Teddy Girls - Teddy Girls, a member of the youth subculture of the 1950s.

The Teddy Girls, also known as the Judies, an obscure aspect of the better known Teddy Boys subculture, were working-class Londoners, some of them Irish immigrants, who dressed in a neo-Edwardian style. The Teddy Girls were the first British female youth subculture. The Teddy Girls as a group historically remain almost invisible, not many photographs were taken, only one article was published about the Teddy Girls in the 1950s, as they were considered less interesting than the Teddy Boys.

Teddy Girls: Are Teddy Girls Really Part of a Subculture?

Back in the 1950s, there were small groups of girls who considered themselves Teddy Girls and identified with the Teddy Boy culture, danced with the Teds in The Elephant and the Castle, went to the movies with them, and apparently took some indirect pleasure in stories about the violent nature of the incidents provoked by the Teddy Boys. But there are good reasons why it couldn't be an option available to many working class girls.

Although girls participated in the general increase in youth disposable income in the 1950s, girls' wages were relatively not as high as boys'. More importantly, the spending structure for girls would be highly structured in a different direction than for boys. The working-class girl, although temporarily at work, focused more on the home. Spent more time at home.

The culture of the teddy boy was an escape from the family to the streets and cafes, as well as evening and weekend trips "to the city". Teddy Girl made sure to dress up and go out with either the guys or, as a group of girls, with a group of boys. But there would be a lot less "tramps" and participation on the street corner. While the Teddy Boys may have spent a lot of time hanging out on the property, the Teddy Girls pattern was probably more structured between stays at home.

In the 1950s, the teenage leisure market and its attendant manifestations (concerts, records, pin-ups, magazines) received, of course, more attention than in pre-war youth culture, and both girls and boys participated in this. But many of these activities could easily be accommodated within the traditionally defined cultural space of the home or peer-oriented “culture” of girls—mostly at home, visiting a friend, or at parties, without engaging in the riskier and more frowned upon way of loitering around the streets. or cafe.

This would lead us to assume that the Teddy Girls were present, but marginally, or at least in very formulaic forms, in the Teddy boy subculture: but that, following the position outlined above, the "participation" of the Teddy Girls was supported by complementary, but distinct from subcultures. sample. The reaction of many Teddy Boys to the growth of rock 'n' roll during this period was that they themselves became active, if amateur performers (the rise of skiffle bands), members of Teddy Girls in this culture became either fans

or record collectors and readers of magazines about teenage heroes.

Who were the Teddy girls

Like the Teddy Boys, these young women were mostly, if not entirely, working class. Many Teddy Girls left school at 14 or 15 to work as salespeople, secretaries, or assembly line workers. For this reason, the public opinion about Teddy Girls was stupid, illiterate and passive.

They chose clothes for more than aesthetic effect: these girls collectively rejected post-war austerity. Teddy girls wore draped jackets, pencil skirts, tight skirts, long braids, rolled up jeans, flat shoes, tailored jackets with velvet collars, straw boater hats, cameo brooches, espadrilles, coolie hats, and long elegant clutches. Later, they adopted the American fashion for bullfighter pants, voluminous sun skirts and ponytail hair. The Teddy Girls were rarely seen without their umbrella, which was rumored to never open even in the pouring rain.

But they weren't always as easy to spot as the more famous Teddy Boys. Some Teddy Girls wore pants, some wore skirts, and still others wore normal clothes but with Teddy accessories. Teddy fashion was inspired by the Edwardian period in the early years of the 20th century, so loose velvet collar jackets and tight trousers in the 1950s variations were all the rage.

Portraits of British Teddy Girls from the 1950s by Ken Russell.

Known for directing films such as Women in Love, The Devils and Tommy, he tried several professions before becoming a film director. He was a photographer, a dancer and even served in the army.

In 1955, Ken Russell met Teddy's girlfriend, Josie Buchan, who in turn introduced Russell to some of her friends. Russell photographed them and also photographed another group of Teddy Girls near his home in Notting Hill. In June 1955, the photographs were published in Picture Post magazine.

In college, Ken met his first wife, Shirley. She studied fashion design and became one of the most famous costume designers in the country. These were her student friends that Ken photographed on Walthamstow High Street and in the market area. As a budding fashion photographer, Ken was in his element photographing Teddy Girls taking care of their clothes.

Edwardian Teddy Boy Association website