Editing Skinhead

{{Short description|Working-class youth subculture}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2010}}
{{Not to be confused with|White power skinhead}}
{{Infobox cultural movement
| name         = Skinhead
| image        = Skingirls 3088254.jpg
| alt          = 
| caption      = Skinhead women with straight-cut [[Bangs (hair)|fringes]] in [[Portugal]] in 2008
| yearsactive  = 1960s–present
| country      = [[United Kingdom]]
| majorfigures = [[Hoxton Tom McCourt]] 
| influences   = Primarily [[Mod (subculture)|mod]] and [[rude boy]] subcultures; [[punk subculture]] influenced the second wave of skinheads 
| influenced   = [[Suedehead (subculture)|Suedeheads]], [[Oi!]], [[Trojan skinhead]], [[White power skinhead]], [[Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice|SHARP]], [[Sharpies (Australian subculture)|Sharpies]], [[hardcore punk]] 
}}

A '''skinhead''' or '''skin''' is a member of a subculture that originated among [[working class|working-class]] youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in the late 1970s. Motivated by [[social alienation]] and [[Solidarity|working-class solidarity]], skinheads are defined by their close-cropped or [[Head shaving|shaven heads]] and working-class clothing such as [[Dr. Martens]] and [[steel toe]] work boots, [[Suspenders|braces]], high rise and varying length straight-leg [[jeans]], and button-down collar shirts, usually slim fitting in check or plain. The movement reached a peak at the end of the 1960s, experienced a revival in the 1980s, and, since then, has endured in multiple contexts worldwide.

The rise to prominence of skinheads came in two waves, with the first wave taking place in the late 1960s in the UK. The first skinheads were working class youths motivated by an expression of [[Alternative culture|alternative values]] and working class pride, rejecting both the austerity and [[conservatism]] of the 1950s–early 1960s and the more [[middle class]] or [[bourgeois]] [[hippie movement]] and [[Hippie|peace and love]] ethos of the mid to late 1960s. Skinheads were instead drawn towards more working class outsider [[subculture]]s, incorporating elements of early working class [[Mod (subculture)|mod]] fashion and [[Jamaica]]n music and fashion, especially from Jamaican [[rude boy]]s.{{sfn|Brown|2004}} In the earlier stages of the movement, a considerable overlap existed between early skinhead subculture, [[mod subculture]], and the [[rude boy|rude boy subculture]] found among [[Jamaican British]] and [[Jamaican diaspora|Jamaican immigrant]] youth, as these three groups interacted and fraternized with each other within the same working class and poor neighbourhoods in Britain.<ref name="encycl">{{Cite book |last=Cornish |first=Lindsay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZnSBRxsjn_4C&pg=PA229 |title=Boy Culture: An Encyclopedia |last2=Kehler |first2=Michael |last3=Steinberg |first3=Shirley R. |date=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9780313350818 |access-date=3 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201001146/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZnSBRxsjn_4C&pg=PA229 |archive-date=1 December 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> As skinheads adopted elements of mod subculture and Jamaican British and Jamaican immigrant rude boy subculture, both first and second generation skins were influenced by the rhythms of Jamaican music genres such as [[ska]], [[rocksteady]], and [[reggae]], as well as sometimes [[African Americans|African-American]] [[soul music|soul]] and [[rhythm and blues]].<ref name="encycl" /><ref name="cashmore">{{Cite book |last=Cashmore |first=E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XbhTAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT45 |title=Rastaman: The Rastafarian Movement in England |date=2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781135083731 |access-date=3 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201001146/https://books.google.com/books?id=XbhTAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT45 |archive-date=1 December 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="contemporary">{{Cite book |last=Childs |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlsKXeRt0wgC&pg=PA188 |title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture |last2=Storry |first2=Michael |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1134755554 |access-date=3 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201001213/https://books.google.com/books?id=tlsKXeRt0wgC&pg=PA188 |archive-date=1 December 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The late 1970s and early 1980s saw a revival or second wave of the skinhead subculture, with increasing interaction between its adherents and the emerging [[punk subculture|punk movement]]. [[Oi!]], a working class offshoot of [[punk rock]], soon became a vital component of skinhead culture, while the Jamaican genres beloved by first generation skinheads were filtered through punk and [[new wave music|new wave]] in a style known as [[Two-tone (music genre)|2 Tone]]. Within these new musical movements, the skinhead subculture diversified, and contemporary skinhead fashions ranged from the original clean-cut 1960s mod- and rude boy-influenced styles to less-strict [[punk fashion|punk]]-influenced styles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Godfrey |first=John |date=September 1988 |title=Ska Party |url=http://www.skinheadheaven.org.uk/index.php/cuttings/49-ska-party-id-magazine-article-1988 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407072641/http://www.skinheadheaven.org.uk/index.php/cuttings/49-ska-party-id-magazine-article-1988 |archive-date=7 April 2010 |access-date=27 February 2010 |website=Skinheadheaven.org.uk}}</ref>

During the early 1980s, political affiliations grew in significance and split the subculture, demarcating the [[far-right politics|far-right]] and [[far-left politics|far-left]] strands, although many skins described themselves as [[Apoliticism|apolitical]]. In Great Britain, the skinhead subculture became associated in the public eye with membership of groups such as the far-right [[British National Front|National Front]] and [[British Movement]]. By the 1990s, [[neo-Nazi skinhead]] movements existed across all of Europe and North America, but were counterbalanced by the presence of groups such as [[Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice]] (SHARP) which sprung up in response. To this day, the skinhead subculture reflects a broad spectrum of political beliefs, even as many continue to embrace it as a largely apolitical working class movement.

