The Digital Harrington: reflections on subcultures and jackets in the age of technomagic

Abstract

The Harrington Jacket is a longstanding sartorial feature of various youth and musical ‘subcultures’ or ‘tribes’ in the United Kingdom. This article considers exactly what the Harrington is (as will be seen, not a straightforward issue), and how the term ‘Harrington’ came to be applied to it. The Harrington is then used to illustrate some important points about British working-class subcultures in general, and some points are made about the specific line of subcultures the jacket has been a ‘fetish’ for. The impact of the internet on the jacket and its world is then examined, and some points are made about ‘authenticity’ and its role in subcultures. The role of the internet in presenting a counter-narrative to that generally accepted is the final issue considered.