WINTER OFF-PEAK 'CHAMONIX' SHIRT

The Winter 'Chamonix' Shirt has arrived and will be distributed to stores in the next few days. Availability will be in sizes ranging from Small to XXXL with colours from two plaid checks, Navy and White, to choose from. Made from 100% cotton with a tailored silhouette the 'Chamonix' has been manufactured to the finest quality finish with a touch of 80s Casuals customization in the form of a new metal logo badge and embossed buttons. It makes a perfect layer under the 'Tomba' Gilet or it's especially good on its own in these present warmer conditions.

Stores participating include Terraces, D.N.A. Camisera, Hip, Henry Brummel and Casual Clobber.

RRP £65/£70.

WINTER 'OFF-PEAK' CAPRI SCARF

Our Winter Off-Peak Collection expands in the next few weeks with the 'Capri' scarf. Characterized in a range of different coloured checks, the 100% wool scarf is a luxurious addition to any wardrobe and will become the perfect accessory against the typical British Winter weather of wind, rain, snow, sleet etc etc. 

The pure wool scarf combines warmth with breathability therefore assuring utmost comfort. The 80s Casuals leather badge adds the perfect final touch.

The scarf is manufactured in Hawick Scotland by an award winning knitwear company who supply the likes of Lyle and Scott and other such luminaries.

RRP is £29.95 with our website having exclusivity at first. 

80s CASUALS T-SHIRTS

The 80s Casuals T-Shirts are a year round production with three new designs every 5 or 6 weeks plus re-runs of a few old favourites. The third new one from this month was the 'More than just a Game' design.

The T-Shirt is available in Navy or White from the website http://www.80scasuals.co.uk/shop1.html 

Other stores which have taken delivery this week include Ran, Distant Echo, Stone, Terraces, An-X, 80s CasualClassics, Manifesto, Hip, Evolution and a new store in Alexandroupoli Greece.

In the coming months we shall be diving into the archives and re-interpreting a few classics including The  Meccano Russian image, The Warriors Cobb and The Michael Caine 'credit card' design from a few years back. Keep checking back for more details as we make progress on the Artwork.

THE END - THE BOOK

As someone who has championed 1980s fanzine 'The End' over the last few years, it was great to hear from Peter Hooton recently that a publisher has finally been secured in the form of 'Sabotage Times' James Brown and adidas. 

Two years ago we met up with Peter and the publisher of 'The Liverpool Boys Are In Town' Book, (Bluecoat Press) to thrash out a deal but recession hit and it looked as though those many hours spent scanning 400 pages from 20 issues was a wasted exercise. 80s Casuals were also tempted to publish the tome and received a quote from our own printers but it was to no avail as it was thought that some sort of sponsorship was needed to help with costs. Step forward 80s favourites, adidas. 

The book will retail at £20 + £7.50 p+p and can be purchased from Sabotage Times website with the chance to have a message inserted into the finished piece. The book is due for release in mid October.

http://www.sabotagetimes.com/football-sport/were-you-a-big-fan-of-the-end/#comment-27276

80s CASUALS x HERITAGE RESEARCH

A year ago now we promised an 80s Casuals website exclusive. We did also say we would announce the plans in the following week. As you may have realized, this didn't happen, due to one thing or another. As with all plans that may lay dormant for a while, they can always be resurrected when the time is right and now that time has come.

Heritage Research have built up a strong reputation on quality of design and product. Their collections are distributed to stores stocking only the finest of brands and it is with great pleasure that we are able to announce a collaboration on a single jacket for next season. It shall be a lightweight jacket in Navy and Yellow and manufactured in England by one of the longest serving manufacturers of outerwear in the U.K. We are going to produce only 40 pieces and shall be keeping the jacket well within an acceptable price range for such an exclusive piece.

In the next two weeks the guys from Heritage Research have invited us along to the manufacturers to follow the process and give our input into the whole design aspect. Keep checking back for up-dates and photos.