==History==
[[File:SHARP skinhead.jpg|thumb|upright|SHARP skinhead]]

===Origins and first wave===
In the late 1950s the post-war [[boom and bust|economic boom]] led to an increase in [[disposable income]] among many young people. Some of those youths spent that income on new fashions; they wore ripped clothes and would use pieces of material to patch them up as popularised by American [[soul music|soul]] groups, British [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]] bands, certain film actors, and [[Carnaby Street]] clothing merchants.<ref name="Mods">{{Cite book |last=Rawlings |first=Terry |title=Mod: A Very British Phenomenon |publisher=Omnibus Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7119-68134 |location=London}}</ref> These youths became known as [[Mod (subculture)|mods]], a youth subculture noted for its [[consumerism]] and devotion to fashion, music, and [[scooter (motorcycle)|scooters]].<ref name="Mods 2">{{Cite book |last=Barnes |first=Richard |title=Mods! |publisher=Eel Pie Publishing Ltd. |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-85965-173-8 |location=London}}</ref>

Working class mods chose practical clothing styles that suited their lifestyle and employment circumstances: work [[boot]]s or [[combat boot|army boots]], straight-leg [[jeans]] or Sta-Prest [[trousers]], button-down shirts, and braces. When possible, these working class mods spent their money on suits and other sharp outfits to wear at dancehalls, where they enjoyed [[Soul music|soul]], [[ska]], and [[rocksteady]] music.{{sfn|Brown|2004}}<ref name="Mod music">{{Cite AV media notes |last=Edwards |first=Dave |title=Trojan Mod Reggae Box Set |publisher=Trojan Records |id=TJETD020 |type=Liner notes |location=London}}</ref>

Around 1966, a [[Schism (religion)|schism]] developed between the "peacock mods" (also known as ''smooth mods''), who were less violent and always wore the latest expensive clothes, and the "hard mods" (also known as "gang mods", "lemonheads" or "peanuts"), who were identified by their shorter hair and more working class image.<ref name="skinheads">{{Cite AV media notes |last=Old Skool Jim |title=Trojan Skinhead Reggae Box Set |publisher=Trojan Records |id=TJETD169 |type=Liner notes |location=London}}</ref> ''Hard mods'' became commonly known as skinheads by about 1968.<ref name="skinheads 2">{{Cite book |last=Marshall |first=George |title=Spirit of '69 – A Skinhead Bible |publisher=S.T. Publishing |year=1991 |isbn=978-1-898927-10-5 |location=Dunoon, Scotland}}</ref> Their short hair may have come about for practical reasons, since long hair could be a liability in industrial jobs and streetfights. Skinheads may also have cut their hair short in defiance of the more middle class [[hippie]] culture.<ref name="autogenerated9">{{Cite magazine |date=8 June 1970 |title=Britain: The Skinheads |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,909318,00.html?promoid=googlep |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521073648/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,909318,00.html?promoid=googlep |archive-date=21 May 2013 |access-date=23 May 2010 |magazine=Time}}</ref>

In addition to retaining many mod influences, early skinheads were very interested in Jamaican [[rude boy]] styles and culture, especially the music: ska, rocksteady, and early [[reggae]] (before the [[tempo]] slowed down and lyrics became focused on topics like [[black nationalism]] and the [[Rastafari movement]]).{{sfn|Brown|2004}}<ref name="Smash">{{Cite web |title=Smiling Smash: An Interview with Cathal Smyth, a.k.a Chas Smash, of Madness |url=http://ska.about.com/musicperform/ska/library/1999/aa081699a.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010219175613/http://ska.about.com/musicperform/ska/library/1999/aa081699a.htm |archive-date=19 February 2001 |access-date=31 August 2010}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated3">{{Cite web |last=de Koningh |first=Michael |title=Reggae In Your Jeggae: The Phenomonen of the Skinhead Movement and Reggae Music |url=http://www.reggaereggaereggae.com/Special%20Articles.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217000127/http://www.reggaereggaereggae.com/Special%20Articles.htm |archive-date=17 December 2008 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Reggaereggaereggae.com}}</ref>

