The Ultimate Outfit - Summer 2013

Summer 2013 has been a wild one. Heat has been a major talking point with most people, and fashion (like most years) has been in the foreground of everything we see. It would be an understatement to say that putting TTC together has been fun, and the trends we have tested over the weeks have been evaluated thoroughly.  Reactions have ranged from outright indifference all the way up to hero worship.

Free drinks, the colour blue, toned calf muscles and shaved shoulders

Choosing the Ultimate Outfit was a simple one, the flat peaked cap was a clear winner from the nights out and easily made it into the outfit. Deep V beat both top button done up and a denim shirt, with turn up shorts being the choice of bottoms instead of a safe pair of jeans. We decided a couple of tattoos would rocket the ensemble to perfection.

Your Ultimate Outfit - Summer 2013 (minus tattoos and with generic shoes)

Having a browse through our contemporaries in GQ's 30 Under 30: The Most Stylish Young Men in Hollywood, we can identify pretty closely with this ensemble, sported by our good man Penn Badgley.

Good to know both TTC contributors are classed as young by GQ

 Definitely worth having a read of their opinion on his V wearing, here's a quote:

 "it's a classic sleaze, more French than pornographic"

On the Saturday evening James came to my flat and we started to get ready by ordering a pizza and sampling a delicate drink; gin, juice and Red Bull. Having this delicious cheesy start, we got to the Gatekeeper for around 10 o'clock and had a couple of drinks. People were noticing the style we had opted for, with the bouncer taking a look at James on arrival and having a great big smile, topped off with a look of pride. Gatekeeper provided positive insight into all our decisions and backed them up with delight on other pub goer's faces.

We left Gatekeeper without clear indication of where we were heading next. As we were walking past Floyds, once again we were asked to come in. We decided that the look of desperation on the lady's face made it hard to reject her pleas, so we went in. Come to think of it, I am not sure whether she worked for Floyds or was a club goer herself and just thought it was the kind of establishment we were likely to be heading to and not being, in her own eyes, trendy enough to get in, thought we were the chaps to lead the way.

Whilst in Floyds, it was clear that James and I were the alpha males in the room. As ever the caps were getting repped from all corners, the V was revealing enough tattoo to keep people intrigued and the shorts were letting us flaunt the calves while keeping fresh up there. 23:30 came and it was time to move on.

Classic Tattoo Tease

We got to Live Lounge to see the final song from the band. Well, to say final song would be a bit of a lie but that is what they said as we walked in the door. But like a pair of glory hogging scumbags, they proceeded to play a host of encores before eventually jogging on and letting the banging beats begin.

We joined others on the stage, where we were able to gain a greater audience for our outfits. The mood was good, people were having a good time and our trend style was only multiplying this. People were feeling the style, willing to break certain personal boundaries just to get a closer look, as seen below;

This guy needs to realise it isn't a block blue night

When at the bar, getting the elixir that has unfortunately made some of the night's details harder to remember, a barmaid saw our manly tats whilst serving our drinks. However, being a tattooed lady herself, she immediately saw they were not kosher, although how she knew is a mystery as James' photo below shows. However this prompted her to show us some of the tattoos she had over her body, and then followed a decent amount of flesh being revealed to James and I. Clearly our trendy good looks had prompted her into a tattoo-off, which I can assure anyone is a fun past time.

We were certainly thankful our turn ups were below her eyeline, a turn up off, where pasty male legs are involved, does not benefit anyone.

Chinese neck symbols - the pinnacle of class

Now, it is unfortunate to say that neither James nor I can really remember the happenings of the evening. Too many trendy occurrences blended into one massive blur. However it is safe to conclude that the Ultimate Outfit was a success, and that everyone we met enjoyed our presence and felt compelled to bring more excitement to their wardrobes next season; what more can we ask for?

Shoulder airing

Of course if you haven't already got involved in this summer's trends then it is too late to sport the outfits now. What you need to do, instead of wasting time ironing your Deep V, is think about Autumn 2013 where the only thing to wear is Autumnal Greys; grey on grey (on grey, if necessary). TTC will be researching Winter 2013 while you enjoy that restrictive trend.

Any feedback you may have of our summer conclusions would be greatly appreciated (you can leave feedback here: https://www.facebook.com/stufftheconsequences), and we hope that your summer style was exciting. See you in a bit for our insight into winter 2013.

