In
England, longer haired skinheads who where mostly involved in hooliganism. Listened to more Soul and Glam than the Original skins, but coexisted with more skinheadesqe boot boys at the time, and even still listened to dub and reggae of the past. With the rise of English
punk rock (an american culture) many boot boys wore higher
boots and dressed more ragged, listening to punk bands, and boot boys who opposed this cross became skinheads again, rejoining the few skinheads that remained.
In
America, boot boys where synonymous with skinheads who listened to Oi! and punk music(while only describing the skinheads who where large parts of the punk rock community), and dressed in a mix of traditional skinhead clothing (braces,
boots, jeans) while mixing it with more punk fashion (or at least a little; wife beaters, t-shirts, piercings). While many skinheads in
America today remain that way, there is no longer a distinction between the two, although many have conflicting styles and preferences counter to the traditional skinhead persona, just like in
england.
Furthermore, many boot boys are distasteful towards hippies, just like skinheads and punks are, and have morphed into a sort of punk-rock skinhead rather than a skinhead at all. The bootboys thirty to forty years ago would be considered Original Skinhead/smoothie compared to the
cult today.
Skinhead #1: fucking
bill, I can't get him to listen to any reggae at all with me!
Skinhead #2: yeah, mate! he's one of them boot boys, he is!
Skinhead #1: Is he?
American Skinhead: Yeah, he doesn't own a
single tile of Fred Perry or Ben Sherman, or Lonsdale... But shit, he's still good to have beers with!
Skinhead #1: yeah, I guess! He does have a taste in Oi, but I always wondered why he never wore a Sherman or why his
boots where always 14i's over his jeans...
American Skinhead: Yeah, but shit, who cares,
may as well be a skinhead, he's good with us!
