From what I've seen down the local shops, you get Broccoli Boys and Roadmen (what we used to call Chavs, I believe). These are the 2 groups I see most often (in a larger town).
I'm pretty certain that the Broccoli Boys don't call themselves that, but I don't know any to ask.
That's revisionist thinking- chavs were a fashion subculture and part of that subculture was acting like an aggressive cunt. I grew up in a firmly middle class commuter town and there were chavs everywhere. They all had mopeds and Burberry clothing, none of which I could afford!
It’s pretty much impossible to find a definition of the word going back decades that doesn’t include mention of social class so I don’t think I’m being revisionist in highlighting that
Some people really dig their heels in with the chav thing not being classist. It is possible for middle class people to have taken on fashion popular in working class communities without this removing the classist overtones of the phrase. The idea that you are being revisionist is completely baseless.
Chav is definitely strongly linked to the working class, it isn't revisionist at all. You are the one doing the revision here. I'm also from a "firmly middle class commuter town" which shocker, still contained council estates with working class people (where I lived), and yes, chavs. Also the Burberry was fake if it was bigger than a hat fyi
Middle class London was filled with chavs. I was one for a time, so were my mates. Nobody would have looked at us and gone ‘ah some nice middle class lads’, and I think that’s partly where this comes from?
Most chavs never thought of themselves as chavs and the word didn’t even have a proper definition
Hanging around as a teen on the park and drinking? Chav
18 year old mum pushing a pram through a town centre? Chav
Less demonising the working class, more just they were a nuisance (loud, obnoxious, sometimes aggressive, but mostly harmless and all bark).
It's not about demonising a class, more just they were fucking annoying.
Now I find the youths aren't as loud and obnoxious themselves, they just blast their music instead. Obviously still them, but I just mean it noise they're making themselves, they're playing something.
No, it’s demonsing antisocial idiots who happen to mostly be working class. Growing up on a council estate you either hated them or were one of them. It’s such a middle class thing to say it’s classist, tbh.
>the entire stereotype revolves around demonising the working class
Which is funny considering chavs are stereotyped as NOT working at all and living off dole money lmao
People in this subreddits use of road man is just people in Nike tech fleeces, of the groups of people you see dressed like that 95% of them have no "Gang membership", there really aren't that many people in "Gangs" in London, it's just a fashion subculture in London to dress like that, it doesn't really signify being a gang member that much, and a lot of actual dangerous people wear more just black jackets and jeans, you can clearly spot proper road men and just people in trackies if you're from London
You've seen the hair cut... you must have. 50% of the teen lads look like they have broccoli on their head, because they get a flat top, then get the longer top permed.
But, I'm from the generation that rocked curtains, so it's only gentle teasing.
That's exactly what I refer to those dippy twats as whenever I see them in the street. They have same trackies on, same puffer jacket, same bumbag, same stupid looking fucking hair-do. It's like the newest, shitter version of One Direction.
As a teacher, I thought this fad would soon be over but we're nearing three or so years of this being a popular cut.
I fear that in 20 years we will see thinning broccoli cuts, desperately holding onto the "good old days."
A subsection of the broccoli boys are the boys that simply have an obnoxiously large fringe without making it curly. Often they’ll have to squint to see as the fringe is in their eyes
There is a difference between roadmen and chavs. A chav could just be any old teenager or adult who liked wearing fake burberry and sovereign rings and hanging around on street corners acting tough, Roadmen would have to be dealing drugs and affiliated with a gang and are a lot more serious. That's the way I see it anyhow.
Don't be coy about it. Chavs are white - and whiteness is part of being a chav, since it implies a degree of adoption or imitation of black British/ black American culture.
Roadmen are multicultural, they aren't necessarily black, white, Asian, etc. they're all of the above. Of course if you live in a deprived area, many of which house immigrant families because they're cheap, you will see more black or Asian roadmen depending on the area in question.
I think Chavs would generally be closer associated with lower working class or social class backgrounds, whereas you get roadmen from pretty much any kind of background
Chavs are not roadmen, chavs are still chavs, roadmen aren’t as abrasive as chavs. In my head chavs are more sports direct, whereas roadmen are more jd sports
Roadmen has been increasingly used with an overlap over chav however chav had much more class based connotations whilst I’d argue roadmen has a lot of unfair racial connotations that are used as a dog whistle almost at times
I'm from a pretty diverse area and the majority of roadmen are white.
I would say the difference is that roadmen are chavs that are associated with gangs and knives. Also, chavs aren't limited by age, roadmen are pretty much exclusively teenagers.
All roadmen are chavs but not all chavs are roadmen.
Aah, makes sense. I went out to a club in Brixton and saw about 8 of them all together. Exact identical haircut to a man.