Tattoos

Look around, you may not know it but the people you can see are likely to have tattoos. Somehow tattoos have become the norm in today's society and not left solely to adorn the arm of a gypsy boxer or naval seaman. They are easily concealable, but damn telling; when you look at someone's 'tat' you can tell alot about them. Lets have a quick go below:

 

Classic Tramp

Drug Addict

Someone you don't want to meet in an alleyway

So as you can see, not only are tattoos common, but getting the right design is something you must ensure. The last thing that we here at TTC want to give off is a trampy drug riddled persona that doesn't reflect our trendy ways. Therefore before this night could go ahead, there was significant planning and research into what the current celebs are inking their bodies with.

The first place to look was on the body of a below average basketball player, but more importantly a fiendish tattoo collector; Chris Andersen. You'll be very impressed at his life choices when you look at the picture below. 

This man is richer than we'll ever be

I think we'd call him an inspiration, there must be some tattoo on this body that we could copy?

Kanji symbols seem to be on everybody and we can see why; small and subtle when needing to attend the job interviews of the 21st Century, yet profound and meaningful if you happen to tell someone what it says in English (drum is particularly erudite).

Get this on your chin and you're set

Tribal designs weren't so high on our list of trendy tats so they were out. Animals seemed to be a big theme. Rita Ora, one of Trend The Consequences fashion favourites, has a pooping bird on her neck. This was all the guidance we needed.

Some sort of shape below the ear as well

James was very keen to get involved in the Koi Carp scene, luckily for him this is something that has been sported by one of today's most credible stars. Armed with this knowledge, a suitably awesome koi was needed and the internet certainly delivered.

Yes please

I, on the other hand, was particularly fond of a manly horse.

A Majestic Beast

The dilemma was how to get the tattoos onto our bodies for the night out, and then be able to remove them the day after ready for work, as we wouldn't want to alienate our un-tattooed co-workers. Unfortunately I am not man enough to get a bunch of real tattoos, only to have them lasered off the following day.

So the solution was found from Amazon: printable tattoos! They arrived the day of the night out, and without time to test the transfers on our skin, we dived into the deep end and went for it, regardless of the rash-riddled consequences. We decided to meet at James' flat for 19:30 to print and apply the tattoos before heading into town, giving us around an hour and a half to do the job. Unfortunately I got caught up doing stuff in the flat and turned up 15mins late, only to chill out on the sofa with a gin and juice as we thought we had plenty of time. Oh how we were wrong. The printing went fine, however I could not peel the damn tattoos from the backing paper. The job was fiddly, and every time I got the images off I managed to tear the paper. We had visions of tattoo sleeves made up of koi, horses, vampires and trees. However the more tattoos I tore up, the more this dream faded away.

Eventually managing to get a couple of the tattoos to stick (taking about an hour and a half) we called it a day and got ourselves to the Gatekeeper to meet some of our friends. When entering the pub, something happened that had never occurred before. The doorman gave as a double take and looked us up and down in a shifty "don't cause trouble in my establishment" kind of way. He had clearly seen the tattoos we were sporting and thought, "these boys are a couple of hard nuts, better keep an eye on them". Not thinking twice about it, we walked on through and to the bar.

Woah, lifelike

You could tell from the outset that our friends were instantly jealous of our tats, hatred was strewn across their faces as though they were suddenly inflicted with a Napoleon Complex. However others in the Gatekeeper did not seem to notice our ink, probably thinking that we are the sort of guys to be layered in gang tattoos and not ones to make eye contact with. Feeling that the Gatekeeper had done its job (i.e. offered cheap drinks to get us started) James and I decided to move on. Our friends, powered by their own jealousy, decided not to join us in our next trendy venue, and went their own way whilst we started walking to Floyds.

We have touched on Floyds before, and it is certainly the sort of venue that would welcome a nifty tattoo or two. As we were walking up to the club, one of the doormen rushed up to us (having spotted the array of tats) and urged us to come to Floyds. Before we could even answer the poor chap, he offered us a free round if we were to come in. Not one to turn up a free drink, or a free anything at that rate, we accepted his kind offer. Whilst walking up the stairs, due to the plain and simple fact that the venue is a single upstairs floor, we noticed a lot of females walking down (all noticing our tats of course). Once upstairs the dancefloor was looking fairly bare and it occurred to the two of us that the doorman outside was ushering us in because he needed two handsome looking bad boys to not only get the ladies in, but get the ladies that had been there a second ago to stay. Luckily for him the trick had worked, because as soon as we had received our round of free drinks, the ladies then re-appeared with what seemed like a load of their mates. Clearly the word had spread about the two tattooed chaps that had just arrived.

