ZAZOU These are by far one of the most extraordinary groups of people I have ever heard of, and quite possibly one of the most short lived of subcultures to have been documented.From mid- June 1940, until its liberation by the Allied forces in 1944, Paris was under German occupation. With little possibilities of expressing their anger and disgust for their Fascist invaders, Parisians turned to a very visual way of showing their feelings. While women’s hats were defiantly patriotic in their use of colour and size, it was a youth subculture, the Zazous, who combined their love of jazz with an outlandish mode of dress aimed at defying Nazi ideologies. Zazou is a subculture during the World War II in France. They were easily recognized …show more content…
The slacks were cut short, too short, almost as if in addition to WWII there was also an imminent danger of flash floods in 1940’s Paris. Unlike the Zoot Suit, Zazou trousers werenarrow and often worn in contrast to the extravagant sports coat loudly draped above the torso. In addition to excessive fabric, some Zazous even went as far as to wear the Star of David to further protest against Nazi Occupation. Like all things, this era came to an end with the effort to rebuild in Paris in the 1950s, but what a time it was. The legacy of the Zazou leaves us with the understanding of an ethos that remains significant to this day. The notion that the way you dress is a refection of your values, attitude, and lifestyle. Seventy years after the age of the Zazou, their legacy is still true. The ladies wore their hair in curls falling down to their shoulders, or in braids. Blonde was the favourite colour, and they wore bright red lipstick, as well as sunglasses, also favoured by some male Zazous. They wore jackets with extremely wide shoulders and short, pleated skirts. Their stockings were striped or sometimes net, and they wore shoes with thick wooden …show more content…
The JPF stormed the popular areas in which the vibrant Zazous gathered and socialized. Those boys with their abundant hair do's found themselves with shaved heads and a new wardrobe. The Zazou way of life was not to be tolerated.There were however a minute number of publications who seem to have wanted to save the Zazous. When the Vichy regime realised that the Zazous were threatening their own envisaged nationalist youth image, and soon round-ups began in bars and Zazous were beaten on the street. They became the natural enemy of the fascist youth organisation, Jeunesse Populaire Française, who coined the slogan “Scalp the Zazous!”. Squads of young JPF fascists armed with hairclippers attacked Zazous and some were arrested and sent to the countryside to work on the