Attention UK members please

[rocketeer]

So, if all the chavs start wearing A2s - do we ditch them??:eeek:

Dont worry, they would only have the mall style Avirex with the seam down the back hand warmer pockets and the paintings on the back.

 

[Sir RBH]

I didnt know that.. i thought the Burberry baseball cap was a genuine item.. Im pleased that there didnt succumb..

 

[Baron Kurtz]

They certainly are. No self respecting football hooligan would be seen without one in the late 1990s. The Aberdeen Burberry store was chockablock with caps. They are certainly official merchandise. The whole point was that it cost £75 or something, and so was a sign of affluence. (I'm sure the line from the company now is that they never made one because of the chavvy associations, but for those of us whose memories are long enough …)


Re: the original question. He'll want more than a Burberry trench coat. Depends on the winter, of course, but he might be able to get away with the trench and some sweaters for layering. It won't cost him much to buy something from here, if he doesn't care about sweatshops. Primark etc. are as cheap as it's possible to be.

 

[Edward]

They certainly are. No self respecting football hooligan would be seen without one in the late 1990s. The Aberdeen Burberry store was chockablock with caps. They are certainly official merchandise. The whole point was that it cost £75 or something, and so was a sign of affluence. (I'm sure the line from the company now is that they never made one because of the chavvy associations, but for those of us whose memories are long enough …).

I might have misremembered the story.... Thinking about it, maybe the story was that they stopped making the baseball caps because the market they attracted were not the desired clientele. I clearly remember reading that Daniella Westbrook photo seriously damaged the credibility of the brand among its target audience.

 

[dr greg]

having wintered in Europe myself I have advised him of the need for layering etc, and being a vintage aficionado, he would prefer to be well-dressed for any social engagements that may arise during his travels, and not be in a plastic parka like some budget bozo.

 

[schitzo]

here's a thought. Maybe the dude should just dress his age

 

[Sloan1874]

They certainly are. No self respecting football hooligan would be seen without one in the late 1990s. The Aberdeen Burberry store was chockablock with caps. They are certainly official merchandise. The whole point was that it cost £75 or something, and so was a sign of affluence. (I'm sure the line from the company now is that they never made one because of the chavvy associations, but for those of us whose memories are long enough …)

I'll always thought the caps were the equivalent of a handy public service announcement by neds: "the person underneath this hat is most likely an idiot who thinks he's a bit tasty. Treat with caution."
As far as dressing his age goes, if he was 15 and wearing a trench coat, then, yeah, fair comment, but I think by 20 it's a question of personal taste.

 

[schitzo]

As far as dressing his age goes, if he was 15 and wearing a trench coat, then, yeah, fair comment, but I think by 20 it's a question of personal taste.

whatever anyone old enough to choose their own clothes wears is a matter of personal taste.

But if the dude is considering the reactions of others then dressing his own age can help him manage that. If you take a look out the window Sloane, observe what the 15 year olds are wearing and then compare it with the 20 year olds. The difference is what exactly? I'm around those age groups every day and I suggest it's negligible. Broadly speaking, each group is basically wearing whatever the knobheads on TOWIE etc are currently kitted out in

 

[Sloan1874]

I tried the TOWIE look, but those heels are killer. At uni, most people didn't have enough money to follow fashion - even less now that student fees are so heavy - so by the time we got to the final year, most of us were reduced to thrift store chic: old jeans, band t-shirts under open shirts, usually with a cord or tweed jacket, an old denim one, or if you were lucky a leather jacket. You got the odd cravat wearer, but they were thin on the ground.
I don't get the impression that the guy is self-conscious about wearing the coat, per se - and you're right, if he does, he should just go for the norm - it sounds more like Burberry's tartan still has a residual tackiness, and he doesn't want to be tarred with the same brush.
Personally, I think it's interesting that somebody outside of the UK has picked up on the lingering association of the brand with the chavs. Shows how a brand can be damaged easily by association.

 

[dr greg]

he dresses like he does because his uncle is a vintage clothes dealer, and he has accompanied me on hunting/buying trips for the last 7 years or so..therefore he is into classic styles, and buys/dresses accordingly, I really would have thought that such taste being handed down to the next generation would be applauded in such a forum...

 

[Sloan1874]

Absolutely!

 

[Highwaymanman]

You lot are talking about the British working class as if they were an alien species infected with alien AIDS. Who cares about God forbid, being taken for a chav?

It's a shame that people are snobbish enough to use the word chav unreflectively yet are blind enough to their own cultural tics that they use a term that was touted in the media ratrher than the real British slang words which of course varied from town to town. The correct terms are legion although townies and neds are common enough, much much more so than chav.

If the trench is nice enough not to be plastered in Burberry logos or the horrible tartan it's probably nice enough to wear, if you like trenches.

 

[schitzo]

You lot are talking about the British working class as if they were an alien species infected with alien AIDS. Who cares about God forbid, being taken for a chav?