There would be no negatives to getting this tattoo

When on the dancefloor, we were busting some shapes and one of the barmen came up to us, handed us shot glasses and proceeded to pour us each a shot of some raspberry drink. Clearly we were getting so many people into the club through word of mouth, that they were willing to give us freebies to ensure we stayed. Unfortunately for them, we have to ensure that we keep the same final venue for all our posts to provide the reader with the assurance of complete comparability. So even though we were having the time of our lives, and I have to say it has been the best time we have both had whilst putting the summer edition of TTC together, we had to leave and get ourselves to Live Lounge. A quick round of JagerBombs (6 for a tenner) later and we got out.

Cheap and disgustingly tasty. The perfect combo

Having spent longer in Floyds than expected, we missed the band in Live Lounge, which was a shame as live music and tattoos tend to complement one another. Once again, our tattoos were kind of blending into the background on the crowded dancefloor, and some of my tats were peeling of due to the bending of my arms wrinkling the skin (just another reason to go for the real thing). However the night was still a success with the people who were noticing the tattoos clearly liking their 'bad-boy' connotations.

You'll notice, koi t shirt!

Before the night ended we were approached by a forward fellow who immediately told us we were tattoo frauds. Denying at first then instantly crumbling when he said we were lying, we got discussing our goals and then were informed he was opening many bars in Cardiff and maybe buying the probably doomed Buffalo Bar (he only suggested this after we said it was good). Somehow from this we got onto selling salad pots in Cathays and how we could be a big part of his beautiful plan. Further to this he offered £10,000 for, well, nothing. Given we haven't heard from him since, I am willing to guess our money is in the post. 

At the very least this goes to show that even noticeably fake tattoos have the ability to get you places your useless bare arm wouldn't.

Tattoos; Scarey, business, cool but a right pain if going temporary.

Block Colours

TTC on their way

 
So, through our love of trends we all know that orange is the colour of Summer 2013, as explained here on FashionBeans.com. Unfortunately orange trousers of a suitable brightness are hard to come by in Cardiff. Inspired by the thought of wearing one glowing and attention grabbing colour all over our bodies, we had to look around to see what else would keep us at the cutting edge this season. Not wanting to travel too far along the web, we turned to Fashion Beans once more where it was revealed that blue was the obvious trend-based choice. Here's a quote:

"The men’s fashion press has wholeheartedly endorsed blue as the go-to colour for this coming season"

Even more key to our dream of wearing all one colour is this snippet:

"Shortlist noted that this is a very easy colour trend for any man to incorporate into their wardrobe and also recommend using blue as a starting point for successful colour-blocked outfits."

Cardiff had to sell blue clothes, though walking at sweaty pace down Cowbridge Road at 4.45pm in the 30 degree heat I knew I was committed to whatever tat was available in anything ranging from light purple to almost green. Such was my desire to test the social acceptance of block colours I was willing to spend up to £15 on shorts and a bit on shoes, having a blue T-shirt in my collection was finally paying off.

A few hours later we were in the usual venue, preparing ourselves for Charlie Browns. Having only felt a bit silly on the walk into town I was pretty excited to see our matching shorts. They looked good on both of us and, well, no one else seemed to know it.

Blue tshirt blue shorts blue shoes (greyish shirt)

Having received a few angry glances from people dressed in multi-coloured outfits, clearly knowing Joseph's technicolor dreamcoat would have been mocked now just as much as it was hated by Joseph's brothers back then, we got on with the night and descended into the barren wasteland of Charlie Browns.

It's not worth talking about this place anymore than what has been said previously, other than to say nobody looked our way, not until we won the Pub Quiz jackpot on our first attempt while trying to finish our delicious OMG drinks. Rob let out a bellow and £5 of glorious money fell down. Spending this on some Jager Bombs we felt that was enough and headed out to find people who could actually provide some opinions on our ensembles.

The beautiful winnings

Having, weeks earlier, experienced the emotional scenes of the King of The North ripping out guitar solos before our very eyes, this week we were subjected to Jon Snow in the drippy flesh.

Jon Snow near some block blue

He was one impressed chap when informed he would be appearing in a fashion blog and thought it acceptable to let his chest dangle out. He responded positively to our clothes but seemed like he would do anything if it meant he could get off the stage; unfortunately for him Rob's shoulders are far too broad to allow that, trapping him in TTC's trendy embrace.

Sweat free so far

An almost unfashionable side effect of wearing such a 2013 colour was the devastating carnage caused by sweat on blue tshirts.  A very distinct and offensive darker shade of blue appeared over various portions of our bodies as the hours progressed, potentially something that halted new friendships before we were able to trap more individual with Rob's shoulders.  The only meagre positive of such dampness is that with half an hour to go you find yourself in a new colour (block dark blue) meaning a second chance with people you've already met, at this stage drying out and time are your only enemies.

