CARRA

Now even as a Tranmere fan I can't fault the service or achievements of Jamie Carragher both to and with Liverpool football club. Jamie is an old school football player if you like, one club Man, gets on with the game and doesn't appear to be attracted to some of the nonsense that the modern day footballer has come to be associated with. Add to this he's always had the same hair cut, never worn an ear ring and offered a talk sport presenter a straightener....I like him.

Available soon exclusively from Ran & Drome Liverpool. JM

THE OLYMPLICO SUN HAT

The classic sun hat brings back some great memories for me. The first time I can recall seeing one in a football context was as a teenager delivering leaflets in Chester city center. A firm of Blackpool lads were causing a bit of a fracus on the town hall steps all decked out in Burberry reversible sun hat as I watch on from a distance in ore. 

The sun hat has always had it's place on the terrace weather it be Burberry, Ellesse or Lacoste. So throwing our own hat in to the ring (pun intended) we have just released the OLYMPICO a classic 80s inspired number with reversible check. Perfect for days in the beer garden, on your jollies and the pre season sun.

£29.95 in olive, beige and navy. JM

INTRODUCING TERRY FARLEY

Keeping on the house music tip here is a little treat from Boys Own legend and long term Eighties forum member Terry Farley. If you don't know who Terry is....where have you been?

http://www.djhistory.com/interviews/terry-farley

          https://soundcloud.com/terryfarley/terry-new-mix-april-13-farr

Watch this space for our exclusive re issue of the Boys Own 'London Love It Or Leave It' printed T shirt. JM

SCARFACE & PALLA PINS

We're not the sort of brand that bangs out pin badges for the sake of a quick buck, which is why since our first set released back in 2004 we have only added a handful. To us a pin needs to have meaning and thought behind it before you attach it to your collar.

The rise of the football casual saw lads drop scarves and colours from their match day attire leaving only the humble pin badge as their mark of allegiance. This in turn became a nod of approval or indeed a smack in the mush depending on who you run in to on any given Saturday. Times have changed since then and approval is all we hope you receive should you choose to sport one of our pins on your threads.

'Scarface' is a character kindly donated to us by our pal Kevin Sampson from the inside cover of his superb novel 'Awaydays'. 

We love this little scribble so much as the book and the drawing both perfectly encapsulate the period of change from Boot boys to Casuals which still lives on today.

Our 'Palla' logo is again of deep meaning to us as the association with tennis wear on the body and feet was a huge part of the early Casual scene and no symbol was ever more sort after than the Bj ball next to that famous F.

Both sold separately priced at £4.95 and released on Sunday the 12th of May @ 6pm JM

BANK HOLIDAY COME DOWN

As promised for those who are children of the house music revolution we will try to wet your appetite every  now and then with a selection of house sounds from myself and guests. Staying in is the new going out apparently so how cool am I! Well not very actually as all I've done this weekend is work on the brand and put this little mix together.....enjoy. JM  

                                               https://soundcloud.com/jay-montessori/sometimes

EIGHTIES DESIGNS 101

Ever wondered how one of our printed t shirt designs goes from an idea to a finished garment?

And finally this coming soon...

                    Oh and you didn't think we had forgot about you lot South of the border did you?

THE ORDINARY T SHIRT

The humble plain crew neck t shirt with the right branding is a staple in any dressers wardrobe in our book. My personal favorite was the original Emporio Armani version with the sewn on golden eagle but many other such as Lacoste and Benetton are considered classics by us to.                 





                                   

A few years back we paid homage to this with the 'Ordinary' tee using our classic leather badge. Well we have move on a little since then so we thought our tenth year in business might be a good time to re visit an old friend and treat him to our snazzy new tennis ball logo and Eighties pinch tab. So the MK2 version of said tee is available this weekend in navy, white and chocolate plus the ever so 80s pastel green and yellow. JM

THE FINAL CURTAIN

So yesterday my season finished having to endure watching another teams fans invade our pitch celebrating their promotion having been 21 points behind us when we played them in the return fixture with us at the top of the table, but that's football eh..... 

When you support a relatively small team like Tranmere Rovers for me it's not about the football on the pitch, it's the camaraderie, dressing up and travelling the country checking out like minded chaps. On the down side we have to suffer a pretty poor standard of the beautiful game with a lot of empty seats, but on the up side you don't get lost in the crowd at a small club and many become an extended family (a bit like 'Cheers' where everyone know's your name). 