GRAFTERS COLLECTION - LATEST

Those in the Fashion world have been highlighting their Summer 2012 Presentations at the latest catwalk shows across the world. The 80s Casuals Grafters Collection for next Spring/Summer will be showcased here first, for all to see, rather than spend money on such presentations which in effect contribute to a higher price in shops. Also this gives our customers a chance to comment, via facebook, on the samples before they go into production.

The latest sample to arrive for next Spring is the Blouson which has undertaken a colour and style change. Out went the pale looking Blue to be replaced with a Midnight Navy. The shape has also been slimmed down. As this is a reversible jacket the next step is to change the inner to a Chambray fabric. The idea therefore is to have two different styles of Blouson, for the price of one, with the Navy outer having a left breast angled pocket and two U.S. Clip fastening side pockets. The left sleeve carries the 80s leather logo badge. The inner Chambray section has two buttoned side pockets and the embroidered 80s badge on the left breast. 

We are producing two different Harrington style garments, the first being the Navy/Chambray and the second will be a Sand/Checked version. We await the final sample in the next month before we sign the design off for production.

ALL MOD CONS RE-PRINT

Another T-Shirt available in stores from next weekend is a re-print of our 'All Mod Cons' design.

This has been sold out for over a year now, so a few stores have asked for a further supply. Ran, Distant Echo, 80sCasualClassics, Hip and Northern Rags have exclusivity as we will not be putting any on the website at this time.

TWISTING MY MELON - HAPPY MONDAYS T-SHIRT

Ready for distribution are our Happy Mondays T-Shirts. Depicting three of the Mondays albums, each with an eye catching design. The T-Shirts tag-line 'You're twisting my Melon Man' comes from the Top 5 single 'Step-On' released in 1990. The catch-phrase itself was one of many used by Norman Wisdom, during his film career, when he was annoyed or frustrated. Shaun Ryders use in the lyrics to 'Step On' brought the phrase to a new generation and it will always be associated with the Happy Mondays, so much so that Ryder himself uses the catch phrase as the title for his autobiography released this week.

'Twisting my Melon' was released on 15th September and the memoirs of what must have been a highly entertaining drug addled period includes such stories as walking on stage at the wrong venue, to a first trip to New York and sampling the delights of the newly released drug...crack cocaine.

The book is available at a reduced price at Amazon;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Twisting-My-Melon-Shaun-Ryder/dp/0593068270
The T-Shirt can be purchased from these stores from next weekend;
Ran, Stone, Manifesto, Hip, Northern Rags, 80sCasualClassics and Distant Echo.

PETE McKEE LONDON EXHIBITION

We have followed Pete McKee from his early days of producing a 'Casuals' painting back in 2004. Since then his career has flourished with commissions from the likes of Clarks, Gibson Guitars and Sir Paul Smith. 

Last week saw Pete's first exhibition in London open at Snap Galleries, Piccadilly Arcade. 'Great moments in Popular Music' highlights moments in Rock 'n' Roll that shaped lives and inspired generations but as is Pete's trademark, it's the little nuances in the fashion and hairstyles that capture the generation so well. With 28 paintings and 11 original drawings the exhibition takes up 3 floors of the gallery and should be well worth a visit. 'Great moments in Popular Music' runs until 29th October.

'JAYNE' SCOOTER T-SHIRT UP-DATE

The first of our three new T-Shirt designs for this month should be on-line this weekend.

The 'Jayne' scooter tee is named after the actress depicted (Jayne Mansfield). The leading blonde sex symbol of the 50s and 60s had several box office hits, winning awards including a Golden Globe and Golden Laurel. Jayne appeared in a few Lambretta ads in the early 60s as well as being a playmate of the month in Playboy.

The design will be available in Navy, Raspberry, Sky Blue and Olive. 

Stores taking delivery next week include Ran, Stone, 80s Casualclassics, Manifesto and Hip.

S/S '12 GRAFTERS COLLECTION

We have another addition to next Springs 'Grafters Collection'. Shorts have been included in the last two Summers presentations and next year will be no different. The distinctively simple, yet classic styling is enhanced with a characteristic metal badge which will appear for the first time this Winter on the 'Chamonix' long sleeve Shirt. Our commitment to the craftsmanship and quality of each garment now means an 8 month period of careful study to give our customers a prime offering at a competitive price. 

