It’s a mod, mod world

Connecting with the Mod scene
With the Internet, today’s Mods can research and explore Mod revival scenes all over the world — from which shops have the best clothes and records, to clubs and scooters.

New York resident Layla Lozano, 29, who works in college administration and co-founded ’60s monthly-party clubs Smashed! Blocked! and Debutante Ball, says she started wearing Mod-type clothes — black turtlenecks, black skirts — in her native Texas back in 1988. Years later, after college, exposure to Mod Web sites such as Swedish site uppers.org led her to exploring shindigs in other cities: “allnighters” (all-night parties) in London or “weekenders” (weekend-long parties) in Chicago and Madrid.

In today’s Mod clubs, DJs come armed with an arsenal of authentic ’60s records. Bands like the Mojo Filters and Headquarters perform. Girls and guys dress to the nines to dance, drink and schmooze.

“Before, those parties seemed like a whole other world away, but I wasn’t online eight hours a day back then,” Lozano says. “I think people want an excuse to travel. For one weekend, they’re surrounded by new faces.”

Lozano herself models her look on a French ’60s style — what she calls “gamine,” but “not too mature looking” — short skirts, primary colors, pigtails, lots of makeup.

“New York is a really international city, so our crowd is very international. Half our scene is made up of people who are foreign: Brazilians, Spanish people, Japanese girls, ex-pats from England. I haven’t really seen that anywhere else in the U.S.”

Next year, from Feb. 2-4, more than a dozen international DJs and hundreds of Mods will gather in New York for Reaction, a huge weekender Lozano co-organized that will feature a record and clothing swap.

Mod snobs
Amid the fun, however, both Rena Durrant and Lozano point out that some people take “the scene” too seriously. Women, especially, are subjected to a critical gaze based on their clothes, hair and makeup, regardless of place.

“If you’re going to call yourself a Mod, there’s an element of being picky, of taking care of your appearance. Some people do take it to a snob level, and maybe look down on people who aren’t ‘cutting it’ to their standard,” Lozano says.

As for Quadrophenia’s drug-addled portrayal of Mods, Glen Durrant says it wasn’t an accurate representation of the time, though today’s generation “still engages in that.”

“But I don’t think Mod is synonymous with drug culture. We’re not talking about rave culture, even though there are a lot of similarities,” he says.

If anything, Durrant says the Mod scene’s best quality is its pure joy in having a good time, a shared aesthetic.

“It’s all about taking yourself beyond that level of perfection. I’ll quite happily go out and buy a suit for an occasion, and then I’ll sweat all over it. It’s kind of super-real, knowing people get that down.”