Pretty Green Parka Review

Liam Gallaghers' Pretty Green Parka..


OK lets clear up a few mysteries....in various pics of Liam the question has been asked..

Is he wearing the M-65 fishtail parka he bought from us..or his Pretty Green Parka...??

The answer is both.....




The picture on the left is a promo shot of Liam for his Pretty Green Parka and the picture on the right is his Pretty Green Parka standing alone.

Now, lets play a little game......can you guess what it is yet ?..

Lets spot the difference :)

Most could not....we can. And the only other guys in the world to have handled enough kit to know agree with us too. I can tell you now...point blank...the parka Liam is wearing for the Pretty Green Promo is in fact a US MIL issue M-65. And the picture on the right IS his Pretty Green Parka.

His Pretty Green parka is made of heavy cotton and is not quarpel treated. The M-65 is made of light cotton and is quarpel treated..hence the sheen. Also, exact postions of poppers, zip etc give away the fact that the parka he is wearing to promo the Pretty Green is in fact an M-65.

Add this to the fact that we sold the M-65 and indeed the 1st Model M-1951 to him ourselves we can easily see the creation of the Pretty Green Parka and it was even mentioned to us at the time, he wanted to create his own parka.

Here is how to do it.

Take one M-65 fishtail parka, remove the hood. Make this exact same parka out of a similar material to the 1st model M-1951 parka, do not quarpel treat it, add a button to the collar to do it up and you have a Pretty Green Parka. Simple.

And if you check enough pics of Liam in his "fishtail parka" you can see for sure that he swaps between the two.

Still not sure ??...check again......this my friends is a simple M-65 !!! minus its hood

And this is The Pretty Green Parka
Can you see it now ?......

Of course you can :)...if you have even seen one unissued M-65 parka....its staring you in the face

Now...please don't think im knocking the Pretty Green Parka....in all fairness its the best replica fishtail parka I have even seen. Its excellent quality, the cut is perfect and side by side, it is hard to spot the difference...(as this little exercise has shown).

However, the question remains....are you going to pay £250+ for a replica ? when you can actually buy the original for under £100 ?......

So unless you value a little round badge at over £150.....I say, save yourself the bucks, buy an M-65 and un button off your hood.

Thanks for playing :)

Copyright FishtailParkas.com 2009. No part of this article may be copied, transmitted, stored or used in anyway without the express permission of fishtailparkas.com . If you wish to use this article simply contact me.

Finally, A True Quadrophenia "WHO" Parka !!

As I'm sure all of you know, sometime back Lambretta clothing knocked out a "who parka".

Basically, a khaki green M-65 styled fishtail parka repro with "who" on the back etc....Modelled on The Who’s 1972 Quadrophenia Album cover. (Black and white one)

A lot of you have been asking why I don't stock this Lambretta Who Parka or more importantly, why I don't also do a quadrophenia Who parka ?...

Firstly I don't stock this Lambretta Who Parka simply because I do not stock anything that is not Genuine US Military Issue and the second question:...

Why don't we make one ?

Well we did and WE DO !!;

We first made a "Quadrophenia" tribute p arka around 4-5 years ago. It was a genuine M-1951 as on the album and styled exactly the same, it sold via private auction within days of being released to a US private bidder to be used in a stateside Quadrophenia production.

And thanks to all of you who have been pestering me over this, you will be pleased to hear...we are making them again :)

The Who Quadrophenia Parka !!

There will be two options...M-65 or M-51 and both custom made to order.....:)

I wanted to create something accessible to all, as I know not everyone can stretch to a custom M-51...so, here it is :)...

The True Quadrophenia Parka..... A 100% genuine issue M-1965 fishtail parka using all genuine US MIL issue patches, complete with genuine Wolf Fur hood !!! The Original Who Parka from the Original Specialist… Only £199 Worldwide delivery available..

<<<ORDER NOW>>> Simply <<<CLICK HERE>>>

Now, compare that to your 3 wheeled lambretta trike with lights and mirrors and tell me what you would rather be riding :)

Copyright FishtailParkas.com 2009: No part of this article may be copied, transmitted, stored or used in anyway without the express permission of fishtailparkas.com

The Fishtail Parka, from war coat to fashion icon...

Copyright 2006 fishtailparkas.com


The fishtail parka started life in service to the US army in 1951 to help the American soldiers cope with the freezing conditions in the Korean War.

It was known as the M1951 parka and those wanting the full history on this please see Article©: M1951 Fishtail Parka, history of the vintage M51 parka.

However, in 1960’s Britain the Fishtail Parka took on a whole new life and came to represent an entire era, a lifestyle and a statement of intent.

You were a Mod.

By 1963 the mods were here, they had their own style, their own dress codes, their own transport and indeed their own language. In a fashion culture that changed on a weekly basis forcing mods to work overtime to keep up with the changes, everything from colour to length of jacket side vents, to width of trouser bottoms and style of shoes only one item of clothing managed to stay a constant throughout the life of Mod.

