StyleWatch: LVCAT

LVCAT . 23 . HUDDERSFIELD
JACKET: TOPSHOP
LACE TOP: DIY
PENTAGRAM LEGGINGS: ETSY

 

DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE: If Wednesday Addams and Robert Smith collaborated and made a clothing line, I expect it would pretty much be exactly like my wardrobe.
FAVOURITE ITEM FROM THIS OUTFIT AND WHY? My favourite item from this outfit has to be the pentagram leggings. They were handmade by a girl on Etsy and I pretty much live in them.
ANY ITEMS ON YOUR WISHLIST? I’m on the lookout for a good tasselled leather jacket, a nice leg harness/chain and a ponyskin skater skirt.
BIGGEST FASHION FUCK-UP: Oh, where to begin? I’ve had some outrageously bad outfits in my time, but that’s what fashion is all about; experimenting, evolving and finding a style that makes you feel as good as you look.
FAVOURITE BRANDS: Actual Pain, SABBC, Oh Hell Clothing and shopwithasianstereotypes.com
HOW DOO YOU THINK YOUR STYLE WILL EVOLVE OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS? Oh who knows? I’m getting married in a couple of years, and I’m a step-mum, so I probably will have to tone down my look slightly at some point!

Fashion Fades

Fashion changes pretty quickly. Those flat ankle boots you got last winter now seem frumpy and safe compared to the studded heels that are all the rage now. Your trusty trapper hat has been disregarded in favour of an obscenity-emblazoned snapback (or baseball cap, if you’re as old as me) and that t-shirt bearing the name of that metal band you loved a year ago…who wants that now there’s a new Obey offering up for grabs? There are thousands of examples of trends coming and going, with some, thankfully, disappearing as quickly as they first burst onto the scene (hammertime pants, anyone?), but that’s part of the fun of it.
See, when it comes to fashion, clothes and accessories are the parts that don’t really matter all that much because they don’t have lasting implications. A massive orange puffa jacket will be welcomed into Oxfam along with your old acid-washed jean shorts and those horrible Creepers that were never a good idea.
Hairstyles get a bit more serious when the fashion tide turns. Who wants to be left with a neon-striped Mohawk when trend dictates it’s all about lengthy curls? Not to mention the hundreds of girls left cursing the day they ever deemed an undercut to be the height of sophistication. Unwanted colours and wacky styles take a bit more time and effort to bin than a trip to the local charity shop, but eventually they can be rectified and the current mop du jour can be applied to your bonce in due time.

But what about the trends that come around and leave permanent, sometimes unwanted, reminders of your wasted youth? Tattoos a-plenty is what’s en vogue these days, with everyone claiming to love body art and masses of youngsters aspiring to be tattooists. It doesn’t matter that the majority of these folk were rocking grandparent chic two months ago, before abruptly deciding they’re now the hardest of the core, and produce ‘drawings’ akin to a blindfolded primary school child. It’s like the good old days of MySpace, when every camera-phone-toting scenester proclaimed they were photographers.
Unlike those faux-tographers, the army of LA Ink-inspired wannabes are dabbling in an altogether more permanent world. Tattoos are for life, everyone knows that, so you might as well get a good one and go to an actual artist for your work, which seems to be the concept that so many people are choosing to ignore.

The Quality vs. Quantity argument is very apt in today’s fashion-driven world, with many teenagers choosing to get as much coverage from head to toe before they hit their mid-twenties. Unfortunately the vast majority of these people are going to useless tattooists and coming out with sleeves, chestpieces and throats covered in, well, shit.
Sadly with the trend of tattoos has come the attitude that more is best, regardless of how well done they are. Status has become attached to the quantity of tattoos a person has, with heavily-tattooed men being messiahs of sexiness, even if they’re covered in diabolical work, whilst guys with one or two pieces of spot-on work are overlooked simply because they aren’t covered.
Surprisingly, tattoos can make people seem irresistible, point in case Mitch Lucker. He’s not attractive and his band haven’t done anything good since 2009, yet he’s heralded as being amazing and awesome and oh-so-gorgeous because he has tattoos. The most re-blogged and followed girls on Tumblr have stacks and stacks of tattoos; Radeo Suicide has some beyond questionable pieces but she’s the poster girl for hot, sexy chicks with ink!

Too much emphasis is put on tattoos, and people are being heralded as deities for no real purpose. Non-tattooed folk aren’t worth a thing to some people, which is pretty ironic because they’re usually the ones who get whingy for being treated different for being tattooed. It works both ways. No-one is better than anybody else, tattooed or not.
The status needs to be taken away from tattoos and people need to realise that, while it seems like the most important thing in the world right now, as you grow up it becomes a lot more different in regards to peoples’ perceptions.

I often wonder if the thousands of youngsters who are dazzled by this lifestyle really understand how having tattoos can affect the day-to-day aspects of life. People will stare. Constantly. And not even try to pretend they’re not. There’ll be unfair judgement, hassle from employers, presumptions made and, to the extreme, even unwarranted physical abuse.
On the outside it’s harmless body expression, and it’s fantastic that people feel comfortable enough to be able to express themselves. But tattoos are a current trend; another bandwagon that’s becoming more and more full by the day. What happens when the people on that wagon get bored like they have done with every other trend they’ve jumped on? Is the NHS going to foot the bill for laser surgery on all the unwanted tattoos across the nation?