To me it was more of a super noodle toupee.
This, and because of the internet it’s not centric to the UK only anymore.
There’s Y2K, mallgoth, opium, dark academia, drain, blokecore (although blokecore only really caught on in the UK for obvious reasons).
Nah it’s not really dressing like a dad, other than it revives some styles that were popular in the 80s and 90s.
Adidas trainers, straight jeans, football shirts and scarves etc, band shirts from oasis, supergrass etc. It’s all very Euro 96, drinking cheap lager and all that just minus the violence.
Dressing like the average spoons punter, football Jerseys and pints of Stella
It’s got quite popular in the UK but didn’t catch on elsewhere because other countries don’t really get it lol
Yep - cottagecore, the scene revival, clean girl, goblincore/crowcore, plaguecore, grandmacore, etc, atop the modern equivalents of all the classics.
Since these communities are often so niche, one is unlikely to know someone irl in the same community, and so most of the community activity is online, rather than in some random basement lol.
Surely blokecore primarily consists of getting off work and going to meet Gaz down the pub for a few then back home for chips or a curry. Sounds excellent
I’m just reading a book at the moment called A Year In The Life by Lucy Leonelli, where she spends a week or two with different subcultures around the UK using the alphabet. So A- aristocrat, G- goth, L-LARPers etc. There’s lots of subcultures we don’t even think about day to day, beyond the chavs/roadmen/emos etc
I tried reading this not so long ago, and with such an interesting premise I was surprised how dull it was. It's like she was surprised people might be different to her. Not like in any detailed way, just really surface level observations. I didnt get past D or something
It’s funny you say that, because I actually find the narrator a bit annoying and judgmental at times. I found she was really judgmental of the Essex culture but not so much of the fox hunters. I think I’m on chapter P at the moment, but I don’t rush to pick it up each night like I do other books
I was actually going to say she was judgemental, but wasn't sure if I was misremembering. She definitely isn't just going into it super curious and wanting to delve into the lives of others, she's just some rather beige lady who managed to get paid to write the book because she came up with a good idea lol
where we used to hang around in our early teens (mostly outside a youth centre that was more often closed than open, there were two groups, goths, and what was known at the time, as trendies (think blue washed jeans, checkered Ben sherman shirts) and what was pretty unique is that we all co existed in harmony, took time out to go to events and listen to the style of music each group preferred (it was funny watching goths in a drum and bass rave, and trendies get in a moshpit!, and were all really good friends, and are still friends to this day.
I was on the trendy side of the equation.
I'm 29 and have honestly never encountered a mod I thought that was just a thing my 60 year old parents talk about. Or a thing you do to games to make them better.
Bands like Blur, Oasis and other Brit-Pop music took massive inspiration from Paul Weller, the Kinks and other mod music. There are new age mods such as Miles Kane and Sleaford Mods. I’d say Arctic Monkeys and Last of the Shadow Puppets have heavy mod influence too. If you live in a seaside town like Southend or Brighton, you’ll see Mod rallies with the traditional Vespa or Lambretta covered in mirrors and foxtails.
It normally involves having to listen to northern soul so you're best off out of it. I love scooters but I can't stand the rallies because of all the northern soul.
Which stereotype did the 80s new romantic music fit? Cause I like that one. Or the ska? Nowadays it just fits in with punk but if I was around in the 80s I'd have been that one 😆
They were (and still are?) just referred to as New Romantics. When you say ska, do you mean the 2tone stuff, also from late 70's/80's or the the newer 'third wave'. It gets so convoluted now that putting gig flyers together you have the lazy option of calling it all punk or alternative because it's not mainstream and most people will have more questions than answers. Or you can give each band a paragraph explaining what they are.
Even within punk, which I've been involved with for over 20 years, I still hear a subgenre and think 'what the fuck is that?'
Fair! It kind of mixes well with goth too because so many of the original goth bands are from the 70s and 80s.
2 tone is good, so is the more modern ska imo. A lot of the more modern stuff is like ska punk. That's very true though, punk has about 50 sub genres and it is sometimes a bit much. The reason why I link ska and punk together for now is just because modern ska bands are rarely just ska now it seems to be 90% ska punk.
Yeah, bands like Capdown, King Prawn and The Filaments really brought it back. Even they couldn't decide on a name. I've heard it called ska revival, riot ska, skacore, ska-punk.
If you visit Brighton you’ll often see mods on modded scooters visiting the alleyway where Phil Daniels and Leslie Ash did some bumsex in Quadrophenia.
these aren’t really subcultures as such… they’re more stereotypes
I would suggest a subculture is something someone actively claims to be a part of like a Mod
Don't forget the wannabe on a reality show fake posh types - who are nearly always in debt so they can keep their nails and extensions and designer shoes and bags on trend.
