Do people in the U.K. Wear nautica?

[jphil93]

im from the US but I've always been fascinated with British culture and subcultures. Recently I've been looking into the casual subculture, which is based around British soccer (football) and designer clothing. Apparently the fans travelled around Europe to follow their teams and wore the clothing so they wouldn't look like criminal types to police at the matches. My interest in the sport is minimal, and I'm really not into acting like a douchebag criminal and starting fights with other sports fans (casuals were big on team rivalries and fought fans of the opposite team all the time), but I love the dressing style of them. It's really smart and clean cut looking. I've been getting pieces from famous brands that the casuals wear like stone island, polo Ralph Lauren, Fred perry and Lyle & scott. I've also been collecting spezial adidas sneakers which is another aspect of the subculture. I've been introduced into a whole new world of insane limited edition adidas, and now I know the sneaker brand goes beyond yeezys, Stan smiths and models you could find at the local mall.

But I've always wondered about the brand nautica. I used to always think of it as my dad's favorite brand. He would always get a striped polo 2 sizes too big and the whole thing just seemed bland and uncool to me. But I know it was popular in the 80s hip hop scene, some of the pieces from that era are pretty dope. I looked at the online store and they now have a heritage collection where they reissue popular sportswear pieces from the 80s and 90s. Really awesome stuff. But those pieces I would picture being worn on the British football terraces. I looked online to see if there even was a nautica in the U.K. But I've only found one in west London. For the British people here, is that brand popular there with casuals or with any people? Have you even heard of the brand before?

 

[Maxwellll]

I cant say Nautica has ever been very popular in the UK. Out of the sailing brands, Henri Lloyd has been the most popular and big in the casual scene too.

 

[jphil93]

I cant say Nautica has ever been very popular in the UK. Out of the sailing brands, Henri Lloyd has been the most popular and big in the casual scene too.

Oh yeah! Henri Lloyd makes a lot of choice pieces. The best part about wearing that and Lyle and Scott and other brands not known in the us is the confusion on friends' and other people's faces when they're trying to figure out where the **** that shirt is from. LOL

 

[robinsongreen68]

forget nautica, stone island is really the way forward here

 

[jphil93]

forget nautica, stone island is really the way forward here

Stone island is really awesome. I don't know why it isn't so popular around the world. It started becoming popular here when drake bastardized the brand and pretended to be British for a while (pic related). But it's a really practical brand. With amazing quality jackets that almost always last a lifetime. Even though it has to do with rappers wearing the brand now, I'm glad it's starting to pick up here in the states.

Just recently (last year I think) a stone island store was opened up here in NYC. I've yet to visit it but the next time I have money to get myself a winter jacket the first place I'm going is there. Before the store opened the only way Americans could get stone island is either from century 21 or Bloomingdale's, both of which have a very limited choice of pieces

 

[robinsongreen68]

im no expert but it has definitely been a staple of british street/terrace culture since the 80s. there seems to be a renaissance now, its found its way back into youthful (non footballing) club culture, and i've started to see 'fashion' people mixing some of the more technical pieces with, say, issey miyake or yohji. not really surprising given the depth of their archive (not to mention the collaboration with acronym) but i think for a long time it was tainted by the working class/football violence connotations.

 

[jphil93]

im no expert but it has definitely been a staple of british street/terrace culture since the 80s. there seems to be a renaissance now, its a staple of youthful (non footballing) club culture, and i've started to see 'fashion' people mixing some of the more technical pieces with, say, issey miyake or yohji. not really surprising given the depth of their archive (not to mention the collaboration with acronym) but i think for a long time it was tainted by the working class/football violence connotations.

I get what you mean. I've read a lot about stone island being associated with violent types and carrying a stigma around. It kind of happens around these parts too, except with north face and Ralph Lauren. These brands (especially the latter) make beautiful high quality pieces that are the ultimate luxe statement. Almost anything rl releases bleeds of opulence. Unfortunately it's gotten a bad stigma of being associated with ethnic urban youth that have "lost their way". The polo label clothing was seen as status symbol to them. Drug dealers would wear the horse logo on absolutely everything because they want the hood to know they "made it". Rappers wear the louder pieces of the collection with huge logos and varsity jackets with different patches all saying polo or rl.in some of their items you could tell they were made specifically for the urban youth demographic. Because of this I almost never see actual rich people here wear that brand. When clothes shopping with my mom as a kid she would say something really ignorant and bigoted that "polo's for n******s". I thought that was awful as it seemed like perfectly good clothes to me, but it seems like a lot of upper crust people in America feel that way and refuse to associate themselves with the brand

 

[Maxwellll]

Yes Stone Island is definitely No. 1 casual brand and in the US you have the benefit of being able to wear it without any of the negative hooligan, drug dealer connotations, although that is wearing off in the last few years and like robinsongreen68 said having somewhat of a renaissance. There is a lot of new crowds wearing it with nothing to do with football, the youth, streetwear kids, fashion heads and people who just admire the brand for the admittedly quite amazing outerwear they make.

Other brands would be C.P Company (sister brand to Stone Island), Aquascutum, Burberry, Armani, Lacoste,, Lyle & Scott, Paul & Shark, Fred Perry, Barbour, Moncler (though Moncler, especially the bubble jackets are more a 'roadman' thing now). In decades gone by, and before my time, tracksuits from the Italian sportswear brands were popular too, Sergio Tachini, Fila, Elleesse, you dont see that anymore though.

 

[jphil93]

Yes Stone Island is definitely No. 1 casual brand and in the US you have the benefit of being able to wear it without any of the negative hooligan, drug dealer connotations, although that is wearing off in the last few years and like robinsongreen68 said having somewhat of a renaissance. There is a lot of new crowds wearing it with nothing to do with football, the youth, streetwear kids, fashion heads and people who just admire the brand for the admittedly quite amazing outerwear they make.

Other brands would be C.P Company (sister brand to Stone Island), Aquascutum, Burberry, Armani, Lacoste,, Lyle & Scott, Paul & Shark, Fred Perry, Barbour, Moncler (though Moncler, especially the bubble jackets are more a 'roadman' thing now). In decades gone by, and before my time, tracksuits from the Italian sportswear brands were popular too, Sergio Tachini, Fila, Elleesse, you dont see that anymore though.

All great brands. Armani is probably my favorite. I have at least 50 pairs of jeans from almost all of Armani's lines, from Exchange to emporio, Giorgio and collezioni. Part of what got me into wearing the Armani jeans lines was the casual culture. It looked so good on them and reeked of luxe between the selvedge washes and the eagle logo on the right back pocket. I probably have a piece from every brand you mentioned. Haha

 

[Maxwellll]

You should look into 'Paninaro' as well if you havent already, its an Italian subculture from 80s Milan that was into a lot of the same brands.

 

[woolenthusiast]

If you are interested in the complex world of the way the English dress this is a good book - 'Watching the English' It'll give you lots of insights - certainly I learned lots! https://www.amazon.com/Watching-Eng...94792951&sr=1-3&keywords=watching+the+english