Skinhead culture became so popular by 1969 that even the rock band [[Slade]] temporarily adopted the look as a marketing strategy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Straight From His Own Gob{{snd}} Noddy Holder interview |url=http://www.soundchecks.co.uk/articles/noholder.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050405014451/http://www.soundchecks.co.uk/articles/noholder.html |archive-date=5 April 2005 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Soundchecks.co.uk |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ambrose Slade: The Wolverhampton group that became Slade |url=http://www.brumbeat.net/aslade.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813034234/http://www.brumbeat.net/aslade.htm |archive-date=13 August 2012 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Brumbeat.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=h2g2{{snd}} Slade{{snd}} the band |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A454925 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505164615/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A454925 |archive-date=5 May 2009 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> The subculture gained wider notice because of a series of violent and sexually explicit novels by [[James Moffat (author)|Richard Allen]], notably ''Skinhead'' and ''Skinhead Escapes''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mean Streets |first=Jon |title=Joe Hawkins: Not just an Oppressed-song |url=http://www.skinhead.no/content/articles/richardallen.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505014805/http://www.skinhead.no/content/articles/richardallen.asp |archive-date=5 May 2007 |access-date=11 April 2007 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=British Hell's Angel and Skinhead novels of the 1970s |url=http://www.stewarthomesociety.org/sex/gensexco.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420200942/http://www.stewarthomesociety.org/sex/gensexco.htm |archive-date=20 April 2012 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Stewarthomesociety.org}}</ref> Due to largescale British migration to [[Perth]], [[Western Australia]], many British youths in that city joined skinhead/[[sharpies (Australian subculture)|sharpies]] gangs in the late 1960s and developed their own Australian style.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Sharpies&nbsp;— Cult Gangs of the Sixties and Seventies |url=http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_in_time/Transcripts/s508106.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924024911/http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_in_time/Transcripts/s508106.htm |archive-date=24 September 2008 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Abc.net.au}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Arts & Culture – ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/arts-culture/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029203605/http://www.abc.net.au/arts/visual/stories/sharpies_index.htm |archive-date=29 October 2008 |website=www.abc.net.au}}</ref>

By the early 1970s, the skinhead subculture started to fade from popular culture, and some of the original skins dropped into new categories, such as the ''[[Suedehead (subculture)|suedeheads]]'' (defined by the ability to manipulate one's hair with a comb), ''smoothies'' (often with shoulder-length hairstyles), and ''bootboys'' (with mod-length hair; associated with gangs and [[football hooliganism]]).<ref name="skinheads 2" /><ref name="autogenerated9" /><ref name="Suedeheads">{{Cite AV media notes |last=de Konigh |first=Michael |title=Suedehead Reggae Box Set |date=2004 |publisher=Trojan Records |id=TJETD003 |type=Liner notes |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Suedeheads |url=http://www.filmnoirbuff.com/article/suedeheads |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604084818/http://www.filmnoirbuff.com/article/suedeheads |archive-date=4 June 2012 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Film Noir Buff}}</ref> Some fashion trends returned to the mod roots, with [[brogues]], [[loafers]], suits, and the [[Trousers|slacks]]-and-[[sweater]] look making a comeback.

===Second wave===
[[File:Hoxton Tom McCourt 1977.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Hoxton Tom McCourt]], a revival skinhead pictured in 1977]]

In the late 1970s, the skinhead subculture was revived to a notable extent after the introduction of [[punk rock]].<ref name="Soundtrack">{{Cite journal |last=Shaffer |first=Ryan |year=2013 |title=The Soundtrack of Neo-Fascism: Youth and Music in the National Front |journal=Patterns of Prejudice |volume=47 |pages=458–482 |doi=10.1080/0031322X.2013.842289 |s2cid=144461518 |number=4–5}}</ref> Most of these revivalist skinheads reacted to the commercialism of punk by adopting a look that was in line with the original 1969 skinhead style.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} This revival included Gary Hodges and [[Hoxton Tom McCourt]] (both later of the band the [[4-Skins]]) and [[Suggs (singer)|Suggs]], later of the band [[Madness (band)|Madness]]. Around this time, some skinheads became affiliated with [[far-right politics|far right]] groups such as the [[National Front (United Kingdom)|National Front]] and the [[British Movement]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=Rebecca |title=Fashion, Desire and Anxiety: Image and Morality in the 20th Century |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year=2001 |isbn=978-1860645556 |pages=43}}</ref> From 1979 onwards, [[Punk fashion|punk-influenced]] skinheads with shorter hair, higher boots and less emphasis on traditional styles grew in numbers and grabbed media attention, mostly due to [[football hooliganism]]. There still remained, however, skinheads who preferred the original mod-inspired styles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Childs |first=Peter |title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture |last2=Storry |first2=Michael |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1134755547 |pages=496 |quote=In 2009 Paul Lazarus and Phil downsborough put on an event in Margate in Kent "the Big 40, the fortieth anniversary of Skinhead" which was attended by Skinheads from Britain, the USA, Europe, Australia and Japan  The event ran on a yearly basis until 2012}}</ref>

Eventually different interpretations of the skinhead subculture expanded beyond Britain and continental Europe. In the United States, certain segments of the [[hardcore punk]] scene embraced skinhead styles and developed their own version of the subculture.<ref name="autogenerated4">{{Cite magazine |date=November 1, 2006 |title=Rage with the Machine: A new breed of patriotic punks gets in the pit for Bush |url=http://www.stuffmagazine.com/articles/index.aspx?id=1519 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507204645/http://www.stuffmagazine.com/articles/index.aspx?id=1519 |archive-date=7 May 2008 |magazine=Stuffmagazine.com}}</ref>

