Head’s Threads and Heavy Treads is a one-man operation from Florida, run by Samuel Leiro, that has been around for a few years. What began as a page largely trading vintage boots and the like eventually expanded to include its own designs – if I’m not mistaken, this shift happened shortly after we all emerged from the pandemic.
I followed the Facebook page for a while and grew sympathetic to Samuel’s personality, which he was never shy about bringing into his posts. In his teenage years he ran afoul of the law, and jail was one of the stops along the way. After turning his life around, he became an Orthodox Christian – while remaining a skinhead – got married, and started Head’s Threads.
When the picture below popped up on social media, some commented that it showed a bloke called Bubbles and his crew from Brixton. Apparently, it was taken circa 1968/69 at the top of Granville Arcade (now known as Brixton Village), which is located at the junction of Coldharbour Lane and Atlantic Road. I liked the photo, but I couldn’t tell whether this lot were rude boys, skinheads, or neither. Clothes-wise, nothing strays too far from the original skinhead look.
Then it occurred to me that, although rude boys are mythologised in reggae songs and often mentioned in passing in retrospective accounts of the original skinhead era, they remain photographically under-documented – which explains my considerable ignorance of their style, and why I can’t really place the lads in the picture.
The trusty MA-1 flight jacket is somewhat reviled among the more self-consciously ‘traditional’ elements of the skinhead scene and even associated with ‘boneheads’ by some. This is because it became ubiquitous on the scene especially from around 1982 onward – the United Skins era and after. But, as we will see, it was present throughout skinhead history, with the earliest photographic evidence dating to 1969. Without a doubt, it’s also a timeless piece of gear, oozing tough, functional USAF pilot cool, which many early skins wanted to emulate at least to a degree.
Since I started writing for Creases Like Knives, I’ve had the chance to get to know some girls from the skin scene that I would have otherwise never had the pleasure of getting to know so well. They are girls I can spend an evening with, maybe go to a gig, meet in the street. But thanks to the blog, I also got to know girls I could never actually meet, because some of them live very far away.
One of them contacted us some time ago. She’s been an avid follower of the blog and wanted to let us know about her creations. And even though I’m not an easy person to please, I’ve fallen in love with them. Needless to say, I’m happy to support a skinhead girl who creates something real…
The creations I’m talking about are Bovver Brand bags, and their creator is Deidre Bovver, Swedish by birth but raised in Philadelphia. In the 90s, she was the singer of the band Bovver 96.
The lad who runs the Head’s Threads & Heavy Treads FB page – which I recommend – recently mentioned that someone was planning to compile a kind of database of all the different classic boot styles, brands and interactions. This, he says, would hopefully make it easier to trace back different boot models to the time periods when they were made.
I think that’s an excellent idea. To make a start, I thought I’d post some pics of various Hawkins Astronauts boots and shoes I’ve saved over the years. Most of them were listed on eBay or similar sites. You see, I have a bit of an obsession with Astronaut boots – I really appreciate their awkward, ugly beauty. But I find it impossible to establish what time period any particular pair dates back to, because there’s almost no info on Hawkins boots on the web. I can only vaguely guess the decade. Virtually the only thing I’ve ever seen written on Astros was an article on the old Skinhead Heaven website, which only mentioned in passing that Astronauts were considered the ‘skinhead apex’ back in 1969–70.
Hodges wearing Astronaut boots, 1980
Another big question is: who were Hawkins Astronaut 11-eye boots marketed at, apart from skinheads? They have a very distinct look that is definitely not ‘for everyone’ in the same way as the more universal Air Wair DMs are.
Whoever is planning to compile that database, feel free to use anything you see here, add it to your document, and build on the sparse information I’ve got. Good luck with your project!
If anyone knows more about the history of Hawkins Astronaut boots, can identify a style, or knows what year a pair might date back to, do tell us in the comments section.
Oh, one last thing: Astronauts were manufactured by G.T. Hawkins in Northampton (where Air Wair once was and Solovair is today), but came with a Dr Marten’s sole. There are more intricacies to the whole business structure, but I’d need a diagram to fully understand it, and I’m not sure I want to. Matt Crombieboy
‘Ulla Street Boys’ by Robin Dale was conceived as part of an ethnographic study of a post-industrial Teesside already in decline by the early 1970s. Sometimes referred to alongside his ‘A Spot of Bother’ taken during a match at Middlesbrough’s Ayresome Park ground, it has since come to define a profoundly regional take on suedehead. The boys, found on a terraced street corner in central Middlesbrough (the street still largely exists, save for the odd demolished part here and there), examine the camera as intently as it surveys them. An all too rare perhaps depiction of skinheadism in one of its more multiethnic settings, Andrew Stevens spoke to the Billingham-based photographer.Continue reading →
Dubbing yourself a “terrorist” of any sort may not strike many as particularly wise in the current climate, but for the ‘two-stroke terrorists’ of the 80s scooterboy movement, recognition of any kind would be welcome. Former Scootering magazine editor Martin ‘Sticky’ Round has made a living for himself documenting the scooter scene globally since those days. In his book Scooterboys: The Lost Tribe (Carpet Bombing Culture), he has set out to capture the hallmarks of one of Britain’s last truly working class subcultures which defies pigeon-holing on any other level.
Andrew Stevens (Vespa PX125) sat down with Sticky to discuss police harassment, flight jackets and the suedehead roots of 80s cut-down scooters.Continue reading →
Flavio Frezza, author of Italia Skins and translator of George Marshall’s Spirit of 69 into Italian, introduces us to a rarely seen British gem. Originally published in Italian on Crombie Media.
Anyone into skinhead, mod, and related youth styles knows Bronco Bullfrog (1969), which was largely shot round Stratford E15 by Barney Platts-Mills. As is commonly claimed, the movie documents the transition from skinhead to suedehead, which was completed at the beginning of the following decade. Continue reading →
Having dressed film stars (Quadrophenia, Absolute Beginners, Young Soul Rebels) and countless music videos, it’s unsurprising that Roger Burton sought to not only document his time in the business but also the vast attire he’s amassed along the way. Rebel Threads (Laurence King Publishing) is that book, spanning the range of British youth subcultures from the war onwards and delving into the fashions which gave them their name.Continue reading →
Creases Like Knives 