There is already an infamous photo on Facebook featuring Rob mid colour change. Worth seeking out.

Looking down from the Live Lounge stage all that can be seen is a mess, and yet within minutes of making ourselves visible order was forming. Our choice of a colour, often described as the colour of success, was bringing others in blue out of the woodwork. They usually didn't hang around for long once they realised their quotes and experiences would be plastered across the internet. We can conclude from this that while blue suggests success, it is used to mask cowardly undertones. Try beige next time chumps!

The general feeling radiating off people was one of disappointment. We caught look after look of indifference at best and rational hate as a middle ground. When asking people for their opinions they didn't seem impressed or didn't want to give us an answer. While nobody was unfair and the bar still served us at the usual pace the joy wasn't there. At Charlie Browns we thought it was standard stuff, at Live Lounge I realised my blue shoes weren't going to make things better, only a Mario's Pizza meal deal would do that.

Blue Horn

So a night of nothingness ensued for the colour formation we had decided upon, and although I do not think block orange would have performed any better, it is painful looking back on this night thinking that maybe another colour would have impressed.

Block Blue; Safe, unimpressive and a let down.

Turn-up shorts

If you have been perusing the shopping aisles of late, you will have surely noticed the number of shorts on sale. This is not only due to the better weather we are having, but because shorts are 'in' at the moment. I am not talking about the lame short shorts your dad wears, I'm talking about the new craze of shorts that turn up at the bottom. However this begs a question in my books. I can understand why trousers get turned up, as this is to ensure they do not drag on the floor when you walk. But the whole point in shorts is that they are already short enough, and the people I see with turned up shorts, still have them knee length? So why not buy shorter shorts to start with, but then fashion is not about form and function; fashion is about proving one's superiority through the act of clothing oneself in fancy attire.

This guy is actually wearing turn-up shorts and a hat

So into town I go to find the correct clothing for the evening and let me tell you, shorts are not as cheap as they should be. For less material, I have to pay similar prices to a pair of full length trousers. But that is the way of the world, and I am sure the virality of this blog will pay back with interest. I picked up a pair of denim knee length shorts, but at the time I didn't think to try them on. Usually I have a hard time finding trousers that comfortably fit my thighs, but shorts are always OK. James picked up a hot pair of salmon turn-ups, and we went home.

Preparing for the evening, I have the issue of what to wear as a top. Finally opting for a polo, as everything else seemed bad with the shorts (James clearly had the same dilemma as I received a text saying "I look dumb as. Also I have gone for a polo shirt if that's OK?"). It took three attempts to get the top of the shorts around my waist without my boxers becoming a thong, these things were tight as hell. I have a pair of compression tights that are put to shame by these shorts, and I could tell this was going to be a long night as even walking was not a simple task anymore.

It was only then that I had the problem of what to do with my shoes! I only own a pair of boots, a pair of 'skate' shoes and two pairs of work shoes. None of these fitted with the rest of the outfit; The skate shoes looked like massive hooves, the work shoes made me look like a sex offender and with hindsight the boots probably would have been the best bet. However skate shoes it was, and getting my socks on was a chore. I had to hopelessly writhe around on my bed trying to reach my feet. Finally getting the boat-like shoes on, it was a long and chafing walk to town.

On meeting James in the Gatekeeper, I had learnt a lesson about my body. Apparently my testicles are very very claustrophobic; they do not enjoy (and I'd probably go as far as to say hate) being in a confined space. A few drinks in, we realised that shorts were not the first thing people look at when in a pub. There was a clear sign that we were gonna have to work hard for people to notice and provide the valued feedback we require.

Varying levels of tightness

One major benefit of the short is the amount of calf muscle on show. As we had only decided a couple days before that turn up shorts would be the trend for this night out, no major calf work could be done. However, the man allowing good preparation could really take advantage of this fact.

Little to no calf definition... YET

In Charlie Browns, where you need to walk down the stairs to get to the bar, we had our first feedback. People at the bottom of the stairs had noticed our style, they were pointing and whispering to each other. Although we can only speculate on the content of their discussions, I can only assume they were good due to the massive smiles they all had on their faces.

The night ended in Live Lounge, and here we were actively seeking reviews. James asked a girl what she thought of the style, and with a quick feel up my leg, she only had good things to say. This theme continued through the rest of the night, with people loving the style. We even managed to find another chap wearing very similar shorts to James', which goes a little way to showing the population's view on the style.

Maybe a little too similar?

Another persons turn up shorts, but this guy has boots! Why oh why didn't I wear boots!!!!!

