Marie - I *love* that banner, it's amazing! I'd want it too but it wouldn't fit round my house I don't think. LOL!
Chris, here's the info you wanted on mod men:
TODAY'S MOD GUYS
In brief - what the mod guys wear nowadays in the UK (as the mod scene in the UK is still very much about being "a class above the norm" rather than just dressing 60s... American mods just seem to want to be in the most authentic 60s look, no matter what style, cut or year) depends on what stage of mod they are at.
The Tickets - wannabe mods who are very new to it all, and hang out in mod places - wear the pop art gear that the Who were into. Target shirts, brightly coloured jeans or trousers, haven't got too into the shoes yet (a major tell-tale sign they're new to the mod scene. Mod men *love* shoes), and their hair is long but in the scruffy "I don't know what to do with it" stage. They wear parkas but go totally over the top putting silly things all over them like targets and union jacks and band logos.
- the imbetween stage here is when they start buying polo shirts and mod jumpers and neating themselves up a bit.
The mods - decent mods but not the very top people who set all the trends - wear the striped shirts with the button down collars, bowling boots or desert boots and sta-press jeans or hipsters and belts with huge buckles. They start growing their hair rather long and trying to backcomb it. They also sort of phase out parkas and start wearing things like Harringtons.
- the imbetween stage between Mod and Face is when the mods start getting very fussy about their shoes, wearing very plain yet striking clothing (thick striped shirts, plain shirts with the contrasting collar and cuffs) and try and get a decent haircut... mods at this stage are very likely to nick your hairspray and your eyeliner, and ask you for tips on using both of them. Parkas are still worn, but the logogs are very minilamist and discreet. A small target on the back or something.
The Faces - the top mods, the trend setters, the guys in charge who everyone looks up to and wants to emulate - wear the Italian suits and cuban heeled boots or badger-shoes, have immaculate backcombed Italian haircuts and are just generally so cool that when they walk in the room all the lads stare and all the girls come aver all funny. LOL! The Faces very rarely wear parkas (though they will ocasionally wear one out just because they miss their old parka), they have really nice 3/4 overcoats instead... which with the Italian suits, sharp shoes and italian haircuts make they look a teensy bit mafia-ish! LOL!
You can see the usual mod gear here (as most mod guys can't decide if vintage is acceptable or not, so they have *lots* of mod shops in England where you can buy brand new versions of 60s clothes.. modettes would rather wear Mary Quant so they don't care if it's brand new or not!):
Sherry's
Jump The Gun - Brighton
Merc (check out the shoes- then you'll know how to spot a true british mod)
Guys usually work through the shops in that order too. Sherrys is very friendly and helpful, good for newbies, and they even let girls in! LOL!
Jump The Gun is quite cool, there's some groovy stuff in there. But you have to look a bit mod to go in there otherwise they get a bit weirded out by your presence. You also need to know what you're doing there, but the staff are very friendly and helpful once they know you're "one of them".
Merc is just totally cool. They do sell lots of Ticket and Mod stuff in there, but it's a top class Face place. If you progress beyond Merc, there's a very groovy Italian Bespoke suit mail order that those in the know use.
The really irritating thing about *all* of them though, is those "ticket pockets" they all put on the suits - one pocket on one side, two on the other. I hate that! ...and so do all the 60s mod purists. But until you can find a really good tailor to sort you out you're stuck with it.