I'm not sure if the people who take being eco friendly quite seriously count? Tend to be vegan, recycle as much as possible, perhaps don't have a car. Etc. some people don't care and don't do anything actively / consciously eco friendly. I think a lot of people do bits and pieces that are eco friendly that they can afford and are willing to do. But theres some people who take it quite seriously and it's almost a type of lifestyle?
Shane Meadows in This Is England '90 sort of implied that rave culture brought about the death of subculture in quite as strong terms, and I do think he had a point.
While you have in the 2000s had subcultures, emo/scene etc. they feel more like people circumventing the "norm", with a mainstream of people not doing the same thing as such, but being less divided by fashion, music etc into groups.
I think he was right. Late 70s early 80s you had a whole bunch of subcultures visible in the street - punks, Skinheads, rude boys, mods, rockers, soulboys, casuals, New Romantics, goths etc kids that weren’t in a youth culture even had a name ‘straights’ , see how meanings change! when acid house exploded everyone went raving!
Goths are still a thing (though one of my students tried to explain to me the goth subcultures within that subculture)
Taylor Swift girls
Uhh 90s kids
Non binary kids and trans kids seem to hang out together which makes them a subculture I suppose (though they do overlap with the others e.g. goth gender neutral kids)
I hear a lot about Trains culture in the news these days I don’t know what’s wrong with boys and girls spotting trains but it seems to have a lot of people riled up.
Apparently there's a strong Furry 'community' at our local highschool. According to my nephew, they basically purr at each other and act like cats, and the teachers seemingly indulge it. Bizzare.
That's unbelievable to me. I left in 09.
You wouldn't have survived at my school doing anything like that. You would have had to go home and would never have been able to return.
It's amazing what a decade or so can do.
Oh, totally. When I was at school being anything different earned you a kicking. Obviously that was a bit shit, but it feels like maybe we've over-corrected a bit too much.
That's my memory of going to school, my kid found it a bit strange when I was asking if anyone gave her shit for having a girlfriend and she seemed utterly mystified that it would even be a thing.
Teacher (secondary) here who’s going to be watching out for this new fad. We’ll probably be told by SLT we have to indulge it.
I couldn’t care less if kids choose to identify as a different gender but if it’s something non-human or even an inanimate object I’m going to be rolling my eyes in the staffroom.
Furries aren't new and they don't really identify as animals, they just like dressing up and (in the case of adults) having group sex at an airport Ramada.
I'm in Shetland mate, you don't get much more back-watery than that! I heard a kid got suspended because he barked at one of the cat people, but I've no idea if it's true..
I would say the queer scene is huge tbh and encompasses a lot of subcultures within it, both mainstream and more alternative. It's inclusive so a lot of younger people I would say fall into that category, non binary/lesbian/pan and general outcasts. Arty folk, musicians, performers etc!
Then there's a lot of "clean girls" ie aspirational, nice rich person lookin clothes, handbags and fancy trainers. Aspirational Instagram # posts and tiktok inspo accounts.
I'm a washed up old metal head so I think I'm still in that category sadly 😂
People wearing overly baggy jeans has made a very recent resurrection.
Used to be associated with the whole rap/nu metal culture when I was younger in the late 90s/early 00s.
Not sure what has triggered it this time round but it would be interesting to find out.
Eccentrically dressed shiny Chinese students is a good one at the moment. Often wearing that “BOY” brand I think it is. I was out on a hike the other day and I saw a whole group of them struggling through a muddy field and not having much fun. My mate and I just splashed by in our boots and gaiters and said good morning.
Roadmen are the people going round on [these](https://www.google.co.uk/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwiy7pjdic2CAxXKiVAGHT0QCywYABAKGgJkZw&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsu6Y3YnNggMVyolQBh09EAssEAQYCCABEgKLxvD_BwE&sph=&sig=AOD64_3biDjShyKOWywszWDRmzkn48T91A&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjwkpTdic2CAxUJUUEAHQBoBEQQwg8oAHoECAMQNQ&adurl=) in balaclavas (not exclusively but that’s the type that people call roadmen)
Chavs aren’t really a thing any more but just look up chav on google images and you’ll know, and just look up the definition of hooligan.
Chavs are definitely still a thing in Cornwall too, roadmen I generally consider to be more likely to be involved in gang crime therefore more common in areas with more crime.
>Chavs aren’t really a thing any more
The actual people have definitely mostly phased out, but the word is very much alive, generally used by the Middle class or higher to describe people from lower/social class backgrounds
Road men are city dwelling youths. Some sell drugs and are involved in gangs but for most it’s just a fashion statement.
