With the passing of Olivia Newton-John — the ultimate Sandy — I wanted to pay homage to her most popular film, “Grease” and dissect Greaser Style, which has been represented in many films beyond the beloved musical. The first instance of a “greaser” in film is Marlon Brando’s character, Johnny Strabler, in “The Wild One.” A movie very different than the movie musical that was reenacted during countless tween-girl sleepovers in the 1980s. “The Wild One” is a serious film depicting biker outlaws, rebellion, and unrequited love. Other classic greaser movies include “The Outsiders” and “Cry Baby.” And other notable greaser characters include “The Fonz” from “Happy Days” and the duo of “Lenny” and “Squiggy” from the spin-off “Laverne & Shirley”. Needless to say, the style of a greaser goes beyond any one particular genre of movie or TV show, which makes it such an intriguing aesthetic to explore.
With any notable style movement, there’s a bit of history. Greasers were mostly working class and immigrant teens and young adults of the 1950s and early ‘60s that emerged as a youth subculture known for greased-back hair and their disillusionment of post-war American popular culture. These were kids with little-to-no economic resources or education. They may have been in motorcycle or street gangs and scoffed at the conformity associated with 1950’s middle-class values.
Like most rebellious youth, clothing, hairstyle, and music were the major means of expressing themselves. The style of a greaser starts at the top, with the signature slicked-back hair. Using pomade or petroleum jelly, the latter of which was inexpensive and most likely found around the house, they shaped grown-out hair into pompadours similar to Elvis. Girls would backcomb, coif, and tease their hair into a high ponytail or half-up-half-down style with volume at the crown.
After the hair is done, time to get dressed. The epitome greaser garment is the leather jacket. Boys wore them with t-shirts and jeans, while girls threw them over pedal pushers and crop tops. Nowadays, if you wear a white tee, jeans, leather jacket, biker boots, and doused your hair in gel, you may be asked where’s the costume party and if are you Danny or Kenickie. While this is the typical greaser uniform, in actuality, there were nuances and variations in the style.
Beyond jeans, greasers wore loose work pants or dark slacks typically cuffed over boots, but also with Chuck Taylors and pointed-toe dress shoes. There’s a definite crossover from the 1940’s zuit suit with greaser style, which also took a cue from formal rockabilly looks of baggy trousers, sports coats, and dress shirts with wide lapels. Ringer T-shirts, sleeveless undershirts, bowling-style shirts with denim jackets, and bomber jackets would also be worn by the greaser.
For girls, outfit combinations included tight sweaters with pencil skirts and stiletto-heeled pumps or striped off-the-shoulder tops and high-waisted shorts with flats. The female greaser style also had hints of beatnik inspiration with black turtlenecks and jeans. As long as the overall look was form-fitting or risqué in nature and worn with a bit of attitude, then the greaser look was achieved. Other aspects of the female greaser style include scarves — like bandanas worn in the hair or a breezy chiffon scarf around the neck. Sunglasses, either oversized or cat-eyed, and makeup were also part of her look.
In thinking back to the film “Grease,” it was a product of its time. The costumes were not authentic but heavily influenced by the then-modern taste of the 1970s. Sandy’s last look of latex second-skin pants, huge disco hair, and red suede platform mules were not anything you would see on a teenage greaser girl in 1958. And it’s common knowledge that the whole cast of “Grease” were way too old to be convincing teenagers. But that’s part of the fun of a musical; you just have to go with it. For a more accurate portrayal of greaser style and characters, check out the 1983 film “The Outsiders.” This movie, based on a book of the same name, is a much more gritty and realistic portrayal of working-class teens in the early 1960s.
For a modern take on greaser style, a leather jacket goes a long way. A black biker jacket or moto-style jacket can be worn with dresses, trousers, patterned button-downs, or neutral sweaters to give your daily style a bit of greaser flare. Or swap out your standard sneakers for Chuck Taylors, and apply a bold red lip with a high-pony hairdo for a casual dinner one of these summer nights. As I said above, you don’t want to look like you are wearing a costume if you want to pay sartorial homage to Danny and Sandy. Of course, there are worse things you can do than a spot-on replication of your favorite “Grease” character look; just maybe stay away from the latex pants. Apparently, Olivia had to be sewn into them, and that just doesn’t sound fun. RIP ONJ
