Thoroughly Mod-ern: The Burton parka

In the late 1970s, there was a Mod revival band called The Merton Parkas. Their best-known song was "You Need Wheels", a paean to the freedom afforded by owning a car, and, another good pub-quiz fact: their keyboard player, Mick Talbot, went on to form The Style Council with Paul Weller.

Today the band is a footnote in the history of the second wave of Mod-ishness, which was in part fuelled by the 1979 film Quadrophenia, Franc Roddam's screen interpretation of The Who's 1973 concept album, starring the parka-wearing Phil Daniels as Jimmy. But while The Merton Parkas are no more, the Burton parka is something worth checking out this season – and it owes much of its design to the coats that were worn by Mods, both first generation and second.

First-generation Mods in the 1960s liked the parka because of its protective qualities. Riding around on Vespas and Lambrettas in the British weather in their smart suits and blazers, these boys needed something to shield them from the elements. The parka of choice was often a fishtail model, with an extended back, which could be tucked through the legs for extra protection. These were army surplus, a style that originated in the US, first used by its forces in the Korean War in 1950. There was another style of parka too, also with roots in early-1950s US military service: the USAF N-3B parka, known as the snorkel parka. Used predominantly by air crews in cold theatres of operation, this had a hood that, when zipped-up, left a tubular "snorkel" opening through which to see. With fur trim on the hood (originally real fur, but later synthetic), this style is perhaps more associated today with schoolboys (and Kenny in South Park) than the scooter boys who listened to The Kinks and The Small Faces.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Mod revival of the late 1970s saw the parka's return as a fashion statement, and today it is a regular in the male wardrobe. Interestingly, Burton has a genuine connection to the Mod scene, as it was an outfitter of choice at the time, selling slim-lapelled, elegant suits – tailor-made, no less – to young men whose credo was that they should always look smart.

Burton's parka for this autumn/winter takes design cues from the N-3B snorkel style to deliver a garment that nods to the youth culture and military history of the coat, but is thoroughly contemporary in spirit. While many Mods customised their parkas – see the one on The Who's Quadrophenia album cover, which features a black-and-white shot of a parka-wearing Mod on a scooter who has the band's name painted on the back of his coat – Burton's new take on the style is clean and sharp, well-suited to being combined with both tailoring and casualwear. Made of matte cotton instead of shiny nylon, the heavyweight coat has a smart look, with high-set pockets to warm the hands and button-fastened bellows pockets that are big enough to carry a load of essential bits and pieces. Three fastenings at the neck mean you can securely close the distinctive hood to keep out the wind and rain. All in all, a good, versatile choice for the season, with in-built style heritage.

burton.co.uk

Peter Howarth is the former editor-in-chief of Arena, British Esquire and Man About Town magazines