Born in 1971, I was around 12 when I remember the phrase ‘Casuals’ being used around the school playground in my first year of High School, in the small coastal town of Kirkcaldy in Scotland. The only thing I knew about ‘Casuals’ at the time was that the clothes were generally bright and pastel coloured, they were expensive, and the ‘Casuals’ at my school were the sort of people you stayed away from. I remember around that time in the early 80s, the bullying beginning with kids who didnt have the means to wear the latest brand names, and that did indeed make school life even more miserable than it already was.
The extraordinary insightful filmed story of an often over-looked youth subculture that swept across cities like Liverpool, Manchester and London when notorious football firms stole expensive designer sportswear from the countries they visited. It didn’t start with the high-street giants telling these lads what to wear. Instead, they set the trends and the high-street stores caught up. As the 1980s began in Britain, under the radar the ‘casual’ had already arrived. The film includes recently-unearthed archive footage and gives insightful interviews with personalities like Peter Hooton, who were at the heart of the story at a time when football and fashion mattered more than corporate hospitality and sanitized stadiums.
– Written by Cass Pennant
Directed by Mick Kelly.
Written by Mick Kelly and Cass Pennant.
In the documentary ‘Casuals’ by Urban Edge Films, we the viewer learn what the ‘Casual’ fashion craze and lifestyle was all about. Some of it was as I remember (and trust me, I was never able to afford expensive items), but in the same way the film This Is England tells us the real genesis of the skinhead lifestyle. ‘Casuals’ gives us the true birth of the fashion of the 80s. Whilst it doesnt focus too much on football, the Casual fashion is connected with it but that didnt make the documentary any less interesting for me. It was a semi trip down memory lane with the great use of old interviews, old photographs and people remembering that time in history (crikey, it makes me feel old to type all that, but I was around then) For the film fan in me, it was also great to see clips from films such as Awaydays,The Firm and The Business used in the documentary.
So if you arent a football fan, then please dont let that put you off watching ‘Casuals’ its a pretty cool, and highly interesting watch for people who want to see what the world was like. Its not deadly serious and is lovely and light hearted in places such as the guy who went into a shoe shop to buy the latest trainers. He bought three different sizes and when asked by the assistant why he was buying various sizes. The guy replies ‘I dont want anyone else wearing the same ones as me’ CLASSIC!!!!!!
“For more than 50 years, Britain has been a melting pot of youth subcultures from the teddy boys to punks to skinheads, tribal groups have come to symbolize an era, as each generation tries to forge a shared identity and as the 70s ended and the 80s began, the casual movement took grip across the UK.”
Peter Hooton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XreiMkaYwf4
frompage2screen.com 