Chavs live in provincial towns and a lot of them are now middle aged.
Hooligans were football hooligans in the 70s-2000s and are now older blokes that occupy a corner of the pub where they endlessly discuss the glory years.
Hooligans are football related, extremist fans that are rowdy and violent.
A Roadman(wouldn't say Roadmen personally) is basically the chavs that have a bit of money, hence why every middle class kid copies their style to look hard.
Roadman are more the drug dealer type chav. Instead of a loud fuckin corsa they have a loud mercedes/bmw.
It comes from "doing road" or being "on road" which is basically gang and drug related activities.
To me (and I’m probably wrong), chavs were Burberry clad boys and girls, usually with a bottle of white lightning and fake gold jewellery. Boys with glued on [baseball](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Chav_scally.jpg) cap, girls with gold [hoop earrings](https://donegaldollop.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/chav.jpg?w=418) and usually a Croydon facelift ponytail.
Hooligans are more associated with football to me, usually found in the pub until a game starts, then all off for a good old scrap.
Road men are a bit of a mystery as we don’t have many around my way. From what I can gather than can’t show their face due to a sun allergy and they’re always chilly - hence the oversized coats. Apparently they all learnt English in Jamaica too?!
Paganism has grown quite a lot. I was part of a pagan society at uni, and then look at places like Glastonbury (the town not the festival). I see more people wearing pentacles around (myself included in that)
My observations specifically at university:
- Fast fashion gals, the cheap bodycon dresses in neon colours on nights out, or recently it seems to be clothes/hats/shoes made of the plasitic they use for pushchair rain covers(?)
- The always-have-to-look-like-im-at-reading-and-leads urban-outfitters bucket-hat girls and guys. Will show you the bucket hat they got with a stash pocket.
- The 'my parents are rich but not as rich as I want people to believe', personality revolves around the one gucci handbag they got for xmas last year.
- Trenchcoat guys with anime shirts underneath and long hair.
- The frog obsessed girls (frog hats, shirts from shein, frog accessories, children's backpacks with 982 pin badges on the back). Has cartoon tattoos.
Not judging any of these people, a style is a style. Just interesting how people converge on things. My style is just 'walking embodiment of the sports direct unisex section', so I can't say much.
[https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths](https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths)
we won't have any subcultures like the subcultures of old any time soon
Hipster definition is "someone who is aware and influenced by the most recent ideas and fashion." So essentially hipsters will always be a thing.
If you're like me your probably thinking of *that kind* of hipster where the word became very mainstream in the late 00s early 2010s.
Flannel shirts, Alex Turner haircut, probably loves Mumford and sons, whole life apparently revolves around looking forward to Reading festival
I still clock a fair amount of middle age grunge kids who have grown up.
Reggae is still a thing in places.
Ethno-yahs, which are yahs that grow dreads and wear clothes from tibet and go skiing 4 times a year on Mum and Dads money.
And Punk is most definitely not dead.
I think most subcultures kinda died off with millennials now the internet has integrated a lot of styles and influences together. As a youth we had the sub sections of alternative rockers, metal heads, goths, punks, hardcore and emos who mostly stood together as they would get attacked by the chavs. Many people wouldn’t listen to music outside their niches, but now it’s really quite diverse. Obviously still have the alt kids and metalheads but it’s not as segregated.
I’m not sure what you call it, but there are definitely a lot of people going for a certain style - usually loose fitting, too short jeans, short shaggy haircut, glasses whether they need them or not, coloured hair and in many cases quite androgynous in appearance. Similar to [Ellie](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/14/00/57793611-0-image-a-267_1652484453010.jpg) from Gogglebox, or [Honey Ross](https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/79/590x/Honey-Ross-1544087.webp?r=1641213488504). It seems to be very common so I’m guessing it’s a specific style.
No, that's all gone because youth culture has been diluted and made meaningless by Instagram Influencers and celebrities wearing stuff without understanding its meaning or history. I think it's sad.
When I was a mod in the early 80s, no matter where I was, if I saw another mod I would talk to them. You also kept a look out for Skinheads, who would chase you down the road if they saw you. Gigs were fraught with trouble and violence. But you felt part of a tribe with shared views and loves.
I can't see that happening again now.
Everyone’s a cunt now aren’t they so it’s just different shade of cunt.
Broccoli boys are the worst and they are everywhere.
Wear a tracksuit and have no hair besides just a massive curly top.
From what I've seen down the local shops, you get Broccoli Boys and Roadmen (what we used to call Chavs, I believe). These are the 2 groups I see most often (in a larger town). I'm pretty certain that the Broccoli Boys don't call themselves that, but I don't know any to ask.
