The Spring / Summer Ultimate Outfit 2014

The Ultimate Outfit this year was easy to choose. The elegance of the short suits lended itself to being the top trend, whilst floral came a close second with it's spring vibes and shocking beauty. Only bucket hats came close to these two, and managed to make the cut. Having put the outfit together, it was a meet at the gatekeeper once again for the final night out. The walk down was simple, a feeling of pure style was flowing from me and I'm pretty sure this was being accepted by everyone around. Meeting James in Weatherspoons, we got some drinks in and headed upstairs. People were turning to look at the most stylish clientele in the pub, and we could sense the jealousy in each person's eyes. This night we met up with some of our mates, and their feelings were similar to everyone else's. 

The UO

As we were leaving the gatekeeper, there was a lady screaming her head off. It was clear that she was unimpressed we were moving on whilst she was still in Weatherspoons. But if we were to stick around in one place, we'd never give any other people the pleasure of our company. So we left her to her strop.

As we were walking into Floyds, a chap wearing Limoncello coloured trousers (which both James and I thought to be quite a trendy leg wear) professed his love for the hats (although not commenting on the rest of the UO, it wouldn't be far fetched to assume he loved the whole outfit). It seemed this guy was part of a larger stag do, and whilst in Floyds, the best man of the event asked whether it would be alright for us to tag along with them to their next venue. Needless to say that any other night than a TTC night, we could have accepted, but we had blogging to do; however not on a TTC UO night, we probably wouldn't have been trendy enough to have been asked!

UO silhouette

We then scrambled to Live Lounge. Immediately upon entering, a drunk Irish bloke (or just an Irish bloke; probably don't need the redundant word 'drunk' there) saw our trend and babbled something to us that neither James nor I could understand; yet the intermittent laughter and constant grinning made us both feel it was positive.

 A majestic pose

Whilst at the bar ordering some beverages, the bar man said, 'I love this by the way' whilst touching the jacket. He seemed shocked at its inexpensive price, and even more joyous when he took in the whole outfit as I pulled away from the bar. We carried on with our night, having many a selfie with the punters in Live Lounge. One group was so enjoyed by our style, that they stuck around for a while. Pure elation from everyone we met was clearly showing the UO had it's intended effect.

The group shot

The solo shot - jackets removed for climatic convenience

Throughout the night, all we recieved way good feedback from everyone. It seemed that the UO was a hit, and clearly a great combination for the Spring/Summer of 2014. With the weather still warm, its not too late to grab the gear for a night out!!

A stricken pose

Some random bloke

Grunge Scoop

A particularly momentous day last year was when Trend The Consequences first appeared on the internet, braving the world in a couple of Deep V T-shirts.  Since then the UK has gone crazy for a Deep V; so much so that where last year to find a Deep V we had to turn to bohemian boutiques like The Officers' Club - places known for superior style and grace - this year Deep Vs feature in every store going.

Primark, George @ Asda and H&M stocked too many types and shades of V to even contemplate and why would you when Deep V was the choice for Summer 13 not 14.  Instead let's smooth out the bottom of the V and form a kind of U shape - a Grunge Scoop!   You wouldn't think there's any difference between a Deep V and a Grunge Scoop, but there must be otherwise they would have the same name.

More of a U than a V

A scoop is the perfect tool for showing that bit of male chest that is usually hidden but without needing to look desperate with a full blown V.  This way when someone spots a trap or upper pectoral exposed to the air you can pretend it was a big misunderstanding.  The other useful feature is that if you ever feel not enough of your upper back or neck are on show you can level out the scoop to be equal front and back - never hide the front scoop completely though otherwise you may as well forget vanity and indulge in another of last years trends, Top Button Done Up.

A man configuring his scoop for fully forwards

We decided to meet up and slip into our scoops together.  They felt right and looked even better.  Walking towards town we knew all eyes would have been on us if there had been any eyes anywhere.  Instead we arrived unobserved and with an inkling the uneducated masses were out buying last years news; a Deep V.

Undeterred we both gave our scoops a little stretching, to ensure a full amount of upper pec was visible, and gambolled to the bar with the hope that silly people would talk to us.  A clear consequence of the scoop was it made you feel dashing and theatrical without actually looking particularly noticeable itself, thus we appeared to most like a couple of well dressed normal men with an unexplainable strut.

The Scoop in a natural environment, outside a betting shop

As it was Bank Holiday Sunday a number of our fellow lads were with us.  They seemed pretty impressed by the scoops, a quote from one even being

"it's good to see a scoop"

With such confidence boosting reviews coming our way from a usually reticent blog fan, we knew that we probably hadn't stretched the trend far enough.  A disheartening realisation soon turned to renewed vigour for trendiness when we realised that without looking too-obviously good we could get close to people and canvass opinions on the lack of clothing below our necks without scaring them off.  