Easy £££

Watching daytime television throws up many trains of thought; should I rob my nan and cash in her gold? Have I got some PPI to make some money from? Could I get a few thousand quid for tripping over that wonky curb near the bus stop?
Every advert during a certain few hours essentially screams MAKE SOME FAST MONEY SO YOU CAN AVOID WORK FOR LONGER! The people behind these schemes know their audience. Aside from the retired, the genuinely sick and the souls who work dodgy shifts, no-one watches Jeremy Kyle, This Morning or Loose Women – it’s a circus of shit being ring-led by a top hat-wearing ASBO.

Advertisers are well aware of the folk who tune into daytime TV and have turned into devilish little goblins, happily leading the masses down a trail called Easy Money. If there’s one thing their followers are keen for it’s money they don’t have to earn. Money they can spend on extra Lambrini. Money they merely need to apply for, although it’s a wonder that some of them can spell their own names.
The Cash4Gold opportunity burst onto the scene a few years ago but has slowly and surely bled dry due to dwindling sources of Argos jewellery, whereas the PPI avenue will undoubtedly reach a dead end soon because loans and credit cards aren’t really given to people of this, erm, calibre. But it’s little wonder that the ‘where there’s blame there’s a claim’ adverts are proving to be consistently successful; anyone can have an accident in a supermarket and sue the retailers. It’s easy to slip on a wet spot because you were too busy gawping at high shelves for the offers on White Ace, and it’s even simpler to trip over a kick stool when you’re enthralled in the latest statuses pinging on your Mobile Facebook.

Some people would happily throw tins of beans at their kids in a bid to get£5,000 off Sainsbury’s, others would genuinely be unfortunate enough to choose the one section of a bench that immediately falls through on arse contact. The former are where the problem lies. Instead of choosing to work, there are people who will do anything to try a quick scam in the hopes of making a quick buck. And the companies that promote the idea of placing blame onto big companies, councils and small businesses are sickening.
Why not tell these ‘accident’-prone people to be more careful? It’s no-one else’s fault they tripped/slipped/sliced themselves in whichever way. Instead of claiming money for being clumsy, they should have to face the embarrassment of a bearded man telling them off because, chances are, they weren’t paying attention where they should’ve been. Warning signs are ignored, dangers are challenged and when something goes wrong the idiot gets rewarded. Why? Why is it like this?

There should be a new line of adverts. If you’ve not been faux-clumsy, ridiculous or moronic in public over the past decade, and you’re a decent, contributing member of society, you’ll get £10,000. Perhaps it’ll encourage people to behave like well-functioning humans and promote the idea that to get rewards you have to put in graft and not be an imbecile.
It’s a small idea, but it’s about time that the decent people got recognition and bonuses.

StyleWatch: Brad Wroe

BRAD WROE . 20 . NORTH EAST

HAT: VANS
COAT: LEVI'S
T-SHIRT: LOTEK
JEANS: H&M
SHOES: NIKE 6.0

DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE: BMX; I'm wearing big spastic velcro shoes and a Lotek t-shirt.

FAVOURITE ITEM FROM THIS OUTFIT AND WHY? The shoes because they are practical as well as nice-looking. They protect my ankles when I ride and it's the first time I've come across the Mogan-mids in a decent colour. And I know it's not clothing but my tattoos are pretty special, they're my birthday suit outfit!

ANY ITEMS ON YOUR WISHLIST? Some more better-fitting BMX t-shirts - I'm bigger than I used to be and baggier ones are more comfortable to ride in.

BIGGEST FASHION FUCK-UP: I'm originally from Preston so it's a pretty big travesty that I've never owned a shellsuit.

FAVOURITE BRANDS: Nike, Vans, Lotek, Actual Pain and general band merch.

HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR STYLE WILL EVOLVE OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS? I'll probably just end up wearing baggier clothes; my diet won't allow me to stay in pants like this for much longer!

LabelWatch: Actual Pain

Sin is in! If you fancy some threads that are befitting of the darker side of life check out Actual Pain. Their baphomets, goats’ heads and skeletal Marilyns aren’t your run-of-the-mill t-shirt prints, and the symbolic side of the Pentangled leggings hint at something deeper than the average anticross.

Actual Pain offers clothing and jewellery with a Satanic slant that you need to keep your eye on. It’s relatively new here in the UK, but a steady trickle of independent stores are beginning to stock the wares of the Seattle-based company.
With the majority of their prints coming on a variety of vests, t-shirts and jumpers, Actual Pain have managed to bring options to everyone, whether you prefer sleeves or not or just fancy something warm to relax in.

Far from playing to the current trend of adoring the dark side, it is obvious that the folk behind Actual Pain have created a brand that they have a firm belief in right to the roots.
If it’s something you want to be in on, visit the official website HERE.