A hurdle we came across was that too many other people were in shorts due to the extreme sun on offer that day. The knock on effect of this was that we were commonly dressed and while we aim to hit the current styles, being a bit niche helps us gain accurate feedback. To make up for this, once we were outside we hit Queens Street and started barraging people for a moment of their time, like a clipboarder but without the same financial implications of speaking to us. A trio of respectable young chaps, when hounded for an opinion on my shorts, each had remarkable words to say. They even kept it fresh by having different words each. I can't recall the words exactly but they were more interesting than merely "Good".

Once out of Live Lounge and on the streets of Cardiff, I decided a Burger King was in order. The evening had been emotional with the amount of pressure my loins had been subjected to! As I was finishing my burger, I decided eating in would be the better option due to the simple fact that in the shorts walking by itself was a chore so the addition of eating to this would be impossible, a young chap and his friend started a conversation with me. This conversation started unlike most, with the main chap's friend telling me that his mate fancied me. This flattering feedback was taken very well by yours truly, and my immediate question was whether the shorts were part of his emotional attraction. He initially looked puzzled (I assume this was because the answer was obvious, how could the shorts not be part of the attraction due to the awesome effect it had on displaying all my key areas!) and then went on to say the shorts were 'pleasant along with everything else'. Now I hate to be stereotypical, but if there is a single group of people who are up to speed with the latest trends, it is the gay community. Therefore this comment really defines the power that turn up shorts hold.

Turn Up Shorts; Cooling, calf framing and apparently sexy.

Thusday Competition - The Denim Giveaway

Update 14/08/13

Competition Winner Accounced: Blake May!

Congratulations on winning a free Agwa Bomb with the TTC team on the 17th and most importantly 2 signed denim shirts.  

Thanks to all 18 people who entered, there will be more in the future and who knows, probably worse prizes!?!?!


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This is something nobody could have ever predicted but yes the title is correct, this is your chance to win a piece of blogging legend.

To mark Trend The Consequences' 1000th hit during the release of the Double Denim entry we are giving away the supremely trendy denim shirts from the actual night!

That's right, 2 shirts for one lucky winner.

Imagine these shirts on your own body

The competition is open to everyone and is very simple to enter:

1. Share Rob's announcement post on your Facebook Timeline
2. Like Rob's announcement for the post on the Stuff The Consequences Facebook page.
3. Contain your excitement, but only if it's possible, until the 14th August 2013

The complete prize breakdown:

1 x Signed denim shirt worn by Rob
1 x Signed denim shirt worn by James
1 x Agwabomb at The Gatekeeper on the Ultimate Outfit night, 21:00 17th August 2013.

Yes, a drink with the authors of TTC and for free.  People say we are losing touch with our readership but we aren't.







Terms and conditions

1. Prize must be collected by winner
2. No cash alternative
3. If there is no Agwabomb available a Jagerbomb will be the prize instead, no other alternatives
4. Competition is only open to over 18s
5. Agwabomb only available on the Ultimate Outfit night while at The Gatekeeper
6. Ultimate Outfit night may change date
7. Denim shirt prizes worn by recipient at own risk
8. Winner chosen at random from list of correct entries
9. Shirts must be collected before 24/09/13
10. Terms subject to change at any time

Double Denim

In the early days of the working man, there have been denim jeans. They were introduced as sturdy trousers for factory workers. There probably isn't anything too trendy about a simplistic pair of jeans. However one day a genius decided to make an upper garment (either shirt or jacket, I am not sure) out of the same material, and so Double Denim outfits were born:

Probably the most famous pairing in the world: Denim jacket and denim jeans (worn by a couple of Red-neck hicks)

The reputable TheFashionSpot.com gives us all the inspiration we could need, including denim glasses!  Here's a quote that doesn't make a lot of sense but we're willing to follow blindly:

"in recent months, denim on denim has never looked so good"

Initially I went on the hunt for denim shirts in charity shops, and finding one in the first shop I entered gave me a good feeling. As a frugal person, I didn't part with my cash straight away. However this turned out to be a mistake, as every other charity shop I entered did not have anything remotely denim for the upper half of the body. As I had gone too far to walk back, i.e. I was basically back at my flat, I thought I would pick the shirt up at a later date. Once again a poor shout, as the Saturday of our hitting town, I was working all day and could only get to the shop before 09:30, which as you could guess was closed due to the sheer laziness of the volunteer staff. A quick phone call to James meant that it was now his problem to get the trendy clothing for the evening's activities. Luckily he found a whole selection in Primark, purchasing identical short sleeve denim shirts for the two of us.

