Teddy Boy, Mick Farrell wearing the original pre-1955 Edwardian fashion comprising of a wide lapelled Drape Jacket with turned-back cuffs and a velvet collar.  Trousers are high-waisted pleated fronts with 16" turn-up bottoms.  The outfit is complimented by a silk-patterned waistcoat with fob watch and chain.  

 

A very precise and detailed description of the threads worn builds up a picture of these Neo-Edwardian dressed dandies. The word Drape itself was used by Americans when talking about the Zoot suit, referring to it as a set of drapes. The deformed box or coffin cut of the Neo-Edwardian jacket was American in idea and dated back to the zoot-suit with its huge sloping shoulders. The back of the jacket was box cut with no seam or vents, it could have a 2 inch turn-up around the cuffs of the sleeves and flap, ticket or jetted pockets, but not velvet. It would have 1 link, 2, 3 or 4 buttons which could be bone but not velvet. Velvet might just be around the top of the collar or maybe no velvet at all but remember although the basic suit was drab, the tie and waistcoat made up for that. The Maverick tie, Cravat, Boot Lace tie, a loosely tied bow tie or slightly later a Slim Jim Tie were all worn. It depended on your area, what your mates wore and the date as to what Ted gear you wore. Here we shall refer to the tightly knotted tie, which was a throwback again to America and the Jive style. This tie would be worn along with a loudly flashy silk brocade waistcoat - or weskit- and a fob watch with a chain linked through the 'weskit' this altogether made these boys who wanted to stay out of the gaze of the law, leap straight into the view of the police. All trousers were higher fitting but these Neo-Edwardians wore the tighter drainpipe style of 'strides'. For footwear the choice was Oxford, brogue, crepe soled suede chukka shoes or boots, or the thicker crepe of Brothel Creepers. The hair was American in style, the hair could be piled into a pompadour, an elephant trunk quiff, a silver dollar or a crew cut. An early Edwardian might have had the sides and back of his hair tapered up high but a greasy, messy quiff with sideburns finished off with a Ducks Arse thickly greased down the back of the head became the most popular as time went by. The actual style of these Neo-Edwardians was a mix of many influences that kept harking back to Edwardian Britain. Truthfully, they were just unskilled, working class young men but in their heads there was something of the western frock coated gunslinger blended into the Teddy boy mix. A swaggering, sharp, gunslinger....

 

Derek Keates (known as the Sheriff) with his girlfriend Valerie Kitts at a Best Dressed Edwardian Contest in a Dance Hall at Tottenham , North London in 1954. Derek is wearing a Drape jacket with a Velvet Rolled Collar and Half Moon Pockets and a genuine 'Bootlace Tie' and contradicts a number of writers who claim that this style did not exist until the late 1950's. Teddy Boys in the 1970's adopted this style in big numbers.

The Teddy Boy was considerably different in terms of style from the original Neo-Edwardian era fashion which was started by Saville Row Tailors around August 1948. This was because the Teddy Boy fashion incorporated elements of American Western dress such as Maverick Ties and Silk Brocade Waistcoats worn by Wild West Gamblers and Gunslingers.  It should be pointed out at this point, that the original Teddy Boys tended to wear a separate non-matching Jacket, Trousers and Waistcoat (as shown in the photograph of Mick Farrell above) as opposed to matching 3-piece Drape suits which tend to be worn by Teddy Boys nowadays.  In Edinburgh during the 1950's the wearers of 3 piece Drape suits would have been referred to as 'Edwardians' and not 'Teddy Boys'. (see comments further below).

Below is a description of all elements of the fashion worn.

Drape Jackets

The original Edwardian Drape Jackets initially adopted by working class 'Edwardians' were slightly different from what would become universally recognised as a conventional Drape Jacket.  This was due to the fact that they had a 'natural waistline' by being brought in at the waist as was the case with most other conventional jackets.  Drape jackets also had skilfully built-up shoulders to give an unusually masculine appearance.  The backs of the jackets initially had vents or no vents at all.

 

 

An advert showing the original Neo-Edwardian style jackets with the 'natural waistline'.

As time went on the 'natural waistline' was dispensed with by the Teddy Boys in favour of a full drape with straight sides and complimented in all cases with a full back with no seam and no vents.  Drape Jackets have a full piece of material at the back which enables the jacket to hang in order to give its distinctive box like appearance. At this point vents at the rear of the jacket were done away with,  which accentuated the square drape-like appearance. 

Two Teddy Boys from the mid 1950's both wearing plain Drapes without velvet.  The jacket on the left is of a 'knuckle' length with a shawl/roll collar whereas the drape jacket on the right has curved lapels with a notched collar and half moon pockets. Both Jackets have a single-link button fastening.

Drape Jackets in the early 1950's had lapels of between 31/2" and 4" wide with or without a velvet or moleskin collar.  As time went on, lapels became narrower (in line with the Italian fashion which came to prominence in 1958) to as little as 11/2" or 2" wide. 

Jacket cuffs were generally made from the matching cloth or from velvet the same colour as the collar. These were a 2"-3" deep 'turned-back' cuffs called 'Double' or 'French Cuffs' (or what now is sometimes referred to as a 50's cuff ) with either a single button placed over the cuff at the top corner or a combination of a turned-back cuff and a working cuff with 4 buttons. 