It's a shame that people are snobbish enough to use the word chav unreflectively yet are blind enough to their own cultural tics that they use a term that was touted in the media ratrher than the real British slang words which of course varied from town to town. The correct terms are legion although townies and neds are common enough, much much more so than chav.

If the trench is nice enough not to be plastered in Burberry logos or the horrible tartan it's probably nice enough to wear, if you like trenches.

hear hear Highwaymanman! I've never used that word nor would i. Like you pretty much say yourself, it's a media invention, coined to demonise the working classes

 

[ButteMT61]

There was a guy in another thread (not Outerwear) who proclaimed that he didn't like T-shirts under dress shirts or as was the topic - Chambray shirts - 'cause he didn't want to "look like a gas station attendant". I have zero room in my life for such people. I'd rather hang with a guy working a gas station than some self-appointed clothing/style b*tch. </rant>

 

[Sloan1874]

I suppose it's the engrained class consciousness of Britain that lingers on. It's the same with shell suits, wearing white socks with formal shoes, Croydon facelifts (look it up) and fake tan - perception and reception are bound up. With regard to chavs specifically, I'd say they were more an underclass than working class.
Personally, I'd happily use the term ned, but I'm not entirely sure that it's travelled far enough for the Lounge. It's also a bit more democratic: plenty of the neds I knew at school came from well-heeled families, they were just spoiled brats who got a kick out of dressing in overpriced, over-sized clothes to go fighting or hang out on the swings. As far as a Burberry trench goes, Highwaymanman, I wouldn't turn one down if I was offered one, I just think they tend to be overpriced generally.

nb. One of the reasons the neds in my town wore Burberry hats and scarves wrapped up to their noses (even in summer) en masse, usually twinned with a Mackenzie top, is that it was hard to identify one from the other.

 

[Edward]

here's a thought. Maybe the dude should just dress his age

Alien thinking in this place. And rightly so.

You lot are talking about the British working class as if they were an alien species infected with alien AIDS. Who cares about God forbid, being taken for a chav?

Actually, I don't believe we are. I've heard a fair few folks complain about the use of the word "chav" as a term of abuse for the working classes, but I've never actually heard anyone who uses the word use it to refer to anything other than a specific subculture, the members of whom are often (but far from exclusively) working or under classes. "Chav" no more refers to the working classes as a whole than 'Texan' means 'anyone who comes from North America.

 

[schitzo]

Actually, I don't believe we are. I've heard a fair few folks complain about the use of the word "chav" as a term of abuse for the working classes, but I've never actually heard anyone who uses the word use it to refer to anything other than a specific subculture, the members of whom are often (but far from exclusively) working or under classes. "Chav" no more refers to the working classes as a whole than 'Texan' means 'anyone who comes from North America.

Granted, over time words take on new meanings, or the original meaning may be extended and/or watered down. But some people should know better. If my skin was a darker shade than it is and I was an aspiring rapper I'd like to think I wouldn't be banding the N word about willy nilly just cos my peers did. That they were using it to mean something other than the original meaning would carry no weight in my book; it's an offensive word. Similarly, I don't believe that my finding c**v offensive is misguided in any way

 

[rocketeer]

You lot are talking about the British working class as if they were an alien species infected with alien AIDS. Who cares about God forbid, being taken for a chav?

I suppose it's the engrained class consciousness of Britain that lingers on. It's the same with shell suits, wearing white socks with formal shoes, Croydon facelifts (look it up) and fake tan - perception and reception are bound up. With regard to chavs specifically, I'd say they were more an underclass than working class.

Chav is not a word aimed at the British working class in general, more a specific group.
Look up Jeremy Kyle on You tube for the definitive 'Chav'. As a generalisation, i dont think you would like to be associated with the kind of guests he has on his show.
John
J

 

[GHT]

My 20 yr-old nephew is going to the UK via Turkey Italy etc in December, so naturally the subject of winter wear has come up, he has a Burberry trench I gave him, and as a military greatcoat would be too heavy to take on the Sri Lankan leg of his trip I advised that the Burb would probably do the trick.. however he is concerned that wearing Burb in the UK will immediately mark him as some low-rent parvenu, or chav, and is shopping for an Aquascutum...does the prejudice against Burb extend to all garments, or just those which feature the pattern on the OUTSIDE?

Nothing wrong with a Trench, plenty of them about, what you don't see many of, probably due to cost, is the Crombie, preferably in cashmere. Warm and classy.
What's with all this heated passion about chavs? I was told it meant Council House And Vulgar/Violent but then it was explained that the Beckham's epitomise all that is about chav, all money, no taste. Really?
I was born at the rough end of the street, not far from the Kray twins actually. Tower Hamlets has always been the rough part of London. I like to think of it as a rough diamond. Despite the success that life has given me, my heart will always be in London's East End.

 

[ButteMT61]

I think the issue here is you guys don't speak English lol