The beautiful combination

So we once again met at the Gatekeeper in Cardiff to get a couple drinks before moving on. Walking down to town, I did not feel strange at all wearing the double denim, unlike previous trends which had been completely different than what I was used to. Gatekeeper had a few people in double denim outfits, and even some whom were just wearing a denim shirt and non denim trousers. However this made us blend into the background, and although accepted we didn't feel as though the trend was really hitting hard.

The crowds in Wetherspoons were just too indifferent to the double denim dose. Maybe double denim has become too much of a standard in today's society that people just aren't bothered any more. For all they cared we could have been wearing denim socks and belts (quadruple denim!) and they still wouldn't have bought us free drinks or thrown us out the fire exit.  However we had to test at least one other spot to confirm our findings.

Live Lounge called, and getting in at around midnight we caught the end of the band. This gave us the added benefit of seeing how the double denim reacted to live music. And the answer is; Underwhelmingly. It didn't hinder us, nor did it add anything. You may think that double denim is rock 'n' roll, however we just can't provide any evidence of that. So we stuck it out, and then some students we know from Cardiff Uni rocked up and provided feedback. Most of it was positive (although not as much as we were looking for) whilst other comments were fed by pure jealousy.

The jealously was fed by restricted access

We did make friends with another proper lad in double denim, he was up for a good time and dressed as we were. He got it!  What he got was that these shirts look almost like normal shirts with their delicate fabrics and subtle colouring but with the knowledge that any sweating you do will show up instantly and that if you fell down or walked into some sand paper your flesh won't be revealed.

 

Essentially one should wear double denim as their first foray into the the trendy world of high fashion. You won't get noticed for doing it but you'll be trying something out that according to many people in Primark looks really good. Not only that but once you get fed up of a shirt that looks like a normal shirt but with more negatives, you'll be able to fashion some form of short shorts and a belt out of it, thus a single denim can become another double denim in no time.

Double Denim; Safe, uninspiring but friendly.

The Cap

Caps make you interesting. Such was the stunning effect of wearing a cap, I think it is key this point is emphasised.

Caps are an item that is unique out of the trends we have experimented with so far. It not only has the ability to complete one's look but also has practical benefits the type of which are not seen in the Deep V or top button trends; head warmth and shielding the eyes from the sun.

The cap is also a trend that crosses boundaries usually not possible when delving into high fashion. Wear it during a trendy gig, playing a trendy sport, having a trendy business lunch or watching your favourite trendy TV show, no one will bat an eyelid of suspicion your way.

There's a good chance LL is doing all of the above here

So the caps in question...  It was agreed that we needed flat peaked caps as they were the most trend based style. One of the caps was a beautiful Lotus F1 team number that could be paired with any style of casual shirt, T or polo.

F1 Glory

The only cap I owned was not straight peaked so I needed to get shopping. It turned out this was even more necessary as the cap I did own sported Renault F1 team logos and this would have meant we both had F1 caps. If there was one thing we didn't want to do it was lead people into thinking we were trying an F1 trend.

A few minutes online and I came across this beauty

Brown and Diamonds

There was no way I was going to pass on a hat with diamonds all over the front.

So the night out...

Heading down Cathedral Road there was little attention, troubling or otherwise, and I made it across the river. Approaching the dingy alleyway next to Dempsys, a young lad walking the other way couldn't keep his gaze from my peak. It was pretty rude and even as we walked right past each other he carried on staring as if he had never seen a man looking this good before. There's a good chance he didn't realise jeans and a T-shirt could be complemented so successfully with a simple peak.

Once again meeting in the Gatekeeper (the keen eye will see that we are trying to keep the nights out Ceteris Paribus to ensure our results are comparable) I saw Rob when we were both at the bar. We were separated by approximately 5 metres worth of crowd, yet noticed each other instantaneously due to the peaked glory adorning our heads. That's right, the caps were a dead give away of our position, this could be a good thing or a bad thing, but at the time was a sure help. Rob was accosted by some elegant gentleman whilst he was waiting, whom lifted the hat from Rob's head and placed his own sweaty brow within it. This is a clear disadvantage of the cap, in that it is an easy article to remove from someone's body. However Rob did get the cap back, aquired his drink and swiftly got away.

Whilst having a beverage in the Gatekeeper I noticed that there were a couple of other groups with blokes in flat peaked caps, and also a group of Gothic ladies wearing trilby type hats (possible creating their own less trendy blog). However the reaction in the Wetherspoons was low if not non-existant, and we decided that we needed to get ourselves to Buffaloes, but not before a couple 'buccas each.

Now Buffaloes is a place where flat peaked cap wearing is not out of the usual, and we were expecting a warm welcome. However when ordering our first drink, the barman had a cheeky chuckle to himself over our choice of attire.