Bill Osgerby has argued that skinhead culture more broadly grows strength from specific economic circumstances.<ref>Osgerby, 1998</ref> In a BBC interview, he remarked "In the late 70s and early 80s, working class culture was disintegrating through unemployment and inner city decay and there was an attempt to recapture a sense of working class solidarity and identity in the face of a tide of social change."<ref name="Under">{{Cite web |last=Geoghegan |first=Tom |date=12 April 2007 |title=Under the skin |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6546617.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817153324/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6546617.stm |archive-date=17 August 2017 |website=BBC News Magazine}}</ref>

=== Germany ===
By the 1980s street fights regularly broke out in [[West Germany]] between skinheads and members of the [[anti-fascist]], and [[left wing]] youth movements. German [[neo-nazism|neo-nazis]], led among others by [[Michael Kühnen]], sought to expand their ranks with new young members from the burgeoning skinhead scene. On the other side of the [[Berlin Wall]], in [[East Germany]], the skinhead youth movement had developed two different styles: one was more focused on rebellious youth fashion styles while the other camp often dressed in regular clothes and focused more heavily on political activity. These groups were infiltrated by agents of the [[Stasi]] and did not last long in East Germany. After a group of skinheads attacked a punk concert at Zion's Church (East Berlin) in 1987, many skinhead leaders fled to West Germany to avoid arrest.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ostow |first=Robin |date=1995 |title=" 'Ne Art Bürgerwehr in Form von Skins": Young Germans on the Streets in the Eastern and Western States of the Federal Republic |journal=New German Critique |issue=64 |pages=87–103 |doi=10.2307/488465 |issn=0094-033X |jstor=488465}}</ref>

==Style==

===Clothing===
{{unreferenced section|date=October 2021}}
[[File:Skinhead in Bremen, Germany.jpg|thumb|upright|A German skinhead wearing a sheepskin coat and ranger boots]]

Skinheads wore long-sleeve or short-sleeve [[Dress shirt|button-down shirts]] or [[Tennis shirt|polo shirts]] by brands such as [[Ben Sherman]], Muses Cuya, [[Fred Perry]], [[Brutus Jeans|Brutus]], Warrior or Jaytex; [[Lonsdale (brand)|Lonsdale]] or [[Everlast (boxing)|Everlast]] shirts or [[sweatshirts]]; [[Grandfather shirt]]s; V-neck [[sweater]]s; [[sleeveless sweater]]s (known in the UK as a ''tank top''); [[Cardigan (sweater)|cardigan sweaters]] or [[T-shirt]]s (plain or with text or designs related to the skinhead subculture). They might wear fitted [[blazer]]s, [[Harrington jacket]]s, [[Flight jacket|bomber jackets]], [[denim]] jackets (usually blue, sometimes spattered with bleach), [[donkey jacket]]s, [[Crombie (brand)|Crombie]]-style overcoats, [[sheepskin]] ¾-length coats, short [[Mackintosh|macs]], [[monkey jackets]] or [[Anorak|parkas]]. Traditional ("hard mod") skinheads sometimes wore suits, often of two-tone 'Tonik' fabric (shiny [[mohair]]-like material that changes colour in different light and angles), or in a [[Glen plaid|Prince of Wales]] or [[houndstooth]] check pattern.

Many skinheads wore Sta-Prest flat-fronted slacks or other dress [[trousers]]; [[jeans]] (normally [[Levi Strauss & Co.|Levi's]], [[Lee (Jeans)|Lee]] or [[Wrangler Jeans|Wrangler]]); or combat trousers (plain or camouflage). Jeans and slacks were worn deliberately short (either hemmed, rolled or tucked) to show off boots, or to show off bright coloured socks when wearing loafers or brogues. Jeans were often blue, with a parallel leg design, hemmed or with clean and thin rolled cuffs (turn-ups), and were sometimes splattered with [[bleach]] to resemble [[camouflage]] trousers (a style popular among [[Oi!]] skinheads).

Many traditionalist skinheads wore braces (suspenders), in various colours, usually no more than 1" in width, clipped to the trouser waistband. In some areas, braces much wider than that may identify a skinhead as either unfashionable or as a [[white power skinhead]]. Traditionally, braces were worn up in an X shape at the back, but some Oi!-oriented skinheads wore their braces hanging down. Patterned braces – often black and white check, or vertical stripes – were sometimes worn by traditional skinheads. In a few cases, the colour of braces or flight jackets were used to signify affiliations. The particular colours chosen have varied regionally, and had totally different meanings in different areas and time periods. Only skinheads from the same area and time period are likely to interpret the colour significations accurately. The practice of using the colour clothing items to indicate affiliations became less common, particularly among traditionalist skinheads, who were more likely to choose their colours simply for fashion.

Hats common among skinheads include: [[Trilby]] hats; [[pork pie hat]]s; [[flat cap]]s (''Scally caps'' or ''driver caps''), [[Tuque|winter woollen hats]] (without a bobble). Less common have been [[bowler hat]]s (mostly among suedeheads and those influenced by the film ''[[A Clockwork Orange (film)|A Clockwork Orange]]'').

