Henley's clothing

Is it given out in pubs on friday/Saturday nights or what? Swindon is a sea of people with lettering across their arses and chests, what gives? Why is it so popular?

Ultimate chav wear IMHO.

Ultimate chav wear IMHO.

Agreed.

Around here if the chavs arent sporting the classic peaked cap and tracksuit bottoms tucked into socks they are draped in Henleys or Bench crap

i remember when Bench was briefly quite cool. In about 1997. Ditto for numerous surf/skate brands.
Funny how some brands seem to 'break out' of cool and into chav. 😕

[edit] there are some pubs in town which won't let you in if you have henri lloyd or stone island on, apparently because you will be nothing but trouble! 😆

Ultimate chav wear IMHO.

+1

It's when they get hold of stuff I actually like and ruin it that annoys me.

I just wear what the F I like, and don't worry what others think of me (Bench T, adidas trackies + trainers, adidas jacket…). 🙂

You're so cool 8)

I know! Women run to me screaming.

Or was that 'from' me….?

Bit silly all the snobbery though in't it? Especially coming from a bunch of MTBers, most who can't dress themselves with any sense of style! 😀

I went out with a Japanese lass who wore Burberry (the real stuff not knock-off). She wasn't a 'chav'.

How about the huntinfishinshootin set who wear all that green wellies and Barbour (and Burberrry!) and shit? Or people who wear suits to work? Etc?

Depends where your SnobRadar is aimed I spose…

i had to google it to find out what this brand is all about.
evidently peter andre wears the stuff.
is that supposed to make you want to buy it or not?
only i'm too old to know the answer.

Hmm, go to any mtbing spot car park, and see the Endura, Pearl Izumi and other tasteless overpriced crap being worn by bloaty mincers…

I always look good, on and off the bike. I design stuff other people wear… 😉

It's what chavs wear when their football shirts are in the wash

I wear footie shirts to ride in. Lightweight and fast-wicking. Just the thing for overtaking mincers who buy ridiculously overpriced bags up hills. Whilst smoking a cig… 😉

I wear footie shirts to ride in. Lightweight and fast-wicking. Just the thing for overtaking mincers who buy ridiculously overpriced bags up hills. Whilst smoking a cig…

Yes, much more stylish than Endura or Pearl Izumi. they also retail at about the same as an entry level cycle specific top as well.

If you look around in sports shops at the end of the season, you can pick them up for a tenner or less. European teams and that. Mine have all been as good as or better quality than cycle tops costing the same rrp, and that have the added bonus of offending the narrow-minded sensibilities of stuck up prejudiced snobbish tossers…. 😀

You are hardly likely to offend anyone by wearing a Young Boys replica shirt, even if you are faster than the average 'bloaty mincer'.

But we digress, it is true that Henley seems to be the chav uniform Du Jour, certainly around these parts. Not a judgement, just an observation.

You are hardly likely to offend anyone by wearing a Young Boys replica shirt

Got to be careful Googling that one.. 😯

I think Ali G himself would aprove:

i remember when Bench was briefly quite cool. In about 1997. Ditto for numerous surf/skate brands.

I remember when No Fear was only worn by people who took part in dangerous/extreme sports, rather than fatchavs who take part in dangerous/extreme dietary intake.

See, the purpose of 'labels' is to help define the wearer as belonging to a particular set or group. In the same way as tribal colours, patterns, tartans etc. What often happens is that a 'label' is adopted by and will become synonymous with a particular group, who feel they are unique and somehow superior to other groups. Hence they get miffed when 'their' label starts being worn by others. And they tend to sneer at labels worn by other groups. All part of tribal and insular insecurities. We live in a society divided by class, race, economics, religion, etc. Yet it seems we seek to divide ourselves further, through 'fashion'. Quite sad.

Anyone who uses labels as a cultural and social identifier is someone who, in some way, lacks imagination. Be that label Henleys, Barbour, Paul Smith, Nike, Kappa or whatever. The recent 'bestest watch' thread revealed how such self-labelling is rife throughout all social 'strata'.

Clothes, as the proverb goes, do not Maketh The Man.

Henley's does seem to attract a certain demographic that the average STWer may not wish to associate with.

Somebody mentioned Bench further up the thread…I remember in about 1994 or so when they were a seriously small UK skate label akin to Siesta, Raggy and Insane who were also about at the time. Bench were bought up by Cult Clothing at some point towards the end of the 90's and that's when they became omnipresent, their distribution previously had been restricted to all of about two dozen skate shops (this was just prior to the most recent '4th wave' of skateboarding popularity) and mail order set-ups.

Southampton's Addict was the other underground skate label which really took off, although they seem to have maintained credibility with their original market. Fenchurch is another example of a skate label that became 'too popular' (as daft as that sounds) and has now long since fallen out of favour with skateboarders.

A lot of the US labels seemed to disappear too, I used to really like Company E, they vanished and Fuct which was once fairly easy to get hold of seemed to implode. Freshjive are still going, but are a fraction of the size that they once were and my personal favourite, Droors were shelved when Ken Block decided to focus on DC (DC stands for Droors Clothing). Dub snowboard clothing was shelved at the same time as was Blunt which was the snowboarding magazine equivalent of Big Brother (the skateboarding magazine that spawned 'Jackass').

I'll go now, I'm getting nostalgic for my teens/early twenties.

As far as I can tell, all these "designer" T shirts are exactly the same as the ones I buy at two for £5 from Tesco, except that they have got the label on the outside and they cost ten times as much.

See, the purpose of 'labels' is to help define the wearer as belonging to a particular set or group. In the same way as tribal colours, patterns, tartans etc.

It's very stupid to think that this is something you can "rise above". If you're not wearing a label, you're making the choice not to.

