Top of the Flops

I’d been playing in pop bands during  the mid 1960’s for a few years since I was  13 and in 1967 we decided to ditch our smart navy blue suits and ties for a “mod look”

Clothes boutiques for men had just started to sprout up everywhere. So early one Saturday morning all the group members gathered in Middlesbrough to try on and buy the latest styling cues and get the “Carnaby Street look!”

After looking through the clothes rails and admiring myself in the mirror” well you do don’t you!” I settled on a blue denim jacket and a pair of green flared trousers, which were in a wool type fabric decorated with a large red check.

That evening we played at a dance in Stockton and all of us wore our new gear feeling “very with it !”

After a few months wearing the new outfit I started to feel physically uncomfortable wearing the trousers. Just to clarify that, I played keyboards in the band and it was usual to sit on a small stool of the type used by drummers and keyboard players. This meant that trousers became tight round the nether regions and the wool of my favourite trousers and close cramped confines of the venues that we played,contributed to severe uncomfortable heat !

After a few weeks I started to see fraying of my trousers in-between my legs. However. I still kept on wearing the outfit because these were my favourite  clothes. I wanted to look cool even though I didn’t feel it !

A few weeks later holes started to appear in the groin area of the trousers worn away due to the combination of heat and cheap fabric. I’d asked my mother to try and repair the holes but she explained that there was insufficient fabric to cover them. Now undergarments in those days were always white so a flash of white was obvious to every as no green underwear was available in those days.

Although the holes in my trousers were rarely seen as my legs went underneath the keyboard, there were probably times when they could be seen ! I don’t remember getting any approval or screams from the crowd so perhaps my predicament was unnoticed!

Reluctantly I had to part with my favourite trousers and replaced them with a pair of large flared hard wearing  denim jeans which were made of a much sturdier material.

So happy days, fond memories and embarrassing moments I’ve had them all…….but they were my favourite item of clothing.

OFB