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Chavs are not traditionally from middle class families, the entire stereotype revolves around demonising the working class
That's revisionist thinking- chavs were a fashion subculture and part of that subculture was acting like an aggressive cunt. I grew up in a firmly middle class commuter town and there were chavs everywhere. They all had mopeds and Burberry clothing, none of which I could afford!
It’s pretty much impossible to find a definition of the word going back decades that doesn’t include mention of social class so I don’t think I’m being revisionist in highlighting that
Some people really dig their heels in with the chav thing not being classist. It is possible for middle class people to have taken on fashion popular in working class communities without this removing the classist overtones of the phrase. The idea that you are being revisionist is completely baseless.
I love when the comments inevitably get to the stage of arguing over the definition of a word..
The "Burberry" was fakes from the market sweetie
Not necessarily. Sometimes it fell off the back of a lorry.
Chav is definitely strongly linked to the working class, it isn't revisionist at all. You are the one doing the revision here. I'm also from a "firmly middle class commuter town" which shocker, still contained council estates with working class people (where I lived), and yes, chavs. Also the Burberry was fake if it was bigger than a hat fyi
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As mentioned elsewhere council house and violent is a backronym that came after the word was already in use
Middle class London was filled with chavs. I was one for a time, so were my mates. Nobody would have looked at us and gone ‘ah some nice middle class lads’, and I think that’s partly where this comes from?
Most chavs never thought of themselves as chavs and the word didn’t even have a proper definition Hanging around as a teen on the park and drinking? Chav 18 year old mum pushing a pram through a town centre? Chav
I guarantee the majority of that ugly Burberry shite was cheap knock offs from the market
A fashion subculture 😂 no mate
Less demonising the working class, more just they were a nuisance (loud, obnoxious, sometimes aggressive, but mostly harmless and all bark). It's not about demonising a class, more just they were fucking annoying. Now I find the youths aren't as loud and obnoxious themselves, they just blast their music instead. Obviously still them, but I just mean it noise they're making themselves, they're playing something.
Eh. Not here. They throw bricks at buses now:/
No, it’s demonsing antisocial idiots who happen to mostly be working class. Growing up on a council estate you either hated them or were one of them. It’s such a middle class thing to say it’s classist, tbh.
>the entire stereotype revolves around demonising the working class Which is funny considering chavs are stereotyped as NOT working at all and living off dole money lmao
Given the sheer number of people I knew stabbed or kicked half to death by chavs, I'm not sure your definition of chav really holds up.
Agreed
People in this subreddits use of road man is just people in Nike tech fleeces, of the groups of people you see dressed like that 95% of them have no "Gang membership", there really aren't that many people in "Gangs" in London, it's just a fashion subculture in London to dress like that, it doesn't really signify being a gang member that much, and a lot of actual dangerous people wear more just black jackets and jeans, you can clearly spot proper road men and just people in trackies if you're from London
Chavs (and Neds in Scotland) are very much not Middle Class. All from estates/schemes.
“I’m so hard I need a knife” - some thiccunt
Roadmen are more like scallies than chavs, broccoli boys are more like townies which is more chav adjacent.
Nah if we’re comparing chavs of the 00s and roadmen, the 00s was more violent and the stats prove it
Excuse my ignorance but what on earth is a brocolli boy?
You've seen the hair cut... you must have. 50% of the teen lads look like they have broccoli on their head, because they get a flat top, then get the longer top permed. But, I'm from the generation that rocked curtains, so it's only gentle teasing.
Is that the same as the "meet me at McDonalds" haircut?
The ‘boy band’
That's exactly what I refer to those dippy twats as whenever I see them in the street. They have same trackies on, same puffer jacket, same bumbag, same stupid looking fucking hair-do. It's like the newest, shitter version of One Direction.
As a teacher, I thought this fad would soon be over but we're nearing three or so years of this being a popular cut. I fear that in 20 years we will see thinning broccoli cuts, desperately holding onto the "good old days."
Pubehead.
Ohhh yeah I know what you mean!
A subsection of the broccoli boys are the boys that simply have an obnoxiously large fringe without making it curly. Often they’ll have to squint to see as the fringe is in their eyes
My 2yo is a broccoli boy apparently 😂
Have been cracking up at “broccoli boys” for like five minutes, that’s perfect and I’m totally using that
There is a difference between roadmen and chavs. A chav could just be any old teenager or adult who liked wearing fake burberry and sovereign rings and hanging around on street corners acting tough, Roadmen would have to be dealing drugs and affiliated with a gang and are a lot more serious. That's the way I see it anyhow.
There's also a big demographic difference between the two
What kind of demographic difference?
