Group of skinheads & hippies in Piccadilly Circus 1969

A group of skinheads walk past a group of hippies sitting on the steps of Eros in Piccadilly Circus. Anti-mod and anti-hippy crews of skinhead youths displayed their tough attitudes and influences in their dress and behaviour. Borrowing from the mods, West Indian Black styles and adding traditional working clothes, a new sub-culture emerged amongst the working classes. The very short 'crop' hairstyles these boys wear contrasted with the long-haired hippies who often congregated on the steps of Eros, Piccadilly. Sideburns were sometimes worn to the jaw line, but otherwise skinheads were clean-shaven. Levi jeans, braces, shirts and steel-toe-capped boots, predominantly Dr Martens, exemplify the skinhead trends of 1969. Terence Spencer worked for Life magazine, photographing the cults and fashions of youth culture during the 1960s.