The 'Grafters Collection' will be delivered to stores starting in March through to the beginning of May.

'ECSTASY' FILM

It looks like the rave era is hitting a nostalgic high with another film on the subject about to be released. Having already seen 'Weekender' hitting the cinema screens this month, we now await the film adaption of 'Trainspotting' author Irvine Welsh's number 1 best selling novel 'Ecstasy'.

With a $5 million budget expectations are high. The soundtrack includes Paul Oakenfold, Brian Eno and Aphex Twin. The film tracks the life of a drug smuggler bringing the goods back from Amsterdam to Edinburgh for a local gangster and there's a love interest brought about through the club scene.

The film gets its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival this month before a general release in October.

The 'TOMBA GILET'

The 'Tomba Gilet' has arrived and is due to be distributed to stores towards the end of next week. [Stockists in ad above]. Our Down-vest as some might call it, is named after the finest alpine ski racer of his generation. Alberto Tomba was the dominant technical slalom skier in the late 1980s and 90s winning 3 Olympic Gold, 2 World Championships plus 9 World Cup season titles and for 13 years was the prominent face of skiing. He was also know as much for his carousing, womanizing and outrageous comments as he was for his skiing.
We would like to imagine he would have worn something like our Gilet while off the peaks during his many visits to the bars of Cortina or Capri. However in reality the Tomba Gilet' is more likely to be paraded around the 'George and Dragon' or local stadia.....but thats just the way we like it.
The Gilet comes in 2 colours Autumn Creme and Indigo Blue. RRP is £100. 

TRAINER ART

It's always a good thing to see the influence Casual Culture has had on the arts. Trainers have obviously played a major part in many lives and can still stir emotions and memories many years after their first purchase. This week an artist was brought to our attention who had picked up his brushes after a ten year gap and his first thoughts were of the footwear on his feet.

Anthony Knight has the website www.designosaur73.co.uk  were he displays a series of oil paintings showing his love of trainers and cars. The trainer series will continue with possibly Trimm-Trab and Stan Smiths. 

There is a store on the site selling limited edition giclee prints plus postcards. Anthony also does Commissions should you require your own exclusive.

WINTER 'OFF-PEAK' UP-DATE + SCARF

Summer seems a distant past now, so it's away with the shorts and cagoules and out comes the Winter attire. As for the 80s Casuals 'Off-Peak' Autumn/Winter Collection, we shall be embracing the great outdoors of terraces, council estates and pub doorways with a compact Collection of approximately 7 or 8 key pieces. 

Due in stores in the next two weeks is the Gilet. With its two angled side pockets, left breast pocket and an inner zipped pocket it's an ideal coat replacement on warmer Autumn days with enough pockets for all match day accessories. 

The long-sleeve Shirt is then due at the beginning of October along with the long-sleeve Polo, 'Monte' Ski-Hat and Deerstalker and then to follow in November we have the 'St Moritz' Jumper and Smock.

As can be seen from the photos, we are also at present working on a 50/50 wool/acrylic Scarf. The fabric quality is fantastic but we still need to sort the logo with the manufacturers, so hopefully this can be done before the November cut-off date. 

Keep checking back for further up-dates as the stock begins to arrive and is distributed to stores.

THE HEAD BAG RETURNS + COMPETITION.

An essential piece of kit in the 80s was the Head Bag. From school days to Awaydays the Head Bag was the perfect accompaniment for trips abroad, usually coming in two sizes, the St Moritz or Monte Carlo.  They could be a  useful addition to our forthcoming S/S12 Grafters Collection.

Apparently Ran in Manchester and Liverpool have a North West exclusive and they have kindly passed us one for a competition. So check back in the next few days for the details. We will also throw in a few 80s Casuals bits as well. 

The holdall was never expensive in its day and again they are reasonably priced from between £25 - £40.

So if you don't fancy your luck in our competition pop into Ran to pick one up.