Nothing but Peak

However we shrugged this gesture off as jealousy and got ourselves to the dance floor to really make the most of the hats. There were clear signs of lust, but probably nothing out of the usual, so I couldn't say whether that was due to the hats. But by no means were there any signs of dislike or even hatred.

When we were in Live Lounge (finishing the night in our trusted Trend Neutral arena) the caps were an utter hit. Not only were they versatile in the fashion department, but they also managed to keep ones brow from showing signs of sweating. A group of ladies took a real shine to the caps, showing interest in the cap bearers as well as the caps themselves. No one in Live Lounge was put off by the cap, no one cared what shoes we were wearing or how ironed our T-shirts were. All that mattered to them was who the hell these men in caps were and how they could get involved in all the interesting things they had to say and do.

Look, this lady can't get enough of the cap action and had to capture it for eternity on her phone:

TTC image rights will be enforced soon

To conclude the cap trend, all that can be said is that if you don't feel you get your due attention on a night out wear a cap and it will all be about you. There's nothing you can't get away with and no one that won't try and get a minute in your company.

The Cap; adoration, brow mopping; trend diverse and pure interest.

Top Button Done Up

The trend covered by this post is one commonly worn by the hipster, that being the top button of a collared shirt done up. Now I know you may be thinking that I said the deep V was the hipster style, but it seems to transpire that the common hipster either likes to bare a lot of chest or none at all.

A quick search on Google for "top button done up style" confirms that this is a trend many people have been wanting to embrace but are never quite sure if it is for them. With this in mind we knew we had to find out. If people hated us then they'd let us know fast and painfully, if they loved it we probably wouldn't find out.  As with most things involving peoples opinions you'll only know if it is bad.

On preparation for this evening I ironed a few shirts in order to be able to match one with my style. However on attempting to do up the top button when trying them on, I found that only one collar fit. The next decision was shirt tucked in or shirt untucked. I plumped for shirt tucked in and sleeves rolled down. On meeting James, he had gone for the sleeves rolled up and shirt untucked. Therefore this blog should be able to report the reaction from both styles.

James and I met in Wetherspoons, a place where many styles meet and a sure place to find some people wearing similar clothing whilst others are wearing completely differing trends. Although there were some other people in the pub with their top buttons done up, they didn't seem to notice that we were of similar neck attire. In fact no one in the pub, not even the bar staff who were getting a good close-up look of the style, were the least bit concerned by our choice of trend for the evening. Having some cheeky shots, we got the hell out of 'Spoons to go find somewhere where our clothing would be appreciated.

This led us to Floyds. Now Floyds is an upstairs club, which is so small that from the bar to the DJ booth is one big (and when I say big, I really mean kind of small) dance floor, filled with what can only be described as; lads trying to get some, and girls willing to be got. Meeting a couple of friends there, we hit the 'bukas hard and got to the dance floor.

The style of the day (chin rolls included)

Once again our stylish accouterment was unnoticed. It seems that the top button done up is just too standard. Maybe it is too much of a norm. We kept dancing the night away, however all the men in Floyds were just scouting for the next available lady to grind onto, and all the ladies were looking away from us waiting for someone to jump aboard, meaning that we couldn't get any real feedback as to the value of our style. 

So on to Live Lounge it was...

James rocking the done up button and rolled up sleeve option

When in the Live Lounge queue, we started chatting to a chap who was telling us all the benefits of Live Lounge assuming that we had never been there before. Now this wasn't your everyday chap, this guy had his top button done right up! Oh yes, he had seen us from a mile away and decided that we were the sort of blokes he could crack a conversation with. In this conversation, whilst still queuing, we told him that we were from Basingstoke and here on a Stag do with one of our mates and he quickly informed us that we were in the right place for a Stag Do. He took our word as gospel, and this is the crux of it Ladies and Gents, albeit the 'top button done up' style is no longer out there or readily noticed, it makes you seem trustworthy. In the picture below you can see this guy (left with his button done up) cheering on our honoury stag (on the right bearing all the chest he wants).

Our new friend and our Stag

The rest of the night was followed by chance meetings with our top button friend, but no notice from anyone else on our choice of clothing set up.

Neck bloatage didn't make things too easy. One definite downside of this trend is that when the dance moves are getting more enthusiastic you are not able to increase your breathing to compensate. This tended to result in a fair bit of stopping followed by unwelcome hugs and banter from various lads and all you can do is breath heavily and drip all over them.

