Layered V's

Welcome back to Trend The Consequences and our look at the Winter trends of 2013. This is the first of the winter posts, culminating in the Ultimate Outfit Winter 2013 in a just over a months time. James and I have been perusing the fashion world to see what is coming this winter, and what trends we should be trialing. In the same way the Royal Air Force doesn't let chickens behind the controls of a complex aircraft, TTC doesn't allow it's authors to embark on a trendy season without first researching what styles are in.

This week we are looking at the layered V. This is taking the age old idea of adding layers (as seen in the photo of Joey below) over winter to stay warm, with the trendy V neck style that is not only tried and tested by TTC, but also a keen favourite of the NBA. There have been available for some time the v-neck with the V part coloured to make it look like two V's, and also the V neck that has a false piece of clothing behind the V to make it look as though you are wearing a layer beneath, however James and I are going authentic and layering up 3 different V'd garments and heading back in to Cardiff city centre to see what the public's reaction is to the style.

The classic layering of shirts (more fun when they are owned by your room mate)

On the day of the layered V, I headed into Cardiff to obtain the necessary tops. Luckily I already had a Deep V, so only needed a classic V-neck to go beneath and a deeper V to go on top. As it is winter, James and I decided that some form of V necked cardigan would finish the layering appropriately, and after searching long and hard, one was found. James managed to get a good'un from a charity shop, as the Summer edition of TTC didn't really make the big bucks we were really hoping for. But luckily our wintery return will change things for the better and this could be our last season (although to the potential investors reading this: there is plenty of life and cash in TTC).

On the walk to the Gatekeeper I really noticed how the layering was keeping me a perfect temperature. Should I have been a souffle, I would have been rising perfectly. However toward the end of the walk, as I was running a couple minutes late and therefore had upped the pace, I noticed that my temperature was rising and maybe the layers were too much for the mild temperatures of the evening. Much like a overcooked souffle could ruin one's dinner party, an overheated fashion blogger could poorly reflect on a trendy style. But on meeting James and having a drink my temperature soon settled.

The layering of V's

James had chosen an eclectic mix of an autumnal grey, purple mid-layer with a stripped thin cardigan whilst I had chosen to start with a light layer and darken as the V's got deeper. My top layer was a fairly chunky knit.

So far the layering hadn't been noticed, maybe the subtlety of our choices wasn't catching people's eyes, or even that the layered style is just mainstream. Whatever the case, we needed to head out to find some views. Floyds came to the rescue, and on entering we had drinks in hand and were on the dancefloor. For some reason there were only women up there, and you could tell eyes were on us as we walked up. We cannot tell whether the V's were drawing attention, or simply the raw animalistic predatory nature of the ladies within, but we simply were not left alone.

James being abused 

As can be seen in the photo above, the women were backing up into us and attempting to do a reverse grind type action. It felt as though we were being used as scratching posts, in a similar way that Baloo would scratch his back in the Jungle book.

One happy memory destroyed by the Floyd's clientele

Having been used to cure the itch of many of the ladies in attendance, and being stared down like a wildebeest at a lion's bachelor party, James and I both concluded that the trend was showing positive signs. Not wanting to engage in conversation with any of the Floyds' goers, namely as we didn't want to get stuck in some hussy's sexual advances, we couldn't get direct feedback on the layered V's. We needed to get to our final venue and see what information we could obtain.

Floyds confusion

In live lounge we caught the end of the band. They were playing some impressive dance music as well as some classics, but in the end all they were doing was occupying the stage. When finished they took a while to vacate, and during this time James and I made some admirers. A chap in a leather Jacket kept coming by, clearly thinking that we had similar clothing choices (i.e he was wearing a hefty outer layer, as were we). However this is where the similarities stopped; there was no sign of a V anywhere on his body (especially where it counts!).

Later, on the stage, we were confronted by a group of females. Some dialogue was exchanged back and forth and significant amounts of stage based dancing. The ladies were keen for James and I to join their group, much like in Floyds where we were being included in grinding based shenanigans. For the most part we accepted the attention, and were receiving seeming positive reactions to the style. James enquired with one lady, who kept (deliberately) falling over and into both of us, what she thought of my style and she responded in a puzzling but flattering way stating it was "sooo much better than what I'm wearing" (I as in her, not James). That was all well and good but didn't really help us with what worked, was it the V or even my simple jeans? Also if she thought she looked like crap then it could have meant I only looked OK. A lot more context was needed.

Since having time to mull over the attention, the attraction to the layers may have been a female survival instinct. Thinking about the walk home, once the evening was over, the ladies may have been looking for a strapping young lad to escort them back to their accommodation, and who better than a person with additional layers that, following a sad face, could be gifted out and never returned. This is a coy move on the female's part, and one that I fear is more likely to occur as the winter sets in. Therefore, to all the men that are thinking of layering up on your nights out, remember that there are ladies willing to whore themselves out for a cheeky bit of cotton for the walk home!!!

Pure joy

The layered V; Warming, versatile, yet attention from the colder species (females)