So brownie points time it is (mow the lawn, paint the fence go for a ride with the kids) until the curtain raises again on what promises to be another season of obscurity and a wardrobe full of clothes I don't need ( but that's not the point on board the casual express). My business partner Dave is lucky enough to have a few more weeks of what we love to do with his team in the good old division one and still having something to play for. 

Hope you've all enjoyed it as much as I have so and roll on next season with a few new grounds to visit and hands to shake. JM

NO SCARVES NO RUNNERS

We've never met a good lad yet who doesn't rate the iconic novel 'Awaydays' by author and pal Kevin Sampson. The book just happens to be set in our own back yard and takes much of it's character inspiration from some very good friends, but of course we're not biased! 

This design has been re drawn by the talented Paul Cruse from original photography by local lad John Johnson (http://www.johnjohnson-photography.com) . The facial recognition has been removed to symbolize that this could have been the story of many a chap growing up in that era with a passion for clobber, football and the occasional dust up.

Website exclusive out later this week not available in any stockists. JM

WHAT'S YOU NAME? WHERE YOU FROM? WHAT YOU ON?

Another sub culture to play a big roll in terrace history was the emergence of house music in the UK circa 1988. It's well documented that many lads gave up the match and the rivalries that came with it to dance around abandoned warehouses from midnight till the break of dawn.

If you have been with us for a while you will know that I like many became entranced by this era chasing all over the North West in the wee hours looking for moody rave venues. For me that quickly led to DJing hence many a nod to this fantastic time appearing on our prints. I personally fell out of love with the scene when it was sanitized and brought into night clubs 'for our own safety', but I've never lost the passion for the music. 

So what this is all building up to is sharing my passion with regular mixes from both myself and one or two other forum members who know their way around a DJM. I'll start with a clip of a live set of myself playing back in 89 followed by a more gurn free selection that rings my bell these days...oh and keep an eye out for our 'Do You Remember House' design released soon! JM

https://soundcloud.com/jay-montessori/sets

https://soundcloud.com/jay-montessori/the-future-is-yours

CYBER PEACOCKING

Something that was conceived on our forum a while back now was the weekly posting of pictures showcasing members match day outfits. Since then it's spread to our facebook page and although not everyone's cup of (some even find it a bit gay), I personally find it very intriguing to see styles from all over the world sent in and even more so heartening to see that the art of dressing for the match is still alive and kicking.

Should you wish to post in your match going attire for your peers perusal, you can send your picture to us via our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eighties-Casuals/345667788783278

For my away trip to Preston this weekend I will be mostly wearing..... JM

EIGHTIES VINYL RECORDS UP-DATE

So, we started a vinyl record label and had to take a three month sabbatical from the blog. Now that the label is up and running we will be able to post a lot more frequently.

Therefore, what have we been up to with the Eighties Vinyl Record label? Well the idea is to promote and showcase some of the best Music [bands] and Talent [graphic artists, photographers, videographers etc] that we find. It may not be to everyone's taste but we believe the artists involved deserve to be highlighted and who knows one of them may make the breakthrough.

We are going to release a Limited Edition single on 7” vinyl each month and in July of each year an anniversary 12” LP of all the first year bands.

It is hoped that the vinyls will become collectable and already One [Sankofa] has Sold Out, so they still have that Casual element of being something exclusive just for those in the know.

We have also adopted one of the bands and shall be helping them out as much as possible. Sankofa are, we think, a proper lads guitar band, they are inspired by the late 60s Psychedelic sounds that emerged and seem to have their own spin on it. They are not influenced by todays music establishment, even to the point of producing 6 to 10 minute songs even though they wont get airplay with a track that long. The single ‘Siren Song’ was over 10 mins and had to be split over two sides.

We love the sound they produce and with a Hammond Organ being added in the next few months it can only get better, but don’t take our word for it, take a listen for yourselves.

All of our releases are on our Soundcloud site, plus you can keep up to date on the record label at our Facebook page. DH

The Sankofa Vinyl is Sold Out but it can be downloaded here; http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=siren+song+sankofa

Eighties Vinyl Facebook page;

http://www.facebook.com/EightiesVinylRecords

Eighties Vinyl Soundcloud site;

 https://soundcloud.com/eighties-vinyl-records

SANKOFA video for the single ‘Siren Song’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXe2CdAcDBc

www.eightiesvinylrecords.co.uk

KNOT THE NINE O CLOCK NEWS

Some of you who own one or two of our fine coats have told us of problems with over playful girlfriends or annoying drunken mates who think it's a hoot to undo the adjusters in our Summit smock and our Trappers parka!

