The Mod culture has certainly been around for a long time and taken on many different adaptations from the original Mod, but where is current Mod culture and how has it become what it is now? There are many questions as to why Mods are still around while groups like the Rockers and Teddy Boys have dissipated, but some might argue the current Mods aren’t really what they used to be.
First off, Mods are still around while other rival groups from decades ago are not. Some may find this surprising as rivals of the Mods did have strong followings as well but there are some key differences between groups that allowed this to happen. If you look at the Teddy Boys or Rockers, for example, although from different time periods, the Teddy Boys had a bad reputation along with Rockers and when things got ugly and were blown up by the media these groups were often the first to take the blame. Mods on the other hand have maintained a fairly good reputation while maintaining their own identity. Among many things, wearing upper class fashion and driving more conservative scooters was more acceptable to British culture than wearing leather jackets and driving loud motorcycles. These slight differences have allowed the Mods to continue through the years.
Despite lasting through the years, the current identity of the Mods is a somewhat unclear. There is still obviously the older generation around, as well as a younger generation, but the culture has become more underground, for lack of a better phrase. The current, younger Mods do not have nearly the following they had in their heyday, and are harder to recognize. With the Mods that are still around, there is less of a definitive identity. Some may argue that the most current generation of Mods is a group of revivalists, who simply try to follow in the footsteps of older generations. These revivalist Mods are definitely a prominent piece of the current Mod population, but that is not the only part of the current situation.
Mods can be described as people who take what they believe was the best of the past, and what is now the best of the present, and combine them together in order to move forward. This thought contains Mods who are still evolving from the original Mod identity decades ago. The question is whether or not we will identify this evolving group as Mods, or whether they are changing so much as to form their own group. There is obviously a difference between the younger and older generations of Mods, and it will be interesting to see how they are labels ten years from now. Perhaps there will still be the revivalist Mods, but also a new group some would consider hipsters.
First off, Mods are still around while other rival groups from decades ago are not. Some may find this surprising as rivals of the Mods did have strong followings as well but there are some key differences between groups that allowed this to happen. If you look at the Teddy Boys or Rockers, for example, although from different time periods, the Teddy Boys had a bad reputation along with Rockers and when things got ugly and were blown up by the media these groups were often the first to take the blame. Mods on the other hand have maintained a fairly good reputation while maintaining their own identity. Among many things, wearing upper class fashion and driving more conservative scooters was more acceptable to British culture than wearing leather jackets and driving loud motorcycles. These slight differences have allowed the Mods to continue through the years.
Despite lasting through the years, the current identity of the Mods is a somewhat unclear. There is still obviously the older generation around, as well as a younger generation, but the culture has become more underground, for lack of a better phrase. The current, younger Mods do not have nearly the following they had in their heyday, and are harder to recognize. With the Mods that are still around, there is less of a definitive identity. Some may argue that the most current generation of Mods is a group of revivalists, who simply try to follow in the footsteps of older generations. These revivalist Mods are definitely a prominent piece of the current Mod population, but that is not the only part of the current situation.
Mods can be described as people who take what they believe was the best of the past, and what is now the best of the present, and combine them together in order to move forward. This thought contains Mods who are still evolving from the original Mod identity decades ago. The question is whether or not we will identify this evolving group as Mods, or whether they are changing so much as to form their own group. There is obviously a difference between the younger and older generations of Mods, and it will be interesting to see how they are labels ten years from now. Perhaps there will still be the revivalist Mods, but also a new group some would consider hipsters.