Understated

Doing this, we quickly came to the conclusion that people didn't especially notice the Grunge Scoop and while they had a feeling we looked good they couldn't pinpoint the actual source of awesomeness.  Even in Live Lounge, where people are usually surprised by anyone dressing up fancy, the consensus was that we looked damned good but the scoop wasn't definitely the reason.  At this stage we had a feeling that because it was bank holiday our local Cardiff folk hadn't a care or interest in the world and certainly had no concern for how much material was missing from 2 men's T-shirts.  

Extended scoopy goodness

In spite of the lack interesting opinions we were both very happy with ourselves due to the exceptional airiness of our scoops.  Cheap fabric and with a loose fitting collar combined to keep us perfectly temperatured all night.  Good heat regulation and a subtle but knowing trendiness is as close to perfection as we are going to get in 2014 and that's the real difference to the basic 2013 Deep V; in a V you are likely to be overly hugged by your material, in a Grunge Scoop it will waft gracefully around a happy and nearly dry torso.

Apparently this is a photobomb, so it seems the scoop doesn't warn off the general population

The Grunge Scoop: chest, mysterious classiness, dryness

The Bucket Hat

In the heat of the summer it is important to avoid sunburn. This is distinctly true for the average Brit, where in the UK 84% of the population surcome to sunburn each summer. An astounding figure I think you will agree, even if it is completely made up. Regardless of this, advice is to avoid the sun during the highest point in the sky and to apply liberal amounts of suncream at regular intervals to protect the skin. But what about the head, sure a slaphead can just cream up, but the rest of us require hats to do the covering for us. This is where James and I roamed the forums looking for this year's trendy head adornment. 

This is where the bucket hat was found. A 90's classic that is apparently coming back in, at least according to Asos, The Guardian, GQ and the pick of the celeb world. A swift trip to town and I had both of our hats for the evening. Walking to the Gatekeeper to meet James was a delight, from the neck down I looked like your average male but from the chin up a 90's hip hop star:

Actually I pretty much looked like a hip hop star from the neck down as well

When entering the Gatekeeper, a couple of smiles were sent my way, and on conversing with James he reiterated this fact. Evidently the style was taking people back to their youth, when things were simpler and bloggers made a lot more money than they do now (at least I would hope so for their sake!!!). This nostalgic feeling that the inhabitants of the Wetherspoons were overcome with, when viewing our trend, clearly had a beneficial effect. Whilst upstairs, however, we were at the bar ordering a couple drinks when a wench snuck up and attempted to pinch my hat. Luckily my ninja like reflexes saved thievery before it was lost. However the lady seemed to stay. Having discussed the hat with us at length, it was hard to determine her position on it. This could have possibly been due to her intoxication, as moment after we were served, she was refused more alcohol.

Once in Floyds, we were on the dancefloor in seconds, and the hats were a hit. One of the females asked to style the hat, as she wanted to have the feeling she had as a child with a head that was safe from melanoma. 

With positive feedback during our entire time in Floyds, it was obvious the hats were proving a hit, and looking like this feeling wasn't going to change, we decided that Live Lounge was required to get a more rounded opinion.

On entering, James was asked for his ID, clearly the 90s style had given him a youthful appearance. Whilst walking to the bar, one of the torrent of ladies (although this one was fighting a loosing battle with acceptance of her age) blurted out her adoration of the hats. Thanking her for her kind words, but moving hastily away (in zig zags hoping her reduced elderly vision couldn't follow the swift movements), we got to the bar. 

This is where another group of lads commented on our hats. Through some conversation we found out that one of them was pole vaulting legend Paul Walker!! (Yeah, we didn't know who he was either, but he came 5th at the commonwealth games, so fair dos) He seemed to enjoy the style, and we enjoyed his take on training and meditation.

He also had one hell of a groovy shirt on, shame you can't see it here

Whilst on the stage, many a photo was taken as everyone seemed to be throughly enthused with our trends. It seems the bucket hat provides everyone with a bit of joy.

One happy customer

Whilst walking home, I passed a group of 'ladz' who exclaimed, 'I like your hat bruv'. Both an admission of delight at the style and a wishing for a sibling of my trendiness.

The bucket hat; Nostalgic, athlete approved and protecting

Bracelets

Men in jewellery?  Apparently it can be known as mewellery although there is a good chance it shouldn't be known as that.  The kind of narrow-minded thinking that wants to reduce two words into one is the exact opposite of our aims this week.

