Terry Hall’s passing is a very sad day for us here at Mod Shoes.

For me, (Andy) he and The Specials changed everything in 1980. My nan brought me that 1st LP, after a lot of nagging, Andy’s Records, Mill Road, Cambridge. Everything about that LP is perfect. The words and music combined meant so much more than just pop music. They really did affect a generation.

Then I saw them for the first time on TV, Rock Goes To College; the audience on the stage, the suits, the brogues, the loafers, the music so incredibly catchy, fast and angry, but not moronic. Songs got faster at the end, they really excited a crowd.

I was only 11 , when they were at their height, They played Cambridge on the Common, and I desperately wanted to go. Mum wouldn’t let me ! And probably for the best, the gig ended in a riot and the arrest of Jerry Dammers.

You only have to look at videos on YouTube now of the “Dance Craze” movie, and see the clip ‘Enjoy Yourself’ . Think your band is good ? Your band is nothing until you are as good as The Specials live. That’s a benchmark very few people get to reach

Fast Forward to 2009 , and I have tickets for 5 nights of the 1st tour of that reunion, I was there in Newcastle that 1st night, Sheffield the next night and so on. It was amazing , and I got to do what I promised myself at age 11, to go and see them on tour lots !

I have followed Terry’s career from those days, I got the Colourfield single when it came out. I always looked out for him being interviewed. I always thought him an interesting guy. Only last week i listened to him on BBC Headliners, which was from last year. He seemed so much happier with the world, and talked about the joy of his children and his beloved Man UTD. I was genuinely pleased that he seemed to have found peace with the world, and enjoyed his day to day life.

As you know, we did a Terry Hall inspired top last year, and I am wearing it today, The Specials remain one of my all time favourites bands ever

Terry Hall, may I thank you for being you, and inspiring this 11 year old boy. I am so grateful for the music you produced and how you changed the world for better.

RIP Terry Hall. And my condolences to your family

When it comes down to 60’s clothing, it really does cover a wide range of diverse trends. From go go boots matched with mini skirts, to bell bottom jeans and tie dye t-shirts, oh and lets not forget the PVC! What a moment that was!

Now Mod Shoes has always included a love for the 60’s and its wonderful styles and colours, with this they brought out several 60’s inspired shoes over the years, with lots of happy customers loving the memories flooding back.

Image (above) featuring The Marianne In Red Patent by Mod Shoes 

Let’s start by chatting about the popular Marianne. These currently are available in 4 colourways… Plum, Vanilla Patent, Black Patent and Red Patent. This design was picked out straight from the 60s, with some even saying they have seen similar in photos dated way back to the 1920’s!
The Marianne design was developed from an original pair of the 1960’s which very quickly became one of our most iconic sold shoes, with its quirky details and style, our customers loved these, especially as dancing shoes.

Image (above) featuring The Steph In White And Black by Mod Shoes 

In the early 60’s, a flat shoe with a pointed toe was an extremely popular design, and the benefit of this was that these elongated legs, which in the 60’s looked great with a Mary Quant style mini skirt. With this in mind, Mod Shoes released the Steph last summer, in three colourways – Black/White, White/Black and Duck Egg and White.
The beauty of the Steph is that despite the pointed toe, these shoes are extremely comfortable and durable in all occasions. With its flexible leather, it really does offer lots of room to dance in!

Image (above) featuring The Marcia In Tan by Mod Shoes 

Now if we look at the late 60’s, everything changed with the ladies shoes, pointed toe became less popular and in came the squared toe! Shoes in the 60’s were a huge focal point in an outfit and a lady wearing a squared toe was considered very stylish! Mod’s love a funky tight with a flat shoe. The Marcia’s at Mod Shoes was introduced as part of this research and was brought in as a squared toe brogue. The gorgeous and exclusive design really surpassed our expectations, the chunky buckle design along with the zig-zag cut, really gives the shoe an authentic shoe.

When the Marcia’s were released, our customers ran to buy these as the style had such a huge nod to the late 60’s, early 70’s, and was introduced as a must have dancing shoe!

