There's no denying that the term "skinhead" is most often associated with violence, hate and racism. Regardless of what it used to mean, it's now recognized as a symbol of these aspects of society. Very similar to the swastika.

Well that reminds me exactly of Jo Boxer and I don't think they look racist at all.

Yeah, my point (and that of the thread, I believe) is that the skinhead style is not necessarily racist and was originally just another innocent fashion trend. Jo Boxers (had never heard of them and wouldn't have minded keeping it that way, thanks) are evidence of that. But times have changed I guess.

I don't think they're too horrible, there were a few groups that had a song with a Motown sound in the 80's, like The Jam (A Town Called Malice), Katrina and The Wave etc etc. Why Jo Boxer dressed that way I thought they were paying an homage to Our Gang, or maybe Liverpudlian shipyard workers, either way it was a bit nostalgia, I guess.

Boxerbeat would have been a better choice for my money... Still fills dancefloors in the right setting now.

I may have asked the wrong question then - it should have been two seperate ones:

1) How would you define the skinhead look (I think that those who know skinhead on here will give a different answer to those who 'think' they know!)

2) Why should we allow racists to steal something else? They've appropriated national flags with little argument, perhaps those who think that skinhead is more than boots, braces, cropped hair and raised arm salutes should be a little more vociferous in opposition.

I dunno....

Boots and braces are the plumage of the elusive skinhead

Also, there's more than one kind of skinhead, why isn't this being discussed

you have your
boneheads (racist skins)
trads (traditional skinheads who were into reggae/rocksteady/etcwtfever)
sharps (skinheads against racial prejudice)
and your homo skins, I was always told they exist but they're like the unicorns of subcultures or some ****, I have no idea

Boneheads aren't skins. They may look similar, but then so do mods and casuals, but it's an entirely different area of fashion - punk/oi based rather than anything related to the origins.

As for the rest - Trad and SHARP aren't different. SHARP was always a home for the traditional skin, but the SHARP badge was appropriated (legitimately) by a lot of third wave bands. If SHARP had been around in 79, then The Specials would have been a SHARP affiliated band too... you could argue that the 2-Tone scene was the roots of SHARP quite easily.
Homoskins... not a skinhead thing as such, more a fetish thing in the same way as leather boys are too. They're out there, some are involved on the traditional skinhead scene, but sexuality is unrelated to music tastes or fashion.

On a similar note to that about SHARP/trad, you've not included any reference to the skinhead revival of the late 70s/early 80s. There are a lot of skins around who prefer the 2-Tone and later ska sound, and these are generally anti-racist too.
'Generally' is a big word though, and I'd suspect there are as many racists in all parts of skinhead as there are in the wider world, but who just like the 'sound'.

No pun intended.

Lots of sub cultures have fallen by the way side. When I was a kid you had skinheads, the mod revivial, teddy boys, the more colourful side of punk veering off into what became New Romantic, you don't see any of them anymore.

I myself was into the whole psychobilly thing for a while and when was the last time you saw a psychobilly?

Some youth sub cultures are more open and identifiable outside their original context - there will always be a hippy element and probably a goth element as long as popular culture exists because lots of people buy into the whole ethos of it.

It's much more difficult to really understand what being a psychobilly or a mod or a teddy boy really represents. It's not entirely obvious as it is with the hippy thing or goth.

As for the skinhead movement, it's virtually been hijacked and its original meaning has been totally altered. The swastika was originally a symbol of good fortune almost like a lucky clover but that is not what people see now when they look at a swastika, same with the skinhead image.

Anyway who is going to do up 20 hole Doc Marten's in the age of velcro! :)

To be honest, I am quite young, and I did not know the true meaning of Skinhead until only recently. As for the scene, I guess I'm labeled "Stoner" but I actually found Ska through punk music. I started listening to Rancid, and then slowly moved over to other bands like Sublime and Operation Ivy.