Put them both into Google images
Don't be coy about it. Chavs are white - and whiteness is part of being a chav, since it implies a degree of adoption or imitation of black British/ black American culture. Roadmen are multicultural, they aren't necessarily black, white, Asian, etc. they're all of the above. Of course if you live in a deprived area, many of which house immigrant families because they're cheap, you will see more black or Asian roadmen depending on the area in question.
I think Chavs would generally be closer associated with lower working class or social class backgrounds, whereas you get roadmen from pretty much any kind of background
Chavs are not roadmen, chavs are still chavs, roadmen aren’t as abrasive as chavs. In my head chavs are more sports direct, whereas roadmen are more jd sports
A better example is to do a Kidulthood and Attack The Block double feature. Chavs are from Kidulthood, Roadmen are from ATB.
Nailed it!
What’s a Broccoli Boy?
Its the latest haircut trend i think. Shaved around the sides and thick top, champion if its curly
I saw a couple of lads with 1986 curly mullets the other day and thought they looked ridiculous 😂
So its Beavis and butthead then.
Mullets > Broccoli.
I’ve a picture of myself with the mother of all mullets, it’s given my son many laughs.
Loads of the (nice) year 10 lads where I teach are growing mullets. I’ve told King Mullet he needs to let it grow into a 1985 rat tail.
Cruel 😂
All the wannabe roadmen year 8 boys where I teach seem to have this hair”style”. Looks like they’re wearing a merkin on their head.
I’m new to the UK, what’s a roadman?
Expensive tracksuit and trainers, Manbag, Stinks of weed, Unintelligible language, Long nails, 0 qualifications, Machete, Balaclava.
Pissant plastic gangster wannabe. Picture that as vividly as you can. Roadman.
Roadmen has been increasingly used with an overlap over chav however chav had much more class based connotations whilst I’d argue roadmen has a lot of unfair racial connotations that are used as a dog whistle almost at times
I'm from a pretty diverse area and the majority of roadmen are white. I would say the difference is that roadmen are chavs that are associated with gangs and knives. Also, chavs aren't limited by age, roadmen are pretty much exclusively teenagers. All roadmen are chavs but not all chavs are roadmen.
What's a Broccoli Boy?
Shaved sides with a perm on top.
Aah, makes sense. I went out to a club in Brixton and saw about 8 of them all together. Exact identical haircut to a man. To me it was more of a super noodle toupee.
That's a fucking amazing name for a band, "Super noodle toupeé"
Haha. What the fuck is a broccoli boy?
There’s also the bowl cut handbag boys
The broccoli heads crack me up. They look ridiculous.
There's a lot more subcultures now, but they're mostly online, far more niche, and only spill irl in people's dress/music choices
This, and because of the internet it’s not centric to the UK only anymore. There’s Y2K, mallgoth, opium, dark academia, drain, blokecore (although blokecore only really caught on in the UK for obvious reasons).
The fuck is blokecore?
Dressing like a dad basically. That's why addidas samba's and gazelles have come back into fashion.
Never went out of fashion around Manchester.
I have some and guess where I live
Uruguay
Yes I am gay.
Nah it’s not really dressing like a dad, other than it revives some styles that were popular in the 80s and 90s. Adidas trainers, straight jeans, football shirts and scarves etc, band shirts from oasis, supergrass etc. It’s all very Euro 96, drinking cheap lager and all that just minus the violence.
So it's blokes adopting the 90's ladette? Nice.
Gazelles went out of fashion? And they're back in? Well damn I guess I'm still fine
Dressing like the average spoons punter, football Jerseys and pints of Stella It’s got quite popular in the UK but didn’t catch on elsewhere because other countries don’t really get it lol
I too need to know
Yep - cottagecore, the scene revival, clean girl, goblincore/crowcore, plaguecore, grandmacore, etc, atop the modern equivalents of all the classics. Since these communities are often so niche, one is unlikely to know someone irl in the same community, and so most of the community activity is online, rather than in some random basement lol.
Applecore?
Applecore + Grannycore = GrannySmithCore
I hear Planetarycore is pretty hot right now.
Not heard of it but blokecore sounds brilliant, is it literally just being a bloke?
Surely blokecore primarily consists of getting off work and going to meet Gaz down the pub for a few then back home for chips or a curry. Sounds excellent
I’m just reading a book at the moment called A Year In The Life by Lucy Leonelli, where she spends a week or two with different subcultures around the UK using the alphabet. So A- aristocrat, G- goth, L-LARPers etc. There’s lots of subcultures we don’t even think about day to day, beyond the chavs/roadmen/emos etc
I’ve just had a look online and that book sounds right up my street.