When I lived in london, Many moons ago, I seem to remember the choice of Chavs was HACKETT?

When it all kicked off on Finchley high street on a saturday night, thats what most of them were wearing anyway.

"If you're not wearing a label, you're making the choice not to."
No, I'm making a choice to wear the cheapest T shirts I can find of reasonable quality.

No, I'm making a choice to wear the cheapest T shirts I can find of reasonable quality.

And implicit in that is the rejection of non-cheap and poor quality t-shirts. Every time anyone makes a choice, they choose one course of action and reject the other possibilities.

what about people who wear clothing from other areas of the sport??

for example downhill shorts are incredibly sturdy and i wear them for normal riding.. (i dont do downhill)

i've just ordered some DH trousers for the winter when the weather gets colder…

i am very much of the opinion that it doesnt matter what label/colour/style something is.. if its comfortable, does the job and is good value then its worth buying, couldnt care less of others judge me on my carrera 😉

Yes, my choice is still a choice, it's the reasons for making that choice that differ. I don't make my choice because I want to publicly and conspicuously declare myself to be part of the Tesco T shirt crowd. It wouldn't bother me if other people thought I was wearing a Matalan T shirt.

Droors were shelved when Ken Block decided to focus on DC (DC stands for Droors Clothing).

Thanks bravohotel9er, i learned something from this thread. Mid nineties my friend's older brother had a Fuct tee and a Split jacket he'd bought over in Canada and i was wildly jealous. Stussy used to be cool back then as well.

This is going to go the way of the tattoo thread in a minute.

Whatever clothing you choose will influence how people see you. It will mark you out as a member of some social tribe or another. Some people will see you as having a very utilitarian & practical view on the world, others will assume you have no cash, others still will see you as being ahead of the game by not being hoodwinked by marketers etc.

The closest a non-uniform outfit comes to being a complete blank canvas is a suit, and even that gives off subtle cues. Fabric, number of buttons, style of tie etc.

finbar – Member
Stussy used to be cool back then as well.

I first encountered Stussy in about 1992, I was 12 and this American kid at school had absolutely loads of it.

I couldn't afford it until I went to sixth form college by which point it was even more wildly expensive. Funnily enough, I'm wearing one of their ubiquitous signature tee shirts right now.

I've still got 5 of their tee shirts, two of which I've had for 14 years now. I bought a sweatshirt earlier in the year too in some shop in Leeds, it was silly money, but I'm a self confessed streetwear label whore especially where Carhartt and Volcom are concerned.

I get your point, tron. It's impossible not to have an image.
I can't be bothered to shave or brush my hair in the mornings, so I've got a beard and crew cut for entirely practical reasons. Other people will probably see it as me choosing the beard and crew cut image.

Your blank canvas suit analogy doesn't work in all situations. Maybe in an office, but not in most leisure activities.

I've got a beard and crew cut for entirely practical reasons.

I occasionally do that. Does it look like you've put your head on upside down? It does with me 🙂

My mate designed he original ID for Bench and Hooch. It was really cool stuff. No more alas. You can be cool and sell small amounts, or be mass market and make oodles of cash but lose all your credibility. Never both

I work in retail and Henleys is on the slide … Gio Goi seems to be the label of choice now,you cant blame these labels they only have a shortish life span so they milk it for all they can while the goings good

bravohotel9er – Member
finbar – Member
Stussy used to be cool back then as well.
I first encountered Stussy in about 1992, I was 12 and this American kid at school had absolutely loads of it.

I couldn't afford it until I went to sixth form college by which point it was even more wildly expensive. Funnily enough, I'm wearing one of their ubiquitous signature tee shirts right now.

I've still got 5 of their tee shirts, two of which I've had for 14 years now. I bought a sweatshirt earlier in the year too in some shop in Leeds, it was silly money, but I'm a self confessed streetwear label whore especially where Carhartt and Volcom are concerned.

The first time I spent in excess of £100 on a single item of clothing was a Stussy jumper. It shrunk in the wash the first time I washed it (my fault, it stated it was hand wash only butn I thought it would be ok!).

pffft I wear nothing but unbranded uterine vellum.

philconsequence – Member

what about people who wear clothing from other areas of the sport??

for example downhill shorts are incredibly sturdy and i wear them for normal riding.. (i dont do downhill)

I often wear roadie team bibshorts under my downhill shorts (on a downhill bike).

There's a 'young men's outfitters' in town that specialises in Bench, Henley and Goi-Goi. One of the guys I work with works there Saturdays and wears nothing but. Personally I think it's all horribly over-designed with spurious slogans and crappy typography all over the place, and largely useless buttons, tabs, studs and screenprinted slogans all over the jeans. Frankly they have no style. I wear Howies jeans, because there's virtually no labelling on them, and I wear a fair bit of RaceFace, Oakley, band tees, and army surplus camo, German and Danish Flecktarn and Chinese variation of it, 'cos it's very cheap. I prefer stuff with a bare minimum of logos and labels, the more obscure the better, (that's visibility, not cult coolness).

RaceFace and Oakley being famously subtle in their branding 🙄

I have a nice brick red colour Oakley T-shirt that just has a simple embroidered 'O' logo on the front, it's really quite small only 3cm wide. And a bright sunflower yellow Oakley cycling jersey, again with just a simple small 'O' logo. Both are nice quality items, and I bought them because I liked the colour. And because I got them cheap.

because I liked the colour. And because I got them cheap

I'd need more reasons than those.

I've got a Henleys woolen jumper from about 7 years ago, well before they went all chav and glittery shiny shit.

One of the best made jumpers I've ever owned, the newer stuff i wouldn't touch with a bargepole