It was the answer to the jeans-wearing rockers, with their greasy looks and leather jackets, a refined minimalist look for the working class youth. This was the mod look, a style, and a lifestyle embraced by British youth, who followed the mantra of The Who’s “My Generation” and banded together under the premise of “clean living under difficult circumstances”

The original mods bear little resemblance to what would later be considered mod, the day-glo look of the swinging 60s. The first mods were jazz-loving, Vespa-driving, ostracized youths whose belief in refined minimalism was reflected in their fine tailored clothing, slim suits, button down Fred Perry casuals and desert boots. Accentuating the look were short and conservative hairstyles. The originators of the mod movement took their cues, not from the typical brand of rock and roll that they generally despised, but from new emerging groups such as Small Faces and The Who.

What had originally been known as “mod” changed drastically around 1964, thanks in part to a riot that occurred between them and the rockers of the day. Soon a new brand of mod emerged, a more psychedelic version to reflect the times. Minimalism gave way to bolder colors, more ostentatious patterns. Everything from paper to electric lights to vinyl was incorporated into the revamped look. Mini skirts, paper dresses, Nehru jackets, all found instant popularity, as black and white geometric patterns and fluorescent colors further erases any resemblance to the roots of the movement.

When The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper in 1967, they embrace the mod look with their brightly colored military jackets. Velvet suits, paisley and polka-dotted patterns and frilled lace collars accompanied Chelsea boots and other fashions that emerged from the new mecca of mod fashion, Carnaby Street in London. The space aged fashion designs that emerged from this famed street would celebrate adolescent individuality in ways never heard of before, help spawn a sexual revolution and that the youth of the world, not to mention the women of the world had a powerful voice in the fashion world and buying power to be reckoned with.

What mod eventually became was a long way from where it started. In fact, the mod movement is really two distinct movements that bear little resemblance to each other. But one thing is for certain, they both embraced a youthful style that certainly made its mark in the history of fashion and changed the way people dressed forever.