SUEDE HEADS

Recently I have re discovered my passion for trainers through a social media site I joined specializing in the buying, selling and exchanging of OG rarities. Through this site I have met some rather nice chaps that run a website dedicated to 'trainer sniffers' (as some of my friends who don't share my passion call us!), and I thought it may be a good idea to pass on the knowledge here.

Founded in 2011 the idea behind their magazine is relatively simple: They are creating a site that showcases both the history and the hype of the worldwide trainer culture without being elitist or trying to dictate to their readers. They cover various aspects of this culture by providing archives for both adidas and Puma. 

Eatmoreshoes is meant to be a living representation of this cultural phenomena. As writers, photographers, programmers and most importantly trainer lovers, they strive to speak out to the global trainer community not as a voice of authority but one of understanding. They aim to showcase the shiny new collaborations and specialty drops side by side with the secretive and unknown stories of historical trainer ancestry. For them it's all about context and quality, not status quo or one-up-manship. 

From collector interviews, store tours, designer chats and in depth product articles, Eatmoreshoes is the place to go for daily news on both adidas and Puma brands.  JM


 www.eatmoreshoes.com

RESURRECTION NORTH

A key turning point in the history of our brand was adidas taking umbrage to the homage we paid to their archive in our early designs. This meant we had to move  in a new direction as far as t shirts were concerned and one of the first (and to date most popular) was the classic Mille clad lad gazing at the tower blocks in front of him with the wording 'The North Will Rise Again' taken from lyrics by Prestwich post Punk band 'The Fall'.

Sadly we can no longer salute our cherished trainer brand on our tee's (although every other Tom, Dick and Harry seems to be!), but we can pay tribute to this iconic design that to an extent saved our little label and gave us the inspiration to make it to 10 years and counting.....we give you 'Resurrection North' released later today. JM

DEEP SOUTH

Tonight sees the release of a re worked classic Eighties design from 2007. The 'Deep South' tee depicts a rather dapper chap in his Mille jacket, beanie hat and checked scarf over looking the famous skyline of our beautiful capital city, but all is not what it seems as it can be pretty un welcoming if your caught in the wrong place at the wrong time........"your in bandit country now boy". JM

DIXIE

Well you didn't think we would forget the blue boys who have supported our brand from the off did you?

Available mid June exclusively from www.distantecho.co.uk and Ran in Liverpool JM

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 www.distantecho.co.uk and Ran in 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

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