Gab Up

1960s expression slang among Mods for taking time effort & money to get dressed up to look your best.
Mods a 1960s youth subculture who embraced Modern Jazz & Modern style of dress especially sharp well tailored sartorial looks eg tightly cut mohair suits, short dresses & bobbed hair for girls. Mods were working class youth who embraced style as weapon against their assigned place in society, a rebellion of upward aspiration to outdo middle classes less clued up about style. Lambretta & Vespa scooters subverted & customized as a 'weapon' of expression & identity too, as motorcycles greasy & unsuitable for smart clothes. Pitched battles took place Mods & Rockers/Greasers in 1960s seafront bank holiday rallies. The subculture existed from 1963-1969 then again in revival 1977-82, & remains a style even today. Music included The Who, Small Faces & Tamla Motown, & in 70s manifestation The Jam The Chords & Secret Affair.

Wide use as an expression in 1960s, these days in daily use generally confined to those who work in rag trade (often ethnic minority) especially tailors, retail fashion, or Mod culture itself

"To get dressed, something that could take a very long time indeed, especially when you remember the lengths your average mod would go to in order to get their clothes ready for wear. That thing about sitting in a bath wearing a pair of Levi’s to shrink them down to a skin-tight fit, that must’ve taken DAYS." Fraser McAlpine of BBC America