Image (above) featuring The Prudence In White by Mod Shoes 

Now last and no means least, we have our classic and much loved Prudence’, if you are looking for another great 60’s style shoe, this is a must have! Our Prudence’s are available in Black, White and Red. These Twiggy inspired shoes have a nod to the icon herself.
Our Prudence’s have a reel retro feel, and are again based on a vintage shoe from the 60’s, but offer a modern twist that can equally look good in today’s era.

I think it’s fair to say that back in 1973, when Alex Pyser and Jack Sofier came up with the concept of the knitwear brand Gabicci, they had no real idea of just how widespread the whole thing was going to become. For a good 10 years or so after the launch, the famous G logo was simply a must have among a large part of my immediate locale. I would have been 11 that summer and just beginning my journey into the clothes obsessed person I was to become. Even at tender age, it wasn’t enough to want a Gabicci. No, I simply needed to have one to keep up with my peers on my council estate.

Named after the Italian seaside town of Gabicce Mare, these smart, colourful casual knitted tops, were all over the streets that surrounded me. I’m not overstating it by saying that by the late 70s, the various styles and colours were omnipresent and worn by a wide cross section of who I knew.

There was us pre-teenage kids wearing ours which in truth, were a little too big for our growing frames. But we sported them with our chests puffed out trying to be like the older kids, who fitted nicely into theirs.

Gabiccis’ s could be spotted worn by black cab driving dads of mates of mine, in a look that I’ve called ‘Taxi Driver Chic.’ Picture in your mind’s eye if you will, it teamed with a pair of black and white hounds tooth slacks, a suede or leather zip up blouson jacket, checked flat cap, and maroon slip on, fake crocodile skin shoes. The look would be completed with a gold chain hanging the round the neck of a Gabicci, its shiny gold picking up the metal G logo on the knitwear and the chain affixed to the shoes.

Conversely, it was also the knitwear of choice of the funky dreads who ran the local sound systems, which proliferated the area of Camberwell and Peckham that I lived in. The button through, collared cardigan was the favoured style here, and these were sported in an amazing variety of clashing colours, with suede panels of a contrasting colour stitched neatly onto the front. Closing my eyes to think of the rest of the outfit, I immediately conjured up the image of ‘The Cool Ruler’ himself, namely the singer Gregory Isaacs. He always looked crisp back then, his Gabicci worn under a nicely tailored two-piece suit, finished off with a large ‘toned in’ tilted hat, keeping his locks under control.

Finally, there were the geezers who drank down the Old Kent Road in a wonderful array of pubs, cocktail bars and gin palaces that once lined that historic thoroughfare. These chaps had certain elements of the taxi driver mentioned earlier, but they were younger and more like cut price ‘Del Boys’, giving it ‘large’ with their wedge haircuts and white socks betraying their Soul Boy connections. Many could also be found on the terraces of London football clubs, trying to stand out from the crowd, but in truth, looking the same as everyone in their fraternity.

The brand then had a brief flirtation with the start of the ‘Causal’ scene of the early/mid 1980s, where eventually names like Fila, Sergio Tacchini, and Diadora began to take over, as we all became ‘label slaves’ and Gabicci began to slip away.

Of course, that is the way of all things in fashion and style. I, like many others, simply moved on. But my admiration for the brand was such that I decided to keep my favourite orange and brown Gabicci cardigan. I just could not part with it, and I still have it today, though it appears to have shrunk over the years. Go figure?

But like all good clothing, nothing ever really dies and the early 1990s saw ‘Neo Mod’ and Acid Jazz become a thing, covered by articles in the likes of i-D magazine, which highlighted the clothing the likes of The Paul Weller Movement and The Young Disciples were wearing back then. It was mixture of vintage and new and it happened to be very Gabicci in look and feel. Indeed, at that time, one or two companies introduced styles that nodded back to Gabicci in its pomp. Around 1994/5, the clothing company The Duffer of St. George, got closest with their seminal ‘Yardie Cardies,’ which once again became a ‘must have’ among those around me.