Traditionalist skinheads sometimes wore a silk handkerchief in the breast pocket of a Crombie-style overcoat or tonic suit jacket, in some cases fastened with an ornate stud. Some wore pocket flashes instead. These are pieces of silk in contrasting colours, mounted on a piece of cardboard and designed to look like an elaborately folded handkerchief. It was common to choose the colours based on one's favourite football club. Some skinheads wore button badges or sewn-on fabric patches with designs related to affiliations, interests or beliefs. Also popular were woollen or printed rayon scarves in football club colours, worn knotted at the neck, wrist, or hanging from a belt loop at the waist. Silk or faux-silk scarves (especially Tootal brand) with [[paisley (design)|paisley]] patterns were also sometimes worn. Some suedeheads carried closed umbrellas with sharpened tips, or a handle with a pull-out blade. This led to the nickname ''brollie boys''.

Female skinheads, (who are sometimes called '''skinbyrds''' or '''skingirls''',) generally wore the same clothing items as men, with addition of skirts, stockings, or dress suits composed of a three-quarter-length jacket and matching short skirt. Some skingirls wore fishnet stockings and mini-skirts, a style introduced during the punk-influenced skinhead revival.

===Footwear===
Most skinheads wear [[boot]]s; in the 1960s [[Combat boot|army surplus]] or generic workboots, later [[Dr. Martens]] boots and shoes. In 1960s Britain, steel-toe boots worn by skinheads and hooligans were called [[bovver boot]]s; whence skinheads have themselves sometimes been called ''bovver boys''. Skinheads have also been known to wear [[brogues]], [[loafers]] or Dr. Martens (or similarly styled) low shoes.

[[File:Dr martens boots.jpg|thumb|[[Dr. Martens]] boots with [[Levi Strauss & Co.|Levi's]] jeans]]

In recent years, other brands of boots, such as [[Solovair]], [[Tredair]] Grinders, and Gripfast have become popular among skinheads, partly because most Dr. Martens are no longer made in England. [[Association football|Football]]-style [[athletic shoe]]s, by brands such as [[Adidas]] or [[Gola (manufacturer)|Gola]], have become popular with many skinheads. Female or child skinheads generally wear the same footwear as men, with the addition of [[Monkey Boots|monkey boots]]. The traditional brand for monkey boots was Grafters, but nowadays they are also made by Dr. Martens and Solovair.

In the early days of the skinhead subculture, some skinheads chose boot lace colours based on the football team they supported. Later, some skinheads (particularly highly political ones) began to use lace colour to indicate beliefs or affiliations. The particular colours chosen have varied regionally, and have had totally different meanings in different areas and time periods. Only skinheads from the same area and time period are likely to interpret the colour significations accurately. This practice has become less common, particularly among traditionalist skinheads, who are more likely to choose their colours simply for fashion purposes.

[[Suedehead (subculture)|Suedeheads]] sometimes wore coloured socks (for example, red or blue rather than black or white).<ref name="Suedeheads" />

==Music==
[[File:2009-10-25blasphemy.JPG|thumb|left|Canadian [[black metal]] band [[Blasphemy (band)|Blasphemy]], described as "black metal skinheads"<ref name="blasphemyritual.com">{{Cite web |title=Blasphemy Black Metal Skinheads T-Shirts |url=http://blasphemyritual.com/bms_tshirts.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424044649/http://blasphemyritual.com/bms_tshirts.html |archive-date=24 April 2015 |access-date=22 April 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>]]

The skinhead subculture was originally associated with [[black people|black]] music genres such as [[Soul music|soul]], [[ska]], [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]], [[rocksteady]], and early [[reggae]].{{sfn|Brown|2004}}<ref name="Smash" /> The link between skinheads and [[Music of Jamaica|Jamaican music]] led to the UK popularity of groups such as [[Desmond Dekker]], [[Derrick Morgan]], [[Laurel Aitken]], [[Symarip]] and [[The Pioneers (band)|The Pioneers]].<ref name="autogenerated3" /> In the early 1970s, some reggae songs began to feature themes of [[black nationalism]], which many white skinheads could not relate to.{{sfn|Brown|2004}} This shift in reggae's lyrical themes created some tension between black and white skinheads, who otherwise got along fairly well.{{sfn|Hebdige|1979|page=58}} Around this time, some [[Suedehead (subculture)|suedeheads]] (an offshoot of the skinhead subculture) started listening to British [[glam rock]] bands such as [[The Sweet|Sweet]], [[Slade]] and [[Mott the Hoople]].<ref name="Suedeheads" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=RICHARD H KIRK Interview |url=http://www.themilkfactory.co.uk/interviews/rhkiw.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517120143/http://www.themilkfactory.co.uk/interviews/rhkiw.htm |archive-date=17 May 2011 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Themilkfactory.co.uk}}</ref>

The most popular music style for late-1970s skinheads was [[2 Tone (music genre)|2 Tone]], a fusion of ska, rocksteady, reggae, pop and [[punk rock]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 2-Tone discography |url=http://2-tone.info |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117202747/http://www.2-tone.info/ |archive-date=17 November 2019 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=2-tone.info}}</ref> The 2 Tone genre was named after [[2 Tone Records]], a [[Coventry]] [[record label]] that featured bands such as [[The Specials]], [[Madness (band)|Madness]] and [[The Selecter]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=2 Tone Records – 2 Tone & Related Bibliography |url=http://2-tone.info/articles/books.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227011837/http://2-tone.info/articles/books.html |archive-date=27 February 2010 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=2-tone.info}}</ref><ref>Moskowitz, David V. (2006). Caribbean Popular Music. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 270. {{ISBN|0-313-33158-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Specials.com |url=http://www.thespecials.com/history3.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328095835/http://www.thespecials.com/history3.php |archive-date=28 March 2009}}</ref> Some late-1970s skinheads also liked certain punk rock bands, such as [[Sham 69]] and Menace.

