Skinhead Girl
SHAVEN HEADS AND FRINGES. FRED PERRY AND LONSDALE. HAND-DRAWN TATTOOS. HOW TO BE A SKINHEAD GIRL.
We have been looking for this book for such a long time. Alan Mead's
Skinhead Girl,
self-published in 1988. It is exceptionally hard to find and its scarcity has long since passed into online skinhead forum folklore.
Get the look. Sleeveless Lonsdale t-shirt and braces, rolled up jeans and bovver boots, Fred Perry shirt under Fred Perry jumper. Get the attitude. As the book puts it, the Skinhead Girl has
'a certain kind of beauty with the look of hate.'
She didn't get this done at Vidal Sassoon. If the fringes aren't enough, the length left at the back is extraordinary. It really is the most amazing hairstyling book of all time. Sure there is only one style - but what a style! It can not be bettered.
It is also one of the great fashion books of all time (as will be apparent to most readers of this email). It is not even worth trying to describe how on the money the image above is... just look at it! See much more
here.
And get a tattoo. This Oi! design is unfinished business. The book is full of stunningly simple tattoos; Crucified Skin, Cock Sparrer, Clockwork Baby... or our favourite, the Fred Perry wreath with the initials E.B.G (Ex-Borstal Girl).
And then there are the girls themselves. The book is full of passport pictures shot in high street photobooths; Jocelle from Cardiff, Leah from Bristol, Myriame from Le Havre (with her baby), and our favourite above simply Anne, France.