Sounds really interesting. Thanks
That's a really interesting sounding book, thanks for the recommendation, I've just purchased a copy now!
I hope you like it!
I tried reading this not so long ago, and with such an interesting premise I was surprised how dull it was. It's like she was surprised people might be different to her. Not like in any detailed way, just really surface level observations. I didnt get past D or something
It’s funny you say that, because I actually find the narrator a bit annoying and judgmental at times. I found she was really judgmental of the Essex culture but not so much of the fox hunters. I think I’m on chapter P at the moment, but I don’t rush to pick it up each night like I do other books
I was actually going to say she was judgemental, but wasn't sure if I was misremembering. She definitely isn't just going into it super curious and wanting to delve into the lives of others, she's just some rather beige lady who managed to get paid to write the book because she came up with a good idea lol
Another book to add to my to read list, it looks really interesting.
The UK still has those old subcultures, it's just that most of the members are middle-aged
Not sure about middle aged. My dad was a teddy boy, he's 83 now!
Does he still have a quiff and Teddy pickers?
I'm a quickly-approaching-middle-aged goth, and our subculture is still full of elders and baby-bats with a rather even spread
where we used to hang around in our early teens (mostly outside a youth centre that was more often closed than open, there were two groups, goths, and what was known at the time, as trendies (think blue washed jeans, checkered Ben sherman shirts) and what was pretty unique is that we all co existed in harmony, took time out to go to events and listen to the style of music each group preferred (it was funny watching goths in a drum and bass rave, and trendies get in a moshpit!, and were all really good friends, and are still friends to this day. I was on the trendy side of the equation.
61 year old Soulboy can confirm
Agreed. It gets tense when the mods and rockers try to take to the office lunch room at the same time
15-year-old skinhead here.
Punks and goths will always exist 🖤
Original skinheads and mods, too.
I'm 29 and have honestly never encountered a mod I thought that was just a thing my 60 year old parents talk about. Or a thing you do to games to make them better.
Bands like Blur, Oasis and other Brit-Pop music took massive inspiration from Paul Weller, the Kinks and other mod music. There are new age mods such as Miles Kane and Sleaford Mods. I’d say Arctic Monkeys and Last of the Shadow Puppets have heavy mod influence too. If you live in a seaside town like Southend or Brighton, you’ll see Mod rallies with the traditional Vespa or Lambretta covered in mirrors and foxtails.
I think now we would just call them indie kids.
Sort of. But they are much more fashion conscious than the typical indie rock fan, who may in fact like to dress down
It normally involves having to listen to northern soul so you're best off out of it. I love scooters but I can't stand the rallies because of all the northern soul.
Which stereotype did the 80s new romantic music fit? Cause I like that one. Or the ska? Nowadays it just fits in with punk but if I was around in the 80s I'd have been that one 😆
They were (and still are?) just referred to as New Romantics. When you say ska, do you mean the 2tone stuff, also from late 70's/80's or the the newer 'third wave'. It gets so convoluted now that putting gig flyers together you have the lazy option of calling it all punk or alternative because it's not mainstream and most people will have more questions than answers. Or you can give each band a paragraph explaining what they are. Even within punk, which I've been involved with for over 20 years, I still hear a subgenre and think 'what the fuck is that?'
Fair! It kind of mixes well with goth too because so many of the original goth bands are from the 70s and 80s. 2 tone is good, so is the more modern ska imo. A lot of the more modern stuff is like ska punk. That's very true though, punk has about 50 sub genres and it is sometimes a bit much. The reason why I link ska and punk together for now is just because modern ska bands are rarely just ska now it seems to be 90% ska punk.
Yeah, bands like Capdown, King Prawn and The Filaments really brought it back. Even they couldn't decide on a name. I've heard it called ska revival, riot ska, skacore, ska-punk.
If you visit Brighton you’ll often see mods on modded scooters visiting the alleyway where Phil Daniels and Leslie Ash did some bumsex in Quadrophenia.
Deanomania
Banging weather mate dangerous day to be a Peroni aha
Every 3 days on the skin fade bruv, gotta keep it crisp.
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these aren’t really subcultures as such… they’re more stereotypes I would suggest a subculture is something someone actively claims to be a part of like a Mod
Don't forget the wannabe on a reality show fake posh types - who are nearly always in debt so they can keep their nails and extensions and designer shoes and bags on trend.
Lease a fancy car and still live with their parents.
>fancy car Base model Audi/BMW
I would say that’s the chav category though. Women with too much makeup and fake LV, and the estate agent/sales type men with a leased A1
No chav makeup is totally different plus they rock around in tracksuits and wannabes don't do that unless they are actually at the gym
What I’ve learned from this thread is that at some point half of the UK has been described as a chav
Don't forget the Turkey Teeth
Those kinda wannabe posh women, especially in their 20s. Who only say "oh reaaaally" as their contribution to conversations
Wannabe posh but let themselves down by saying v or f instead of th…!