Back to the question though, I think it is pretty obvious men such as ourselves should be comfortable in jewellery and lots of it.  Imagine stepping out and seeing someone in the same deep v as you?  The only way you will be considered the trendier gentleman is to have taken things too far and put on shiny metal that has been deemed valuable for no real reason.  Or even more absurd, a gem stone that isn't even useful for things such as conducting electricity.  Think how good a blogger could look coated in gold and emeralds?  Walking down the street, rather than the usual fear of mockery, there would only be respect at the deceptive aura of wealth and an understanding that you are wearing lots of jewellery because you are good at stuff.

I found a quote that suggested we were not going the right direction with this trend:

"James Bond wouldn’t wear a bracelet"

And yet while not a bracelet per se, he would, it seems wear a tiara.  And he'd wear it well.

We decided tiaras would get broken or stolen during the evening and could also come under the headwear category.  Not wanting to mix up trends or suffer emotional turmoil  we settled on bracelets; easy to stack, cheap, awesome looking and jangly.

To prepare for the extraordinary weight of some serious wrist hardware we hit the gym, 6 months later we headed out covered in bracelets.  When we met we discovered one of us had turned up in a combination of ladies bracelets and hair bobbles that were likely to cut off the blood supply to an increasingly sore hand, while the other was draped in a manly wood and rope ensemble.  The key thing being neither of us gave off the appearance of a manacled prisoner, no, we both looked magnificent.  The other key is to make sure you don't spell it wrong when searching on Amazon, unless you want to wear a spikey bra on your arm.

Arriving at the bar, the barman began to reach for the Dom Perignon (or at least Jacobs Creek Sparkling), certain that, in such fine jewellery, we were in Wetherspoons to spend big.  One glitterbomb each later he was convinced that we were rich in style, ambition and pizzazz but poor in money and; possessing very poor taste in drinks.

Managing to leave Wetherspoons unscathed we made urgent progress towards the same entrance of Floyds.  Carrying around such a vulgar display of wealth on our forearms was beginning to test our courage.  While we usually crave massive attention towards our trends, tonight we were scared by every passing glance, you could tell people wanted to strip our arms to the skin.

Floyds itself proved to be empty so we got out of there fast, not wanting to risk tiring our laden arms out superfluously. 

At Live Lounge we had a feeling the bracelets weren't all that noticeable after all.  In spite of trying hard even tall men didn't seem to be noticing our excessive arm bling.

To try and compensate for this lack of presence, we headed for a drink where we would be able to slap our wrists down on bar and really milk the wow factor of a braceleted man.  Unfortunately we chose a bar where bracelets were common as muck.  Look at this man in the photo below, he doesn't even care that I am sporting thrilling hoops, nor even that I want serving.  No, he is too busy showing me the full length of his awfully dull bracelets to even consider how favourable my arm looks.

Gratuitous show of wealth

What could we do if even a single vodka lemonade couldn't help?

It is likely that a whole many more bracelets are required if you want people to pick you out in a crowd of deep v wearers.  So the clear TTC trend advice is to make sure no arm flesh is showing, cover every bit up with beautiful bracelets not only will you look spectacular but you will be super jangly.

Bracelets; get lots, make sure they aren't hair bobbles!
 

TTC is now a big presence on Instagram

Short Suits

With the weather having been unbearably warm at times this season, you would think it difficult to bare being in a suit. However maybe your perception of a suit is too narrow, as it seems that 2014 is seeing short suits becoming the trendy choice, with the Business Insider telling it's readers that they are just fine! So here at TTC, we thought that we'd see if this is the case.

The short suit

Having purchased the jackets online, and the shorts from Cardiff city centre, James and I were ready for our night out. Once again I had found that the shorts I'd chosen were rather tight around the thigh, whilst being large around the waste. It seems that the gentry of the 21st century have oddly shaped lower halves (or its just me), i.e. even the fatties of today have skinny legs. Therefore bending my leg to do up my shoelaces proved to be a breathtaking experience (literally). This wasn't helped by the fact that my Chinese bought jacket (sold as XXL) happened to be as tight as sin, thereby making my entire outfit as tight as the Cloaca of a Boa Constrictor. Despite this, I managed to dress myself and get to the Gatekeeper to meet James.

During my walk down, a random stranger walked up to me and asked 'do you even lift?'; obviously noticing that my outfit was one he was unfamiliar with. The answer was an obvious one, yes; as every day I work tirelessly to lift the common man's trendiness by providing insight into what classy outfits are accessible to them. Yet the only thing this chap lifted was a needle to inject himself with some sort of street drug; either that or he had cancer!

