Rose Coloured Spectacles - yes that's Spectacles Thank you

I don’t know if it’s just me getting older but don’t the kids today look a state! There are loads of them about at the moment now that the teachers have given up the ghost for Christmas and are even now shacked up somewhere warm with a large bottle of duty free Bacardi and Mary from the 4th form. Yes the City is full of Chavs shoplifting to their hearts content and staring with wistful eyes at the cheap Jewellery in Argos.

What worries me though is how on earth the nylon track suit became the fashion icon it is. Top this off with the ubiquitous baseball cap and knock off Burberry scarf and it becomes a ludicrous statement of unfulfilled potential. For example, these kids all wear sports gear yet I bet I could probably beat most of them in the 100 metre dash. I bet even the fat bastards that are employed as security could catch them at a pinch. I mean these kids are never going to fulfil the promise of the tracksuit and become Olympic champions.

They are never going to go to New York City so why wear the baseball cap with NYC on the front, why wear the baseball cap at all is possibly a more apt question? I know it’s a fashion thing and as a sociologist I could go on all day about anomic youth and the intrinsic power of youth sub cultures, inclusion, exclusion and the influence and glamour of rap music but that’s boring.

Now when I was young we were much sharper. No baggy, nylon for us. It was the late 1960’s and me and my mates were skinheads. Now let’s get this straight before we even start. When the first skinhead fashion started in Britain it was about music, usually ska and reggae, especially the Trojan Label, dressing in a suave manner and not being racist or fascist in fact many skinheads were Jamaicans or 1st or 2nd generation because of the music. In fact despite being part of the skinhead ‘gang’ my mate and I had long hair and never had it cropped.

The clothes we wore were most important. If it was casual day wear for example I might wear a checked Ben Sherman or Brutus shirt. Levi jeans (turned up at the bottom) but not skin tight like the fashion is now (No braces for me) ox blood red Doc Martin Boots and a black Harrington Jacket. For the evening at the club/disco I might wear a two tone suit made to measure at Burton’s the tailors. Another Ben Sherman shirt (my favourite was an apple green colour which I see they are still using now) with button down collars, Black Brogue shoes (no steel caps) and a Crombie overcoat bought again at Burtons Tailors. This was topped off with a dress handkerchief in the top breast pocket.

Now I might be biased but doesn’t that sound a lot smarter than a scruffy baggy nylon track suit bought cheap off the market or even cheaper at JJB Sports? And as you might well guess this sort of clothing involved quite an investment from what was then a very light pay packet. I was an apprentice in a factory at the time so if I remember my pay packet at that time was something like £6 a week.

I still had my Lambretta scooter too and drove that around town with verve. How cool was that better than some souped up GTI I’m sure (although not when I fell off, which happened a few times)

I know, I know, rose coloured spectacles and all that. I know it’s in the sociological literature that all generations look back to times gone by and think they were better than what’s going on today. But come on you’ve got to agree with me. What are the chavs of today going to look back on with fond memories? I know it’s a bit sad but I still do wear Ben Sherman shirts and do have a Black Crombie overcoat (this time from M&S), I’ve forgone the two tone suits but I do get a flash of pleasure when I see one. I’ve even got some black brogues and if my jeans are a little too long I will turn them up and think, hey that looks good! And you still can’t beat a bit of Trojan Label Reggae.

I know the kids of today must do their own thing and I wouldn’t want to stop them, but this chav fashion just seems to be so soulless and joyless maybe it IS some statement about the life these kids are forced to live. Maybe it IS about unfulfilled potential when they have the TV and Media screaming at them 24/7 - have this life style - be like posh and becks, get some bling into your life, be someone, be a popstar, be like Wayne Rooney, come on its easy.