 

A smart Teddy Boy on Canvey Island, Essex with a matching Drape Jacket with a 3 button front and matching Waistcoat and Slim-Jim Tie. 

The 'cut' of the jacket could either be single button link fastening or two, three, four or even five button fronts.  The most common tended to be single link or four button fastenings, although most jackets were worn open without being closed in order to display fancy brocade waistcoats.

The actual length of the jacket itself could be knuckle length, finger tip length (most commonly worn) or knee length. The early 1950's Neo-Edwardian suit was tailored in sober colours, the colour scheme for these youths was black and white. A crisp white shirt was worn with a jacket in black, shades of grey, navy blue or maybe dogtooth check. This colour range was somewhat different to the late 1950's when Teddy Boys started to wear a greater range of colours such as Powder Blue, Maroon and even Purple. This was partly due to the fact that more dyes had become available in the late 1950's and young men in the early fifties would see suits and jackets in brighter colours as effeminate.

Pockets were generally either 'flap' pockets with either one or two breast pockets and two flap hip pockets sometimes with a complimenting ticket pocket.   The pockets could be placed straight or they could be placed sloping diagonally.  Sometimes a conventional 'welt' pocket was worn generally as single breast pocket (although sometimes double breast welt pockets were worn) with a complementing white 'handkerchief'.  'Jet' pockets were also commonly used for breast pockets. 

 

 

A selection of posed photographs of Bristol Teddy Boys circa 1957/8 which shows little use of velvet on the jackets and flap pockets still in evidence. 

As time progressed Jet Pockets without flaps came into fashion and this meant that in many cases all pockets worn on Drape Jackets were of that type.  Some Teddy Boys were able to get the Jetted effect by simply folding in the flap pockets which achieved the jetted image without removing the flaps from the pockets. In the late 1950's flap pockets became narrower in line with the narrowing lapels.  Also more velvet started to be worn with velvet pockets coming to the fore in the late 1950's.

Trousers

Brian W. & David B. from Canvey Island, Essex wearing high-waisted trousers.  No velvet is present on the Jackets and they are of a high lapel five button fastening.

Eddie Terry originally form Canvey Island comments: "We might have looked prats but at least we were smart looking ones. (a matter of opinion) One thing I will say and that is us Canvey boys were always smartly dressed.  The group I went with all bought our suits from Maxie Cohen "Bespoke tailor" who's shop was beside the trolleybus terminus at Algate (by the underground station) this involved two or three fittings before you picked up the suit so we always made a day out, staying to have a few beers in that area."

"When we first went to Maxie and told him what we wanted i.e. single breasted, one button, velvet collar, fingertip length and drainpipe trousers he must have thought we were barmy but our money was good and we got on well with him also buying our Crombie overcoats from him too. I also think we must have been egotists because whenever we took out overcoats or jackets off we always folded them so the large Maxie Cohen label was on the outside."  

Trousers were generally worn high-waisted and with braces or sometimes a belt and were known as 'stovepipes'.  The front of the trousers were double pleated and had slanting side pockets with rear flap or jetted pockets. Trouser bottom widths in the early 1950's were 17" or 18" bottoms and as time went on 16" bottoms became standard and these trousers would generally have turn-ups  at the bottoms.  The idea that Teddy Boys wore 14" bottoms in the early 1950's is a misleading notion as 14" bottoms actually came in during the mid 1950's onwards.

Shirts and Neckwear

The favoured shirt worn was a white shirt with a cut-away collar and also a high-necked loose collar on a white shirt (known as a Mr B. collar because it was often worn by jazz musician Billy Eckstine). Both types of shirt were complimented by a narrow Slim Jim tie or Maverick tie.

A selection of colourful square bottomed Slim-Jim Ties. 

 

Waistcoats

Waistcoats varied in style from single breasted with either no collars or notched lapels to shawl collar. Double breasted waistcoats were popular with lapels of both shawl collar or notched design. Many of these waistcoats were made from brocade silk patterned material which was a type of waistcoat worn by American Wild West gamblers and gunfighters. This was always complimented by a 'Hunter' pocket watch and chain.  The chain could either be of a Double Albert type or a single chain design with fob. In the early 1950's these brocade waistcoats added brightness and colour to the otherwise sober colours of the Jackets and Suits worn by the early Neo-Edwardians.

Footwear

The original Teddy Boy shoe was a plain black Oxford shoe which was worn throughout the early fifties and still remains popular to this day as a conventional smart shoe.  This gradually gave way to the wearing of heavy soled brogue shoes. 

 

 

A pair of traditional Oxford shoes worn by Teddy Boys.

Alongside these shoes, crepe soled shoes commonly known as 'Brothel Creepers' of 1" wedge were often worn in suede have always been associated with and worn by Teddy Boys.  Shoe manufacturing companies such as Denson, Ladd's, Eaton and later George Cox had been making 'Brothel Creepers' from the early 1950's  onwards.  

 

 

A pair of Ladd's Brothel Creepers with  a ribbed sided crepe sole.

 

The Eaton 'Clubman' and Eaton 'Chukka Boot' were a crepe soled shoe that became a favorite worn by many Teddy Boys. These shoes were manufactured by Eaton & Company of Rushden, Northamptonshire.  These shoes are still available, but are manufactured today by the famous Creeper shoe manufacturer, George Cox of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire and are known as 'Pop Boy' Shoes.

 

 

 

Colours and Tailoring