Sharpies
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Sharpies (also known as Sharps) were members of suburban youth gangs in Australia mainly from the 1960s to 1980s, particularly in Melbourne, but also in Sydney and Perth to a lesser extent.
The term comes from their focus on looking sharp. The dress and dance styles were strongly influenced by the British ska, mod and skinhead subcultures, and many of the Sharpies were British immigrants, recently arrived as Ten Pound Poms.[1] Common clothing items included Lee or Levi's jeans, sweaters and T-shirts (often designed by individual members). Sharpies would try to outdo fellow sharpies by creating the best patterns, colours and detail. Sharpies were known for being violent, although a strict moral code was also evident.
In south-east Sydney, a gang from the La Perouse area (called La Pa by the locals) were known as the Lapa Sharpies. In Perth, youths in areas such as Medina, Rockingham, Armadale, Kelmscott, Lynwood and Thornlie joined skinhead/Sharpie gangs. Many of these young people were children of recently arrived British migrants who built and ran the BP Kwinana Oil Refinery.
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[edit] Sharpies in popular media
- 'Sharpies' a film by Greg MacIntosh (1974).
- Blackburn South Sharpie's member Greg Robertson curated a photographic exhibition also called 'Sharpies', shown in Sydney at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2001/02 and in Melbourne as part of the 2002 Melbourne International Fashion Festival.[2]
- The Australian Broadcasting Corporation featured Sharpies in an episode of Dimensions In Time.[3][4]
- Photographer Rennie Ellis has included portraits of Sharpies in his works.[5]
- Magda Szubanski, 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.
- Peter Garret from Midnight Oil, who gained popularity around the time of Sharpie's, has a jerking style dance reminiscent of Sharpie Dancing.
- Levi's released Levi's Black Sharp's, a denim range inspired by Sharpies.[6]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Microsoft Word - 02 Chapter 1.doc
- ^ <http://www.abc.net.au/arts/visual/stories/sharpies_index.htm
- ^ The Space Visual Arts: Sharpies
- ^ The Sharpies - Cult Gangs of the Sixties and Seventies
- ^ Rennie Ellis Photographer Gallery of Limited Edition black and white and colour photographs, official website Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive Melbourne Australia
- ^ Scoop: Look Sharp! - With Levi’s Black Sharps this summer and winter
[edit] See also
- Blackburn South Sharps - A renowned Sharpie gang.
[edit] External links
- Blackburn Sth Sharps - a website devoted to the history of the Blackburn South Sharps.
- http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_in_time/Transcripts/s508106.htm
- http://www.abc.net.au/arts/visual/stories/sharpies_index.htm
- http://www.rennieellis.com.au/sharpies.html
- http://www.swinburne.edu.au/sbs/media/staff/tofts/sharps/SkinsSharpies_1.pdf
