Max Décharné is a London-based musician and writer. He writes regularly for the British music magazine Mojo and is the author of several books on music and cultural history, including Vulgar Tongues: An Alternative History of English Slang and, most recently, Teddy Boys: Post-War Britain and the First Youth Revolution.

03.21.2026

• Max Décharné

Before the Punk Rockers, There Were the Working-Class Teds

British class society had a dress code: the rich could be flashy, but workers were expected to wear a drab uniform. In the 1950s, England’s working-class Teddy Boys and Girls boldly donned pompadours and velvet, giving birth to modern British subculture.