough" boys and totally unsuitable for younger boys.The fact that skinheads had adopted them didn't help matters.Other Mothers saw them as ideal - hardwearing and fine for play and so on. This wasn't a question of looking neat or anything. Our playshorts - especially the oldest cords served as our hardwearing clothes - and if long cords had been available and Mums thought that long trousers were suitable they would have no doubt bought them. I remember my younger brother having a pair of long dark blue cords one Christmas when we went up to Leeds - so they were considered as "best" wear then. I think that cords could serve a sort of dual function - bestwear when new and then casual or playwear when they faded or got a bit worn. That could never be the case with denim! Denim just had a sort of taint to them for some reason and some Mums would never allow them for years. My Aunt wouldn't allow my cousin Robert to have them - and if my Grandmother had known that my Mum had bought them for us she'd have finally disowned my Mum. Needless to say we never packed them when we went up to Leeds! Bit by bit my Mum relented though and sometimes we would wear jeans to play with friends - but we were never allowed to wear them when out shopping with her and never on a Sunday even for play. Don't ask me why!

Bill