This is England Style Guide

This is England is a film set in 1983, England. It is centred around the Skinhead culture and provided a lot of people born after this time, a first look at the fashion of a skinhead. This article will give you tips on how to replicate that fashion style.

Skinhead culture is still alive in Britain, it is a culture closely aligned with Punk and has a distinctive look that is easily replicable. From head to toe, the characters on This is England all had items of clothing that were purposely and carefully chosen to match the skinhead culture. Hats, shirts, jeans and boots all follow a uniform seen commonly in the Skinhead culture, here’s how you can look like one too:

If you are planning on looking like a skinhead, you’re going to be shaving your hair off. On a cold day, you’re going to have nothing to protect your head from the chill. In the film, the character Gadget wears a woolly hat to keep his head warm, and you should do the same. This black Diesel K Coder beanie should do the trick.

On the top half of your body, the choice is simple. In This Is England, a symbolic part of the film is when the main character Sean is gifted his first Fred Perry shirt by the gang. Almost every skinhead character in the film boy or girl wore Fred Perry on their top half and there are some great shirts to choose from on Mainline Menswear. Firstly this classic Gingham Fred Perry shirt is similar to what the character Woody wears in the film and is perfect if you want to look like a character from the film. For a more casual option but maintaining the Fred Perry branding, this Black twin-tipped Fred Perry polo top is near to the exact top worn by Woody’s girlfriend Lol in the film.

A Harrington jacket is the perfect partner to your Fred Perry shirt or polo top.  Several characters in the film wear one and they are widely worn throughout the skinhead sub-culture. A black Paul Smith Jacket, while expensive, is worth buying if you want to perfect your ‘This is England’ look.

Slim-fitting Levi jeans are what the characters in the film wear on their legs; they look good and are easy to turn up over your boots, which is how Sean and Woody wear them in the film. There’s a perfect pair to buy on Mainline Menswear, and are as close to the real ones in the film as you’re going to find anywhere. These particular pair of jeans are the Levis 512 Slim Tapered and come in Charley Blue. On the back of the jeans, there is also the famous Levis badge, which can be seen throughout the This is England film.

To finish off your look you should be wearing Dr Martens boots, while costly they are needed if you want to have any authenticity in your look. Dr Marten’s boots are synonymous with the Skinhead culture depicted in the This is England film. Dr Marten’s aren’t for everyone however, they can be a nuisance to get on and off quickly and there is a certain amount of maintenance that comes with them. In the This is England film, the character Milky wears a pair of Loafers. Mainline menswear does stock a pair of Ralph Lauren, Wes E Loafers shoes in a navy colour to finish your This is England look, off in style.

Written by Ash Boyne