In the late 1970s, after the first wave of punk rock, many skinheads embraced [[Oi!]], a working class punk subgenre.<ref>Dalton, Stephen, "Revolution Rock", Vox, June 1993</ref> Musically, Oi! combines standard punk with elements of [[football chant]]s, [[Pub rock (United Kingdom)|pub rock]] and British glam rock.<ref name="autogenerated5">{{Cite web |title=Oi!&nbsp;– The Truth by Garry Bushell |url=http://www.garry-bushell.co.uk/oi/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830192607/http://www.garry-bushell.co.uk/oi/ |archive-date=30 August 2009}}</ref> The Oi! scene was partly a response to a sense that many participants in the early punk scene were, in the words of [[The Business (band)|The Business]] guitarist Steve Kent, "trendy university people using long words, trying to be artistic ... and losing touch".<ref>[[John Robb (musician)|Robb, John]] (2006). ''Punk Rock: An Oral History'' (London: Elbury Press). {{ISBN|0-09-190511-7}}</ref> The term Oi! as a musical genre is said to come from the band [[Cockney Rejects]] and journalist [[Garry Bushell]], who championed the genre in [[Sounds (magazine)|''Sounds'' magazine]].<ref name="autogenerated5" /><ref>Turner, Jeff; Garry Bushell (2005). Cockney Reject. London: John Blake Publishing Ltd. {{ISBN|1-84454-054-5}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cockney Rejects |url=http://oisite.tripod.com/rejects.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717103410/http://oisite.tripod.com/rejects.html |archive-date=17 July 2011 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Oisite.tripod.com}}</ref> Not exclusively a skinhead genre, many Oi! bands included skins, [[punk subculture|punks]] and people who fit into neither category. Notable Oi! bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s include [[Angelic Upstarts]], [[Blitz (British band)|Blitz]], the Business, Last Resort, [[The Burial (English band)|The Burial]], [[Combat 84]] and [[the 4-Skins]].<ref name="skinheads 2" />

[[File:4-Skins at Aldgate East 1980.jpg|thumb|upright|The British skinhead band [[The 4-Skins]] in 1980]]

American Oi! began in the 1980s, with bands such as [[U.S. Chaos]], [[The Press (band)|The Press]], [[Iron Cross (American band)|Iron Cross]], [[The Bruisers]] and [[Anti-Heros (band)|Anti-Heros]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Press a tribute page |url=http://www.maninblack.org/thepress.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100908004808/http://www.maninblack.org/thepress.html |archive-date=8 September 2010 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Maninblack.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dementlieu Punk Archive: Washington, DC: Iron Cross interview from If This Goes on 2 |url=http://dementlieu.com/users/obik/arc/dc/ironcross_itg2.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421135602/http://dementlieu.com/users/obik/arc/dc/ironcross_itg2.html |archive-date=21 April 2018 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Dementlieu.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=17 January 1999 |title=Oi! American Oi! : Anti-Heros |url=http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/7596/antihero.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990117001626/http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/7596/antihero.html |archive-date=1999-01-17}}</ref> American skinheads created a link between their subculture and [[hardcore punk]] music, with bands such as [[Warzone (band)|Warzone]], [[Agnostic Front]], and [[Cro-Mags]]. The Oi! style has also spread to other parts of the world, and remains popular with many skinheads. Many later Oi! bands have combined influences from early American hardcore and 1970s British [[street punk|streetpunk]].

Among some skinheads, [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] is popular. Bands such as the Canadian act [[Blasphemy (band)|Blasphemy]], whose guitarist is Black, has been known to popularise and merchandise the phrase "black metal skinheads".<ref name="blasphemyritual.com" /> As the group's vocalist recounts, "a lot of black metal skinheads from the other side of Canada" would join in on the [[British Columbia]]n black metal underground. "I remember one guy... who had 'Black Metal Skins' tattooed on his forehead. We didn't hang out with white power skinheads, but there were some Oi skinheads who wanted to hang out with us."<ref>''Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult'' (2013), p. 73</ref> [[National Socialist black metal]] has an audience among white power skinheads. Black metal pioneer and right-wing extremist [[Varg Vikernes]] was known to adopt a skinhead look and wear a belt with the SS insignia while serving time in prison for the [[Varg Vikernes#Arson of churches|arson of several stave churches]] and the murder of [[Øystein Aarseth]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moynihan |first=Michael |title=Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground |title-link=Lords of Chaos (book) |last2=Søderlind |first2=Didrik |date=1998 |publisher=Feral House |isbn=0-922915-94-6 |page=362}}</ref>