Whilst in the Gatekeeper, James and I were on everyone's radar. Eyes were mentally noting the trends we were pulling off, and we were even grabbing the attention of a hen do. The hen was intrigued by our short suits, and I can only imagine thinking how much better the groomsmen would look for her wedding if they also wore shorts with their jackets; as well as hoping that the groom himself was one of us.

Having milked Wetherspoons for all it was worth, we moved onto Floyds via CBUK. When entering Charlie Browns UK, the bouncer paid a complement of 'looking dapper tonight boys', before providing us with entry. Whilst in Floyds, we were asked where are jackets had been purchased by the barman, whom seemed to enjoy the upper half of our look, unfortunately missing the lower beauty that was being visually obstructed by the bar itself. This compliment was soon repeated by a randomer in Floyds who told us whilst we were busting some shapes.

Fluorescent collar to provide easy sight in a smoky Floyds - practical parts of the trendy outfit  

In Live Lounge, we caught the end of the band. Apparently rocking to some old school tunes was a delight in what one would think to be a heavy outfit. It seemed the suits didn't hinder movement, nor did it insulate the body to uncomfortable levels. In fact it gave both of us the feel of a swanky soirée, and it could be seen in other people's faces too. Unfortunately some lady took too much of a liking to our outfits, and started stroking the jackets, in a sexually threatening manner. Usually I wouldn't be too against this, however this woman seemed the type to have had stroked more than just a jacket in her day, and with Ebola rife at the moment, I didn't want to take any chances.

Ebola free, but vigilant as ever!

During the course of the evening, we saw another chap in a jacket, albeit with a longer length to his leg dressing. He had decided to go with a deep V underneath the jacket (as opposed to our classic shirt and tie), obviously having sought advice from TTC's Summer 2013 collection. This look seemed to work, and maybe with shorts would have been a smooth outfit. We managed to get a swelfie with the bloke.

Looking pretty SWOLE. This chap probably doesn't realise this is happening

With Selfies now being the rage, and James and I looking top notch, we were being asked for photos left right and center. However one lady got a photo with us, and got her friend to take it, thereby making it a non-selfie. We don't have this photo, obviously, so here is another selfie with some other random woman (and Corinne).

Selfie nation

During the evening, there was a guy that had taken to our trend. He seemed to be bantering with James, although a little too much. James tried to laugh the chap off, getting us to the bar, which was actually just a reason to get away from the guy's attraction (attraction to the trend was the guy's line, but James and I were a little unbelieving of this).

Courtesy of the short suit, calm elegance in a deranged club

However in a reasonably small venue like Live Lounge, you happen to crash back into the wrecks you swiftly ran away from, and this chap kept coming back. More nervous now, seeing as this guy clearly had loose perceptions of a personal boundary, James and I were now on the avoidance path. Yet with such trendy outfits, it was hard to keep the distance. The obvious (and only) reason for this had to be the word of mouth of our location due to the whole venue discussing our trendy outfits:

Who could resist?

 Short Suits: Classically Nouveau, attracting and surprisingly unhindering

Floral Print

If a car can wear floral print why can't a fully grown man?  A fair question you'll agree and one that Trend The Consequences is keen to answer once and for all...  for this season at least.  

Unfortunately while preparing this piece we happened across a number of people wearing leopard print, in the Spring of 2014!  What are they playing at?  Clearly the Spring isn't Winter 13/14 so while it is encouraging (and dare I say it flattering) to see people clearly influenced by our Winter posts, when Winter is over you have to be ready to move on.  

Stop it, it's Spring\Summer now!

Admittedly this could be partially due to the incredibly late release for the majority of our Winter series but we shouldn't blame ourselves we should blame the people who made the mistake; seeing as we once again are late in our postings.

So floral print, it is an interesting style and one which will probably be too much for many men.  An article in The Guardian posed the same question and got us fired up with the confidence to not only buy some impressively flowery shirts but also wear them in a public area. 

Two florally clad men rocking the catwalk

I also read in the Sunday Times a summer style guide by Tinie Tempah where he recommended big print shirts, specifically bright botanicals (which must mean flowers!).  

Could we look this good?  Find out below

Before we continue, please remember when specing and purchasing your floral prints; Hawaiian shirts don't count; if we wanted to look like stupid Americans on holiday, then we would have simply doubled our bodyweight then walked slowly around London and shouted loudly so we inconvenienced everyone else in our vicinity.