The top button crew, and associated Stag

So what did we make of this trend? Well firstly, no one seems to care about it anymore. Too many people have been wearing their shirts and polo shirts with the top button secure for so long that it is commonplace now, it is hardy worth the effort of doing up the extra button (or buttons if you are risqué). The only added value of the top button seems to be the warm feeling others seem to get, confining their trust in your every word (this assumes that the top button was the reason we were trustworthy as opposed to our brilliant lying skills) and invading your personal space. Of course, as stated at the beginning, this muted reaction could be the ultimate sign that it is well liked and respected by the common club folk.


The Top Button Done Up; Joining of like minds, trust, but altogether boring.

The Deep V

The first trend for this trendiest of social experiements is the Deep V. This is a top mainly sported by hipsters, but in Cardiff it is also worn by the Valley folk that come to town on weekends. So the day before we were set to wear the V necks, we headed into Cardiff City centre to find the appropriate tops. Unfortunately it was not as simple as walking into Primark and picking one up on the cheap. It seems that we have got to the scene a little bit late; searching round Cardiff not finding anything remotely deep or V shaped. We did notice, however, that there were a lot of people wearing a similar top which was not in the V shape. On Googling this at home I found out this was a Scoop. Many of the people looked much like this Douchebag below:

One deep scoop

However we had already planned our first outing, and Deep V's it was, so stubbornly we went on searching. James managed to find something worth investing in from the Officers Club. Two V neck T-shirts (which were relatively deep) for a tenner. Done deal.

So on the night of the first trend, which happened to be a Bank Holiday Sunday, it was time to try on the V. My God did it seem low, I am not one for the V neck and I felt uncomfortable. So much so that my walk into town was increased by 10-15 minutes as I tried to find a route with the least amount of observers. Meeting James and his girlfriend in the Gatekeeper it was under-way and time to watch people's reactions.

You can see below that we went for the blue end of the colour spectrum, what you may not be able to see is that each V also comes with its own handy chest pocket.  The chest pockets were for lady's business cards adding a lucky dip element to the night for our fellow partiers: who would get a call back and who would be discarded?  Let me tell you by the end of the night these were full pockets (and all were discarded - this blog isn't about meeting women).

The V's at the start of the night

Initially we could tell that people were longing for the V's to be deeper. Many of the women were looking from face, down the V to it's point with disappointment all over their faces. We concluded that this disappointment was due to the V stopping before it reached the trouser department! The barmaid that was serving us was giggling to herself as she looked longingly at our manly chests, it seemed as though it were a giggle of humour, but clearly was the similar giggle a school girl would make went talking to a boy she liked as he makes the lamest joke ever. Others in Gatekeeper didn't seem to notice how deep the V's were, so onward to Buffalo Bar it was.

Buffalos it the sort of place that kooky people and hipsters are most likely to be seen. However, upon arrival all we found was a chap upstairs dancing by himself. It was a sort of break dancing style which one would perform before doing the actual moves that are impressive. This just made it look as though he was taking up a lot of dance floor without actually justifying it with any flips or spins. He was also wearing a dirty scoop (in vest form), and for this reason we didn't value any opinion he may have had on our deep Vs or our much more conservative style of dancing.
 

V or Scoop?

Below you can see James attempting to get the most out of his Deep V .

A wider Deep V, and on the left a God Damn scoop!!!!

The night ended in Live Lounge, which is a neutral place in terms of style. We thought here our trendy threads will have the most impact of getting a reaction. With a large crowd, the Vs were initially unnoticed, and even at the bar the bar-staff were not showing signs of liking or disliking the style. In order to mix things up, potentially creating our own style, James and I rolled up our sleeves to create a Deep V vest (essentially showing the finger to the traditional scooped vest).

A new style?

This incurred a reaction very quickly, and the reaction was people copying our style. As the saying goes, 'Imitation is the greatest form of flattery'. People were clearly keen on the rolled up sleeve Deep V. I even had a female tell me, out of the blue, that one of her friends had a boyfriend. I wasn't sure which it was, because she didn't seem to point at any of them as she said it, but good for her. The girl that told me, I would assume, did not however, and if she did... well... goodness, each to their own I guess.

It also turned out that the deep V enables friendships to form in a much quicker time frame than usual. This is because the added intimacy the V makes others feel towards our gentle selves results in them feeling they've known us and our chests for a lifetime.  This is demonstrated in a blurry photo:

Note the look of genuine friendship

To summarise the significance a Deep V wearing has had on the general public, in the time between penning this in draft form and adding some touch ups, Lewis Smith was spied wearing his own Deep V on TV, word travelled faster than we could have envisaged. OK that doesn't summarise the Deep V, but to do that in words is an unlikely thing.  

The Deep V; friendships, extra chest, sports stars and a general lack of understanding.