1 definition by Mr. Shanky
Skinheads first started to appear durring the late 60's in England. Skinheads were an off shoot to the mods and football(soccer)holligans called "boot boys". they took great pride in their dress and a proper skinhead could be seen wearing a button down brutus, ben sherman or any proper shirt. braces(suspenders, not the fat hillbilly grandpa kind but thin)a levi jacket or an american flight jacket. levi staprest trousers, blue jeans and sometimes cammo pants, allthough the combat trousers were not worn until the revival and the comming of punk rock.Fred Perry polo shirts are also very popular with skinheads as are V neck sweaters and vests. music listened to by skinheads from the 60's to 70's could consist of reggae, ska, soul, glam such as slade, mott the hoople, small faces. With the punk scene in the 70's came a rebirth of the skins allthough this time the look was exageated a bit, boots were higher and bleached jeans and combat fatigues could be seen worn by the new breed. During this time a right wing political group known as the National Front (NF)started using skinheads as pawns (polititians both right and left have tried using the scene for their own gain). there were many punk bands that were being followed by the skins, notably bad manners (ska) sham 69, Skrewdriver( before the nazi days)angelic upstarts.Shortly a new breed of punk music was born thanks to bands like the cockney rejects, this music was called "OI!", notable oi! bands are; the 4skins, last resort, snix, early skrewdriver, red alert. Skinheads reached America at the end of the 70's/early 80's and there has always been a close connection between the american skin and the hardcore scene. bands such as Agnostic front, Cro mags, murphy's law and warzone all had members who were skins or friends with skins. Today there seems to be a new trend of extreme left wing skins, redskins, communist,socialist,anarchist, who seem to be being used by politics yet again, most however grow up and realize extremist politics are a no win game. Not all skinheads are racist but some definately are. On the west coast (USA)many skins grow up being somewhat influenced by the chicano gang culture (cholo)it is not uncommon to see skins looking a bit more like cholos, after all skinheads have always been a gang subculture.
by Mr. Shanky October 21, 2005