Books History

Coming soon: The Bag I’m In – Underground Music and Fashion in Britain, 1960 – 1990 by Sam Knee

The Bag I’m In - Underground Music and Fashion in Britain, 1960 - 1990 by Sam Knee
The Bag I’m In – Underground Music and Fashion in Britain, 1960 – 1990 by Sam Knee
Note that I independently write and research everything in this article. But it may contain affiliate links.

Some of you might have read the previous book by Sam Knee, which was A Scene In Between, which covered the 1960s-inspired indie scene of the 1980s. The Bag I’m In – Underground Music and Fashion in Britain, 1960 – 1990 looks set to be a more far-reaching look at youth cults over a longer period.

With that in mind, this is definitely of mod interest.

It’s quite a substantial book, covering 324 pages and with 700 illustrations within those pages, some of which are shown here. Described as a ‘powerful graphic documentation of the evolution of Britain’s music and fashion tribes’, the book covers a 30-year period, kicking off with the rockers and mods and progressing through the permutations of skinhead to punk and the indie sub-scenes beyond. In all, there are 36 youth cults covered in that period.

The Bag I’m In - Underground Music and Fashion in Britain, 1960 - 1990
The Bag I’m In – Underground Music and Fashion in Britain, 1960 – 1990

It’s also a look at what we no longer have, an era where young people in Britain had sought to define themselves sartorially, reflecting their identity in terms of regionalism, class and of course musical taste, through their clothes.

Sam Knee has amassed quite an archive of images from both amateur and professional photos, encapsulating the atmosphere and styles of bands, fans and people on the street. Text also accompanies the shots, what’s described as a ‘fascinating narrative that will capture the imaginations of musos and fashion aficionados alike’.

The book has a foreword by Bobby Gillespie and an illustrated appendix by Florence Bamberger. If you want a copy, you can pre-order it right now in hardback for £22.95.

Find out more at thr Amazon website

The Bag I’m In - Underground Music and Fashion in Britain, 1960 - 1990
The Bag I’m In – Underground Music and Fashion in Britain, 1960 – 1990
The Bag I’m In - Underground Music and Fashion in Britain, 1960 - 1990
The Bag I’m In – Underground Music and Fashion in Britain, 1960 – 1990
The Bag I’m In - Underground Music and Fashion in Britain, 1960 - 1990
The Bag I’m In – Underground Music and Fashion in Britain, 1960 – 1990
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