The casual

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...

is a subsection of

football culture Association football culture, or football culture refers to the cultural aspects surrounding the game of association football. As the sport is global, the culture of the game is diverse, with varying degrees of overlap and distinctiveness in ...

that is typified by hooliganism and the wearing of expensive designer clothing (known as "clobber"). The subculture originated in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s when many hooligans started wearing designer clothing labels and expensive sportswear such as Stone Island,

CP Company C.P. Company is an Italian apparel brand founded in 1971 by designer Massimo Osti. Initially called Chester Perry by the suggestion of his fashion entrepreneur friend Corrado Zannoni, its name was changed in 1978 following a lawsuit by Chester Barr ...

, Lacoste, Sergio Tacchini,

Fila Fila Holdings Corp. is a sportswear brand of shoes and apparel. The company was founded by Ettore and Giansevero Fila in 1911 in Coggiola, near Biella, Piedmont, Italy. In 2003, it was sold to United States-based Sports Brand International. Sub ...

, Hackett & Fred Perry in order to avoid the attention of police and to intimidate rivals. They did not wear club colours, so it was easier to infiltrate rival groups and to enter pubs. Some casuals have worn clothing items similar to those worn by mods. Casuals have been portrayed in films and television programmes such as '' ID'', ''

The Firm The FIRM (stylized as The FIRM) is a brand of exercise videos and equipment currently owned by Gaiam. The original "The FIRM" videos are best known for popularizing a hybrid of aerobic exercise and weight training. History In 1979, Anna Bens ...

'', '' The Football Factory'', and '' Green Street''. The documentary ''Casuals: The Story of the Legendary Terrace Fashion'' featuring Pat Nevin, Peter Hooton and

Gary Bushell Garry Bushell (born 13 May 1955) is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author, musician and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Cockney Oi! bands GBX and the Gonads. He managed the New York C ...

amongst others is about the fashion that started in the late 70s and into the 1980s.

History

The designer clothing and fashion aspect of the casual subculture began in the mid-to-late 1970s. One well documented precursor was the trend of Liverpool youths starting to dress differently from other football fans — in Peter Storm jackets, straight-leg jeans and

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

trainers. Liverpool F.C. fans were the first British football fans to wear continental European fashions, which they picked up while following their teams at matches in Europe. The other documented precursor, according to Colin Blaney, was a subculture known as ''Perry Boys'', which originated in the mid-1970s as a precursor to the casuals. The Perry Boys subculture consisted of Manchester football hooligans styling their hair into a flick and wearing sportswear, Fred Perry shirts and Dunlop Green Flash trainers.

References

External links

Casual Dress Essential
article from ''The Guardian''
Emotional Hooligan: Post-Subcultural Research and the Histories of Britain's Football GangsTransforming the terraces
article from ''Times Online'' (requires log-in) {{DEFAULTSORT:Casual (Subculture) Association football hooliganism Youth culture in the United Kingdom Fashion Socioeconomic stereotypes

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links