Although many [[white power skinhead]]s listened to Oi! music, they developed a separate genre more in line with their politics: [[Rock Against Communism]] (RAC).<ref>{{Cite web |title=WNP&nbsp;— Memoirs of a Street Soldier Part 8 |url=http://www.aryanunity.com/memoirs8.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217101317/http://www.aryanunity.com/memoirs8.html |archive-date=17 February 2012 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Aryanunity.com}}</ref> The most notable RAC band was [[Skrewdriver]], which started out as a non-political punk band but evolved into a [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] band after the first lineup broke up and a new lineup was formed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Skrewdriver- A Fan's View |url=http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/skrewdriverinterview.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126100901/http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/skrewdriverinterview.htm |archive-date=26 November 2010 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Punk77.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Skrewdriver- Press Cuttings |url=http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/skrewdrivecuttings.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100704172019/http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/skrewdrivecuttings.htm |archive-date=4 July 2010 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Punk77.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Diamond in the Dust – The Ian Stuart Biography |url=http://www.skrewdriver.net/diamond.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427195147/http://www.skrewdriver.net/diamond.html |archive-date=27 April 2009 |access-date=22 April 2015}}</ref> RAC started out musically similar to Oi! and punk, but has since adopted elements from other genres. White power music that draws inspiration from [[hardcore punk]] is sometimes called [[hatecore]].

==Racism, anti-racism, and politics==
[[File:1. Mai 2013 in Hannover. Gute Arbeit. Sichere Rente. Soziales Europa. Umzug vom Freizeitheim Linden zum Klagesmarkt. Menschen und Aktivitäten (111).jpg|thumb|[[Anarchist]], [[anti-fascist]] and [[anti racism|anti-racist]] skinheads in [[Hannover]], Germany]]

The early skinheads were not necessarily part of any political movement, but as the 1970s progressed, many skinheads became more politically active and acts of [[Racism|racially-motivated]] skinhead violence began to occur in the United Kingdom. As a result of this change within the skinheads, far right groups such as the [[National Front (UK)|National Front]] and the [[British Movement]] saw a rise in the number of [[white power skinhead]]s among their ranks.<ref name="Soundtrack" /> By the late 1970s, the mass media, and subsequently the general public, had largely come to view the skinhead subculture as one that promotes racism and [[neo-Nazism]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Skinhead |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/skinhead |date=15 January 2024}}</ref> The white power and neo-Nazi skinhead subculture eventually spread to [[North America]], [[Europe]] and other areas of the world.<ref name="Soundtrack" /> The mainstream media started using the term ''skinhead'' in reports of racist violence (regardless of whether the perpetrator was actually a skinhead); this has played a large role in skewing public perceptions about the subculture.<ref>Osgerby, 1998, 65</ref> Three notable groups that formed in the 1980s and which later became associated with white power skinheads are [[White Aryan Resistance]], [[Blood and Honour]] and [[Hammerskins]].<ref name="Soundtrack" />

[[File:Crucified Skinhead.svg|thumb|A crucified skinhead, a symbol used to convey a sense of societal alienation or persecution against the skinhead subculture. According to the [[Anti-Defamation League]], it is used by both racist skinheads as well as anti-racist skinheads, and it can be considered a hate symbol in certain contexts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Crucified Skinhead, Hate Symbols Database |url=https://www.adl.org/hatesymbolsdatabase |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190908025154/https://www.adl.org/hatesymbolsdatabase |archive-date=8 September 2019 |access-date=2019-12-15 |website=Anti-Defamation League |language=en}}</ref>]]

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, many skinheads and [[Suedehead (subculture)|suedeheads]] in the United Kingdom rejected both the far left and the far right. This attitude was musically typified by [[Oi!]] bands such as [[Cockney Rejects]], [[The 4-Skins]], [[Toy Dolls]], and [[The Business (band)|The Business]]. Two notable groups of skinheads that spoke out against neo-Nazism and political extremism—and instead spoke out in support of [[Trojan skinhead|traditional skinhead]] culture—were the Glasgow Spy Kids in Scotland (who coined the phrase ''Spirit of '69''), and the publishers of the ''Hard As Nails'' [[zine]] in England.<ref name="Marshall, George 1996" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ska Party |url=http://www.skinheadheaven.org.uk/index.php/cuttings/49-ska-party-id-magazine-article-1988 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407072641/http://www.skinheadheaven.org.uk/index.php/cuttings/49-ska-party-id-magazine-article-1988 |archive-date=7 April 2010 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Skinheadheaven.org.uk}}</ref>

