Now, this is a football blog, and a football blog specifically about a team called Brighton and Hove Albion. That much is blatantly obvious. But for me football is more than merely watching 22 blokes dressed in polyester kick a piece of lightweight leather around a dilapidated athletics stadium in BN1.
No, football is a way of life, everyday things branch off of it, merge into it, influence and get influenced by it. Football is culture, and it has its own unique culture (and subculture) which occupies a large part of the British psyche.
One of those things is fashion – working class fashion, to be more precise. Young (and not so young) men are the main dwellers of planet football, and young working class men on the whole like to look good, at the football or down the pub and club. Gone are the days of the bovver-booted “Christmas tree” fans, with buttons, bobble-hats, scarves and replica shirts. This look has long been eschewed by “dressers”, “casuals”, “scallies” and “perry boys”.
Today there is a bit of a revival going on among older casuals, and young lads coming through influenced by good and not so good British films about hooligans, firms, and the whole casual phenomena. The thing is, the stuff – the clothes – look good. Above is an advert for Brighton’s very own Jump the Gun clothing emporium. Other great sites are 80s casual classics, and Stuarts of London.
If you’re still a replica shirt wearing fan that’s fine, you’ll always add colour to any game; but I personally have a weak spot for cool, smart, well-turned out casual wear, and going to the match is just another place where it’s good to step out done up to the nines.
By the way this post isn’t about hooligans and fighting, I mean would you like to go to an away match and have some fuckwit slash your £125 cream Baracuta G9 jacket? Fuck that.
Tags: 80s Casual Classics, Brighton & Hove, casuals, Flair, Football Fashion, Hooligans, Jump The Gun, Stuarts of London
The Hovian 
September 23, 2009 at 12:17 pm |
that piece of film brings back some memories , speeding round Brighton on my TV175 although I always thought the mirror tree was a little silly and the days of the battles (was not there though) arrived back in Brighton to see 100’s of deckchairs floating on the sea and plenty of glass on the pavements.
Brighton was such a peaceful place to live in then (not) but was then and always will be the best place in the world and is THE place to find your fashion whatever it is.
It was the thing I loved most about the place was the mix of people and always something interesting to see.
Ah well living in hopes of a win on the lottery which would take us back to our home ………..well somewhere close anyway.
G
September 23, 2009 at 12:41 pm |
Anywhere close but Shoreham eh? hahaha
My Father-in-law was a rocker in Hastings during the trouble there in 1964. He took a bit of a pasting and decided that day to become a mod, even shared a scooter with his brother. He stills thinks in 1960s terms about everything – a good old boy.
Brighton & Hove is the best place to live in the UK, no argument. I wouldn’t and couldn’t live anywhere else
Cheers
September 24, 2009 at 10:47 am |
just a quicky,
when I was 17 my parents decided to move to Cheltenham, there I was dressed in my double breasted jacket tie-dyed jeans and sage green chukka boots being laughed at by all in sundry …within two years they were all wearing them.
Cheltenham was a half decent place to live then and the girls seemed to outnumber the boys.
happy days.
G