 Well worry knot chaps (Sorry that's twice but I came over all Tommy Cooper) as our friends in Hong Kong have sent us a visual fools guide of how to rectify those pesky rope wranglings time and time again. JM 

                                   

WINGS OF SPEED

Let's face it most match going types of a certain age will have had a flirtation with being a MOD or riding a scooter at some point, or maybe even like ourselves still own the beautiful machine and ride it with a passion.

Now with this in mind it's fair to say that Paul Weller is one of the most iconic figures of this ilk and is the inspiration for our latest print. Adapted from a rare picture of the Modfather himself this design has been put together by the wonderful Paul Cruse and will be online and in stockist from mid May. JM

WELCOME BACK.....

Well to us I guess!

The feedback we have had from you chaps suggests that disposing of our blog wasn't the most popular of moves as many don't bother with the somewhat volatile facebook or tedious twitter....errm sorry about that guys so we're back.

Both of us are working lads with day jobs to, but we will endeavour to keep you up to date on our little brands progress and anything else that we think may be of interest to like minded folk. However we won't be updating you on everywhere we have been or posting pictures of our most recent meal, watch this space....  JM

A MASSIVE THANKS

As you may have guessed we have been winding down the posts on here recently.

That is because we have become even busier with setting up a Vinyl Record Label.

https://soundcloud.com/eighties-vinyl-records 

http://www.facebook.com/EightiesVinylRecords 

http://www.eightiesvinylrecords.co.uk/ 

We would just like to Thank all who have visited in the last two years and invite you over to our Facebook page where we will post more regularly.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eighties-Casuals/345667788783278  

BENETTON T-SHIRT RE-PRINT.

Every now and again we re-visit the archives for one of our favourite designs.

The Benetton Rugby top had a massive following in the early 80s. A couple of years ago we produced it on a T-Shirt with the tagline 'Those were the Days My Friend'.

We have now re-printed the Iconic Rugby Top just for the stores, so just like the old days you'll have to  search for it throughout a few Shops websites.

Check Distant Echo, 80s CasualClassics and Square Menswear.

EIGHTIES VINYL RECORDS NEW RELEASE

The latest single in our attempt at a xmas number 1 is a Red 7" vinyl by The Troubadours. Limited to 250. The band have toured with Paul Weller in the past and have had a top 10 in Japan, yet their label would not release their tracks here. Anyway for those interested its available from here;

www.eightiesvinylrecords.co.uk 

along with our first release on White vinyl by The Sand Band.

You can follow the label here;

http://www.facebook.com/EightiesVinylRecords

We are thinking of doing something for 80s Casuals 10 Anni next Summer. Details to follow.

HARRIS TWEED 'FIELD' SCARVES

There's only one way to stay warm this Winter and that's with a bit of layering. One item that's essential  every time we venture out is a Scarf. It's an item that can be worn loose if too warm or wrapped tightly around the neck and chin if on a bleak terrace one bitterly cold evening.

The Harris Tweed 'Field' Scarf has been specifically manufactured to our own spec. Standing over 5 foot long and handwoven in the Outer Hebrides, we have two designs of reassuring tradition and provenance. Each carries the iconic Harris Tweed Orb Label and has been woven using traditional techniques by an award winning designer.

The Scarves are available now online http://www.80scasuals.co.uk/shop10.html

and should be in Stores before this weekend.

It's great to see 80s Casuals clothing endorsed by others. The Reference Council again highlight the quality and care that we take in the production of our clothing. http://www.thereferencecouncil.com/

10 ANNI LOGO and 'POACHER' POLO

We have previewed our 10 Anniversary Logo before but now it is about to debut in our Winter Collection.

The Long Sleeve 'Poacher' Polo in Tobacco and Midnight Blue has the Fila BJ inspired Eighties branding which we shall be introducing more regularly in the coming year. The intention is to replace the 80s embroidery upon the T-Shirts and continue with this embroidered style emblem on the Summer Polos.

The Long Sleeve 'Poacher' should hopefully be despatched in the next week and in Stores by next weekend.