And now in 2022, it is with some delight over the last couple of years, to see the G of a Gabicci being spotted here, there and everywhere. Not a day goes by without noticing the Gabicci brand in its current incarnation, once again setting the pace.

My social media pages buzz with their latest designs and styles, which then appear in many a pub and club, worn not only by those who remember them the first-time round, but also a new breed discovering it all for the first time.

All of which does my old-style obsessed heart, the power of good.

Long may it continue.

Mark Baxter
Spring
2022.

 

Highlights

There are so many this year

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Graphic 01

Launching the Icon range – Day Tripper & Cafe Bleu tshirts
The Get Back Shirt
Lizzie Shoes collobration

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Graphic 02

Our shoes on the telly – Rose, one show & Sunday brunch, Doctor Who, Andi Oliver the chef on Googlebox

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Graphic 03

Paul Weller , Steve Cradock and the weller band wearing on tour
Seeing Mani wearing our Tshirt at Film Premiere and finding out he was a customer :-)
Being featured in the Modculture top brands, and one to watch in the future
Steve Diggle wearing our Jacket recently

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Cameras

There are too many shoes to mention, but doing more Vegan shoes has been a good thing to do, i know nicky was

very chuffed with the Apple Stellas

We moved , which allowed us to do more of these lives, and

It was sad to see Rambo go, but she helped us get to the next bit, and me make the diffucult decsion that we had

to move

Rea Joining us, has been fab, and allowed us to do more video and social media

Behind the scenes we have so many that help in so many different ways

So in no specific order i just need to thank them

Andrew Money and his lovely wife (and driver) Linda
Jason Brummel, Andrew ingram, Martin Gainsford and the rest of MCF
Simon Parr and Tom the mod
Jonathon Reeves and Russell
Elliot Easton for endless conversations about music, and the beatles
Terry Rawlings & Steve Diggle for proper drunken talks at the office
Rambo
Nicky weller for helping
Lizzie for the design
Izzy stomps out there in Italy
Tim wilson
Peter Jackson and all beatles fans everywhere

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Ambassadors Graphic

Catlin, Connie, The meyer dancers, pin up pug mother, david suede, aly googins, kirstin, sixties seeker

And of course all our Ambassadors
There are so many, and of them provide so much beautiful content and make it a joy to see thier pictures,

espically on a grey boring day

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Cameras

Modshoes lives regualrs
Pete Cole and Tina, julia duff
Rolo

and the team here at modshoes, and its cast of extras

Rea on social media & normally here with me, Lee in despatch

Sarah & William & Andrew Jinks when we moved

Liam for bilding the studio we are sat in now.

Terry Grant , for endless enthusaim , listening to my thoughts about everything mod, for my mental health when it

needs attention and those great graphics for the icon range

Gemma for helping and getting my focus sharper with video

Luke want to thank you for all those shows at the start of 2021 , i still have people thanking me for them.

Lockdown was horrible, and they have said how me and you talking cheered them up.

And lastly possibly the most important

My Beautiful and long suffering wife Nicky

But i musnt forget the biggest thank you to all our customers for thier conituned support.

And the thing that pleases me so much is that on Christmas day i will be walking round and thinking about the

people opening thier presents, and they are really pleased they got something from Modshoes and 66, becuase that

brings me joy that something we did makes so many people happy :-)

Cast your vote to choose a name, and be in with a chance to win a pair of our fabulous new boots*

Good luck everyone :-)

NOW CLOSED >> WINNER TBA ON MODSHOES LIVE TUESDAY 5TH OCT

T&C’s

1. One entry per person
2. Open World Wide
3. Valid Email Address Required
4. Competition Closes Monday 4th Oct 2021 at 9am (GMT TIME)
5. NO Cash Alternatives
6. Winner will be notified by email on Monday 4th Oct 2021
7. Winner aanounced on Mod Shoes Live Tuesday evening
8. T&C’s may be revised subject to the discretion of Mod Shoes