In the late 1960s, some skinheads in the United Kingdom (including [[Black people|black]] skinheads) engaged in violence against [[British Asian|South Asian immigrants]] (an act known as ''[[Paki (slur)|Paki bashing]]'' in common slang).<ref name="autogenerated9" /><ref name="Marshall, George 1996">Marshall, George. ''Skinhead Nation''. ST Publishing, 1996. {{ISBN|1-898927-45-6}}, {{ISBN|978-1-898927-45-7}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Monty Montgomery of the Pyramids/Symarip interview |url=http://www.trojanrecords.net/articles/monty2.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050929223759/http://www.trojanrecords.net/articles/monty2.htm |archive-date=29 September 2005 |access-date=31 August 2010}}</ref> There had, however, also been [[Anti-racism|anti-racist]] skinheads since the beginning of the subculture, especially in [[Scotland]] and [[Northern England]].<ref name="Marshall, George 1996" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=REDSKINS&nbsp;— The Interview, 1986 |url=http://www.sozialismus-von-unten.de/archiv/text/redskins.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100226075700/http://www.sozialismus-von-unten.de/archiv/text/redskins.htm |archive-date=26 February 2010 |access-date=31 August 2010 |publisher=Sozialismus-von-unten.de}}</ref>

On the far left of the skinhead subculture, [[Redskin (subculture)|redskins]] and [[Anarchism|anarchist]] skinheads take a militant [[anti-fascism|anti-fascist]] and pro-working class stance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=REVOLUTION TIMES HOMEPAGE – Revolution Times-Interview aus Autonom # 17 |url=http://www.geocities.com/revolutiontimes/rtint2.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027092023/http://www.geocities.com/revolutiontimes/rtint2.htm |archive-date=27 October 2009 |access-date=22 April 2015}}</ref> The phrase "[[all cops are bastards]]" was popularized among some skinheads by [[The 4-Skins]]'s 1982 song "A.C.A.B."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Groundwater |first=Colin |date=June 10, 2020 |title=A brief history of ACAB |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/politics/article/acab-meaning |publisher=[[GQ]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ACAB |url=https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/acab |publisher=[[Anti-Defamation League]]}}</ref> In the United Kingdom, two groups with significant numbers of leftist skinhead members were [[Red Action]], which started in 1981, and [[Anti-Fascist Action]], which started in 1985. Internationally, the most notable skinhead organization is [[Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice]], which formed in the New York City area in 1987 and then spread to other countries.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 July 2007 |title=Skinhead Nation: The Big Apple Bites Back |url=http://www.skinheadnation.co.uk/sharpskinheads.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709164353/http://www.skinheadnation.co.uk/sharpskinheads.htm |archive-date=9 July 2007}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of skinhead films]]
* {{annotated link|White power skinhead}}
* {{annotated link|Trojan skinhead}}
* {{annotated link|Ultras}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Brown |first=Timothy S. |date=1 January 2004 |title=Subcultures, Pop Music and Politics: Skinheads and "Nazi Rock" in England and Germany |journal=Journal of Social History |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=157–178 |doi=10.1353/jsh.2004.0079 |jstor=3790031 |s2cid=42029805}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hebdige |first=Dick |title=Subculture: The Meaning of Style |date=1979 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415039499 |location=London, New York |oclc=1087981277}}
* {{Cite book |last=Osgerby |first=Bill |title=Youth in Britain since 1945 |date=1998 |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=9780631194767 |series=Making contemporary Britain |location=Oxford, Malden (Mass.)}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite journal |last=Brake |first=Mike |date=1974 |title=The skinheads: An English working class subculture |journal=Youth & Society |volume=6 |pages=179–200 |doi=10.1177/0044118X7400600203 |issn=0044-118X |s2cid=146496118 |number=2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Daniel |first=Susie |title=The Paint House: Words from an East End Gang |last2=McGuire |first2=Peter |date=1972 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth |oclc=480732329 |display-authors=etal}}
* {{Cite book |last=Davis |first=John |title=Youth and the condition of Britain: images of adolescent conflict |date=1990 |publisher=Athlone Press |isbn=9780485800012 |series=Conflict and change in Britain series - a new audit |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Osgerby |first=Bill |title=Youth Media |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415238076 |series=Routledge introductions to media and communications |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Pearson |first=Geoff |title=Working Class Youth Culture |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |year=1976 |isbn=9780710083746 |editor-last=Geoff Mungham |location=London, Boston |page=50 |chapter='Paki-Bashing' in a North East Lancashire Cotton Town: A case study and its history |editor-last2=Geoffrey Pearson}}
* {{Cite book |last=Staple |first=Neville |author-link=Neville Staple |title=[[Original Rude Boy]] |date=2009 |publisher=[[Aurum Press]] |isbn=978-1-84513-480-8}}

===Skinheads in Russia===
* {{Cite journal |last=Worger |first=Peter |date=2012 |title=A mad crowd: Skinhead youth and the rise of nationalism in post-communist Russia |journal=Communist and Post-Communist Studies |volume=45 |issue=3–4 |pages=269–278 |doi=10.1016/j.postcomstud.2012.07.015}}
* [[Victor Schnirelmann]],  [https://www.academia.edu/42856111/Shnirelman «Чистильщики московских улиц»: скинхеды, СМИ и общественное мнение.] [''"Sweepers of Moscow Streets": Skinheads, Media, and Popular Opinion''] М.: Academia, 2007. 116 стр.

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Skinhead}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Skinhead]]
[[Category:1968 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Punk rock]]
[[Category:Working-class culture in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Social class subcultures]]
[[Category:Socioeconomic stereotypes]]
[[Category:Music and fashion]]