Sharpies (Australian subculture)
Sharpies, or Sharps, were members of suburban youth gangs in Australia, most significantly from the 1960s and 1970s.[1] They were particularly prominent in Melbourne, but were also found in Sydney and Perth to lesser extents. Sharpies were known for being violent, although a strict moral code was also evident. The name comes from their focus on looking and dressing "sharp".[1]
Sharpie culture
Sharpies would often congregate in large numbers, regularly attending live bands at town hall and high school dances[1] and early discos; due to their sheer numbers, they were often perceived as being untouchable by the police. Sharpies were sometimes associated with excessive violence,[1] regularly taking part in fights.
Common clothing items included Lee or Levi jeans, cardigans, jumpers, and T-shirts—often individually designed by group members[1]—with which they would try to outdo other sharpies by creating the best patterns, colours, and detail.[citation needed]
Mods were an enemy of sharpies, and their gang brawls were reported in the newspapers during 1966.[2] In a 2002 interview, a former sharpie stated that despite the sharpie culture being quite violent — especially as they crossed other gangs' territories on the public transport network — the altercations were restricted to inter-gang rivalries.[1]
Sharpies in popular culture
- Sharpies (1974) is a film by Greg Macainsh
- Photographer Rennie Ellis has included portraits of sharpies in his works[3]
- Magda Szubanski, herself a sharpie in the 1970s, in her early years as a comedian on The D-Generation and Fast Forward played a character who dressed in sharpie style, and performed a sharpie dance which bears a strong resemblance to skanking
- Queeny (1994), Deep (1997), and Suburban Warriors (2003) are short films by Rebecca McLean related to sharpies
- Blackburn South Sharpies' member Greg Robertson curated Sharpies, a photographic exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney in 2001–02, and also as part of the 2002 Melbourne International Fashion Festival[1]
- Blackburn South Sharpies' member Larry Jenkins also photographically documented this gang[4]
- The Australian Broadcasting Corporation featured sharpies in a 2002 episode of George Negus' New Dimensions In Time[1]
- Photographer Carol Jerrems studied the sharpie subculture
- Levi released "Levi's Black Sharps", a denim range inspired by sharpies[5]
- Top Fellas: The Story of Melbourne's Sharpie Cult is a 2004 book by Tadhg Taylor on Melbourne's sharpies[6]
- Rage: A Sharpie's Journal Melbourne 1974–1980 is a 2010 book by Julie Mac on Melbourne's sharpies[7]
- "Out With The Boys: The Sharpie Days" is a 2011 book by the Seagull about the Sydney Sharpies of the 1960s
- Once Were Sharps: The colourful life and times of the Thomastown Sharps is a book by Nick Tolewski, written by Dean Crozier
- A resurgence of interest in the Sharpie sub-culture in recent times included Skins'n'Sharps Exhibitions in 2006 (Dante's Gallery, Fitzroy) and 2010 (Kustom Lane Gallery, Hawthorn) and a dedicated website Skins'n'Sharps[8]
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Cite error: Invalid <references> tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.
<references />, or <references group="..." />External links
- Deep - short film by Rebecca McLean that features sharpies
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ https://news.google.com.au/newspapers?id=NwIRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YZMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4362%2C4918&dq=mods+sharpies&hl=en
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Chad, Jono and Mig, Twig, Beatie and Whitey walking down the street at Blackburn South shops, Larry Jenkins, 1975. State Library of Victoria collection
- ↑ Look Sharp! With Levi’s Black Sharps this summer
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://skinsnsharps.com