Don't ruin a sweet cap by pairing it with a Hawaiian shirt

After a long hot shopping trip we eventually settled on classic fit Peacocks shirts and, having found it difficult to locate any floral trousers, some sumptuous H&M shorts.  As the evening drew nearer and I tried on my petalled delights I realised the walk to town was going to be long and lonely.  To think a year ago slipping into my first  Deep V felt incredibly outrageous.

Stepping outside and taking the first nervous steps towards town things felt OK, light comfy clothing and bold style, but most importantly nobody in sight.  Once on a busy road I encountered the first reactions when two cars pulled up to a traffic light with necks heavily craned my way.  Crossing the road near Wetherspoons a group of ladies were coming my way, as I disappeared down the alley I heard "fashion!" shouted my way, I found this an encouraging sign as she was wearing overly tight/graphic floral leggings and clearly was happy we shared the same style.  Yet, now three lads were coming towards me, one of them seemed to notice my fetching get up, I looked back to see if he was starring and saw him open mouthed and unable to contain his shock which is too rude to type here. 

Finally meeting Rob we settled in, had some drinks and felt under the radar again.  At bar level we looked like we were just wearing floral shirts and probably jeans.  Feeling this was too comfortable we knew it was time to get to Floyds. 

It probably makes sense now

Floyds turned out to be a real treat.  Having been begged to come in with the promise of free drinks, we knew floral was the savvy Spring choice to get respect in the Cardiff Underbelly.  Featuring a dance floor with a UV blacklight light, Floyds only highlighted how great we looked.  Uniquely for the night we weren't pointed or anything like that, just a few subtle comments and impressed looks.  The stage ebbed and flowed as people came and left, much as though our floral prints were attracting them like bees, and once they had had their fill of top end fashion they slunk off to the bar.  We were getting positive looks, yet with nothing but favour coming our way, we felt that Floyds was being too positive, and as ever we wanted a view of a broader spectrum of society.  Off to Livelounge it was.

It seems UV highlights the best parts of an outfit, here being the floral delight

A purple hue to a floral masterpiece

Once in LiveLounge we were surrounded by the normal of society, and it is usually here that we find our trendy get ups given a thorough looking over.  Both Rob and I had walked to the bar, eyes taking a second glance when the first hadn't provided a full enough treat.  We ordered drinks at the bar, with the bar staff giving wry smiles (albeit the situation was a great one, they required time to realise this). Throughout the night, we kept heading back to the bar, and each time the staff were feeling more comfortable with the outfit, and dare I say envious of it.

Once the band had finished, the stage was slowly cleared by the roadies, who were wearing the untrendiest of black clothing. Whilst still on the main dancefloor, a small group of ladies were scouting the floor for alpha males from the higher vantage point of the stage. Once they gazed upon the two trendy boys in the centre of the dancefloor, their eyes widened and the coefficient of friction of the stage dropped by 50%. They vigorously beckoned us over and up to their level. They simply couldn't get enough of the floral, questions on where we obtained the clothes, what inspired us to wear it and many more were asked. Whilst flattered by the impact our choice of trendy attire had caused, the positive feedback was noted and we slid off.

Top button done up making a short and most probably unnecessary appearance

Whilst dancing on the stage, we were approached by two blokes who were loving the floral combinations. They regaled us with a short tale of their friend's upcoming stag do, and how a floral combination would really give the stag a enjoyable evening.  In fact it was agreed they would enforce floral upon the do in question.  The groom-to-be eventually appeared from nowhere, and was also impressed by the floral print. He discussed how it would definitely brighten up any stag do (including his own) and through some dialogue learnt that Rob and I are high end fashion bloggers. He told us that he was also a blogger, something to do with music, and said he was getting about 500 hits a day. This was clearly a lie, as how could a lame music blog ever capture a larger reader base than an exciting fashion blog tailored for the common man? I tell you how, in opposite land. We dismissed this chap pretty quickly and went on with our evening.

 

We spent the rest of the night bumping back into these guys, and every time they were more enthused with the outfits.  At one point they forced us into a group photo under the guise of banter, thankfully with a cameraman and not an outstretched arm.  As we moved away the potnetial groom quietly and then repeatedly told our personal cameraman/assistant that we were extremely handsome men, though it is likely he would have said this even if we were wearing Hawaiian shirts.  Clearly he was excited for his upcoming wedding to a woman.

The night went on, and strangers kept bumping into us with feedback that was all positive. Our night ended, and we both felt as though we had not received any bad 'reviews'. Floral is clearly a hit with all those that see it, friendship forming, maybe sometimes inducing envy but you can be sure the encounter always begins wide eyed and open mouthed.

Floral Print: Seasonally apt, inviting and enjoyed by all.