“We’re gonna be different. Why should we dress like everyone else?” Teddy Boys and Girls in Southend’s Long Bar, 1972
The priceless footage of Teddy Boys & Girls dancing and talking about their cult lifestyle in the early 70s at the bottom of this post comes from the East Anglian Film Archive, which provides access to 200 hours of moving images relating to the part of the UK 100-or-so miles east of London.
//Interviewer: “What do you look for in a Ted fella?” Girl: “Aggro…”//
The film was later edited into a news item for regional broadcaster Anglia TV about the Teds flocking to 50s nights held at the Long Bar in the coastal town of Southend.
//Husband and wife Teds: he bought his first drape in 1949, when he was 16//
Among the interviewees is the Long Bar proprietor known as “Ma” and an original neo-Edwardian who bought his first drape suit in 1949 (when Saville Row’s failed attempt to market the style to its customers first gave way to adoption by working class youth).
Watch the footage here:
The EAFA is at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. Visit the Archive’s site here.