This was the Fishtail Parka (US Army only).

The truth is that exactly how this came about no one really knows, it’s as much a mystery and it is a phenomena. The influencing factors can readily be drawn, fishtail parkas were cheap, warm, relatively water proof and great for riding scooters in a pre-helmet era as one could tie the fur hood right up around your face. Plus, no one else was wearing them on the street and that was important to the mods.

However, no one really knows who started it and how it caught on so quickly. It’s not like anyone can say oh that was Dave, he got one in Whitechapel for a bob and we all thought; “fuck it!…. let’s all get one”.

Therefore, one is left thinking, why not any other warm coat of that time…why that parka and why ONLY that particular parka ??

Yes we all know mods wore other jackets and coats but only one coat kept its place as the first choice for scooter riding and only one coat became the most prolific symbol of Mod and that was the Fishtail Parka.

For me, it is not hard to imagine the early 60’s and a small group of early mods, or maybe even “Coffee Bar Cats” seeking out a warm coat and stumbling across a US Army M1951 Fishtail Parka in the local Army Stores. And seeing the price, seeing the quality, seeing the benefits of warmth, head protection and durability, and the fact that no one was wearing them, made the choice that this was the coat to wear.

They rode back into town adorned in their new gear, espousing the benefits of being warm and dry, the next day 4 more mods went back to that same army store and got themselves kitted out. Within a week, you a one gang of 12 mods all riding around wearing the same Fishtail Parkas.

The same processes took place as they chatted with the mod gang in the next block, and Mr Army Stores was having a good month with lots of new visitors. These early mods, being the trendsetters and likely to be looked up to by new and aspiring mods, were soon copied.

By 1964 Mod was in full swing and thousands of mods were now springing up all over London and all needed to complete their uniform.

And by 1965, Mr Army Stores had retired to a small condo in St Moritz and every mod in London had a M1951 Fishtail Parka…

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The Mods: where did they come from ?

Copyright 2006 fishtailparkas.com


Far apart from the golden age of 1950's America, 1950's Britain was still on rations, and struggling to get over the devastation suffered in World War II.

However, for the British youth a new dawn was rising. Thanks to full employment and hire purchase and a new found freedom from National Service, the British youth was on their own two feet with money in their pocket and they wanted everybody to know about. A new movement known as the "teddy boys" was emerging across the UK influenced by American Rock ‘n’ Roll. As Bill Haley's cult movie "Rock Around The Clock" premiered in the Trocadero in London's Elephant and Castle, followed by outrage from the British establishment and joyous riots from the youths, the Ted movement was now alive and kicking.

Ever eager for a scoop, the press did not fail to capitalise on this new front page fodder. Soon the violence, and imminent danger that the Teddy Boys posed to British society was all over the front pages. From the prime minister to the archbishop, the British establishment was in turmoil as they watched their once dutiful youths turn into unruly wild cats. Whether much of this was by natural progression or greatly fuelled by the press, the outcome was a rough, dangerous youth movement that was loving every minute in the limelight and indeed acting up to it.

The teddy boys were here and soon the music makers and fashion retailers caught on to a new and untapped market. Very soon, commercial Rock’n’Roll was being slopped out and Teddy Boy fashions were on the high street and every kid wanted a quiff and a flick-knife. Thus, almost as quick as they had come, they were burnt out by their own famed notoriety and at now at odds with themselves for becoming everything they despised, just another high street fad, the Teds were gone.

By late 1950’s the original teddy boys were no more, broken up into various sub cultures, most fell by the wayside but two major groups remained and grew from the ruins of what was once the Teddy Boys to become the “Ton Up Boys” and the “Coffee Bar Cats”…

The “Ton Up Boys”, were those teddies that had held the motorcycle and American Rock’n’Roll as their foundations and now wore leather, big boots and rode British machines to and from various road side cafés.

The “Coffee Bar Cats” aspired to a more Latin look, and their neo Italian style appreciated modern jazz, ventless thin lapelled box suit jackets and they chose Italian scooters as the superior mode of transport for such well dressed Cats…It’s not hard to figure how these late 50’s early 60’s sub culture’s and indeed underground fashions grew into the Mods and Rockers of the mid 60’s.

The Coffee Bar Cats felt they were the modern movement and the Ton Up Boys represented all that was gone and should remain buried in a pile of dirty bikes and dirty leathers. Hence as they grew and needed to encompass all their new members, they eventually termed themselves the Modernists and the Mods were born.

The “Ton Up Boys”, enjoying the same growth in numbers and being known for their love of Rock ‘n Roll found themselves becoming the Rockers. Unsurprisingly the Rockers did not agree with the Modernist view of themselves as outdated and somehow lower class. They saw the Mods with their dandy dress, penchant for wearing eyeliner and popping pills at every opportunity as an insult to all that is British and macho.

The Rockers did not like the Mods and the Mods did not like the Rockers.

The lines were drawn…..

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