“There is God and there are the Peaky Blinders”
Shelby brothers returned from the war and established themselves as a gang in the coal streets of Birmingham.
And of course, back then, the soldiers who fought in the First World War were spat back into society with no help.
Peaky Blinders, an urban street crime gang, fabricated themselves into a saga of the post war era in Birmingham. The name, Peaky Blinders, is said to be galvanised from the razor blade they stitched in the apex of their flat caps which were also used as weapons. Thomas Shelby, who was neither the eldest nor the youngest of the lot, but always the smartest guy in the room; was the leader of the nascent street gang in Birmingham.
I think the way it operates is that the smart people make decisions, and the less smart people carry them out.
- Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murphy played the role of Thomas Shelby aka Tommy Shelby, who was once a tunneler in the war where they were ceaselessly digging tunnels under the lines of the enemies to set the explosives. Some characters were claustrophobic and hence, they were affected immensely by the trauma of the war as they returned from the worst of the worst jobs.
Tommy was one of them, but he was cognizant of the window of opportunity, as he turned his trauma into a relentless ambition. He felt free from the chains of the barbarous world, which made him audacious and unafraid of death. For him, there was no meaning of authority, he lost all his faith and religion became a mere joke to him. By following the nuances of the show, we can find scratches of Tommy healing, dancing and smiling whenever he was with his wife Grace.
Peaky Blinders is a Gypsy-origin Gangster family known for their sharp suits, neat and crisp shirts with a lot of focus on their accessories like pocket watches and newsboy caps.
As someone rightly said, fashion is revived after almost every 100 years and the same trends are followed again.
Just like any other famed criminal gang, the uniform was well thought out to proclaim the traditional veneration of Peaky Blinders. The monochromatic men of the Peaky Blinders have been able to devilishly influence modern fashion through newsboy caps or flat caps and the undercut hairstyle. They all adhered to the uniform bottomed on a three piece suit - with a thick wool coat, a newsboy cap, detachable collar for the brothers, and some audacious combinations of accessories. Colours of the tweed suits were mainly dark blue, and a whole range varied from grey to black, offering a vintage look for its characters.
As seasons streamed further with their relentless growth in England, the basic outfit remained the same. It is only the accessories that are noticeably refashioned with tie bars, pocket watches, double albert chains and matchstick cases supplementing the vintage cigarette case in the pockets of Tommy Shelby.
Another thing that remained pretty much the same and lasted throughout the series was their Peaky Blinders haircut.
The true test of a man’s style is the haircut which is also proclaimed to be a complete makeover for his identity. The Peaky Blinders cut is a strong and influential haircut which brought back the style of the prohibition high and tight undercut to the world. It is believed that this haircut initially gained prominence over the period of First World War, when the soldiers used to shave off their heads to prevent themselves from the head lice.
Tom Shelby, who is the epitome of the Peaky Blinders hairdo, has an undercut hairstyle with textured long layers on the top and infinitesimal hair on the sides.
Styling it further in Tom’s look; you’ve to have a natural wavy hairdo with a forward blow-dried hair and the fringe swept to one side of your forehead.
Paul Anderson who played the part of Arthur Shelby, the eldest yet the frivolous of all, could be the only one who can fluently pull off the prohibition high and tight slicked back haircut.
A disconnected undercut and blow drying the long strands from the roots towards the back of your head would especially help you in achieving Arthur’s tough man looks.
With extra short hair on the top and disconnected sides, John Shelby, portrayed by Joe Cole, was fairly a mixture of both Arthur’s and Tommy’s haircuts.
The shaved off sides and the messy hair trimmed on top requires little styling and hence making it popular amongst men.
You’re joking...You can’t be serious
It was the first expression that came out of their mouth when they were shown the pictures of the hairstyle they were gonna get.
It took a whole week to convince all the three boys where in an interview with BBC, Iddo Goldberg who plays the role of Freddie Thorne in the series, claims that he got the haircut first which made the boys appreciate the look.
The Shelby brothers followed and were able to pull it off like a true professional artist, making it a widely accepted haircut for the lockdown in 2020.
Let us know in the comments section below if you'll be trying a Peaky cut this season and which one of the brothers' cut is your favourite hairdo. Also, share the blog with your Netflix Party fam “ By order of the Peaky Blinders ”