Context - This is England

80's style in This is England

The 1980's was the era of the skinhead culture, it originated amount working class youths in London, then soon spread around the rest of the UK then travelled worldwide.

 In Shane Meadow's This is England, the style the characters are representing gives the film a sense of reality. Shane based this film around events in his life, and in an interview he talks about how he befriended a skinhead gang when he was younger, and to look apart of the gang despite his age, they bought him skinhead styled clothes and shaved his head to complete the look.

A typical skinhead would wear rolled up jeans, braces, a work or flannel shirt, a bomber jacket and Dr Martens. A person who wore this outfit would be classified as a skinhead by the public.

 Women's style in the 1980's is quite diverse, girls who where apart of the skin head culture dressed very similar to the men, washed out denim, bomber jacket and rolled up jeans. The girls would often shave their heads to complete the full look, this could be seen as an act of rebellion. However, Smell creates a contrast towards skinhead fashion. She dresses more 'feminine' compared to Lol and the other female characters, her skirts are often puffy and netted, her hair is usually back-combed with different coloured extensions and she often wears heavy colourful makeup.

Setting in This is England

The aesthetics of This is England is one of the most important features to make the film look as if it was set in the 80's. The gritty, saturated colours give the overall effect a realist feel, and the use of natural lighting is common in social realism films. The film is set in urban/ suburban areas, the landscape is made of concrete and high rise flats, the overall look represents a working class environment in England at that current time. The cars used in the films could not have been from the 80's as the working class could not afford brand new cars. Instead, Shane Meadows had to use cars from the 60's to make the film more realistic.