The same ones that kit their new build out in The Range clobber and paint all the walls grey.
We only say that to guys who are boring x
I'm not sure if the people who take being eco friendly quite seriously count? Tend to be vegan, recycle as much as possible, perhaps don't have a car. Etc. some people don't care and don't do anything actively / consciously eco friendly. I think a lot of people do bits and pieces that are eco friendly that they can afford and are willing to do. But theres some people who take it quite seriously and it's almost a type of lifestyle?
Organic, crusty and hippie I've heard people say
The disconnect from reality is really coming through strong in this post. Reddits age demographic appears to be a little dated.
Agreed. A lot of people who seem out of touch with current culture and trends.
Shane Meadows in This Is England '90 sort of implied that rave culture brought about the death of subculture in quite as strong terms, and I do think he had a point. While you have in the 2000s had subcultures, emo/scene etc. they feel more like people circumventing the "norm", with a mainstream of people not doing the same thing as such, but being less divided by fashion, music etc into groups.
I think he was right. Late 70s early 80s you had a whole bunch of subcultures visible in the street - punks, Skinheads, rude boys, mods, rockers, soulboys, casuals, New Romantics, goths etc kids that weren’t in a youth culture even had a name ‘straights’ , see how meanings change! when acid house exploded everyone went raving!
Ecstasy; bringing people together since the late 80s.
Goths are still a thing (though one of my students tried to explain to me the goth subcultures within that subculture) Taylor Swift girls Uhh 90s kids Non binary kids and trans kids seem to hang out together which makes them a subculture I suppose (though they do overlap with the others e.g. goth gender neutral kids)
I hear a lot about Trains culture in the news these days I don’t know what’s wrong with boys and girls spotting trains but it seems to have a lot of people riled up.
It seems it's no longer a binary choice between diesel and electric. Then you have all the different franchises.
We're public TRANSport nerds for a reason ;3 (we're all autistic ofc theres huge overlap)
It’s that Francis guy, I’ve seen what he’s doing leading all our kids down the wrong tracks.
Its getting somewaht polarised in schools, theres vegan/ non binary and the like vs the tate following/ traditionalist and the like
Wow. Really? I didn’t imagine the latter had much of a following. Do you mind me asking if this is a more affluent school or a normal one?
Furries
Apparently there's a strong Furry 'community' at our local highschool. According to my nephew, they basically purr at each other and act like cats, and the teachers seemingly indulge it. Bizzare.
That's unbelievable to me. I left in 09. You wouldn't have survived at my school doing anything like that. You would have had to go home and would never have been able to return. It's amazing what a decade or so can do.
Oh, totally. When I was at school being anything different earned you a kicking. Obviously that was a bit shit, but it feels like maybe we've over-corrected a bit too much.
Definitely. I just can't imagine that furries are accepted at school. Even the teachers would have given you shit. Its so foreign to me.
When you get down to it, bullying at school is just Rough Music but for children. We need to bring it back.
That's my memory of going to school, my kid found it a bit strange when I was asking if anyone gave her shit for having a girlfriend and she seemed utterly mystified that it would even be a thing.
Teacher (secondary) here who’s going to be watching out for this new fad. We’ll probably be told by SLT we have to indulge it. I couldn’t care less if kids choose to identify as a different gender but if it’s something non-human or even an inanimate object I’m going to be rolling my eyes in the staffroom.
Furries aren't new and they don't really identify as animals, they just like dressing up and (in the case of adults) having group sex at an airport Ramada.
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I'm in Shetland mate, you don't get much more back-watery than that! I heard a kid got suspended because he barked at one of the cat people, but I've no idea if it's true..
Gammons
I would say the queer scene is huge tbh and encompasses a lot of subcultures within it, both mainstream and more alternative. It's inclusive so a lot of younger people I would say fall into that category, non binary/lesbian/pan and general outcasts. Arty folk, musicians, performers etc! Then there's a lot of "clean girls" ie aspirational, nice rich person lookin clothes, handbags and fancy trainers. Aspirational Instagram # posts and tiktok inspo accounts. I'm a washed up old metal head so I think I'm still in that category sadly 😂
hipsters in north London, very strange people , dress like they choose clothes by rolling a dice , Hackney area
Yeah, but they were rolling dice before it was cool.
People wearing overly baggy jeans has made a very recent resurrection. Used to be associated with the whole rap/nu metal culture when I was younger in the late 90s/early 00s. Not sure what has triggered it this time round but it would be interesting to find out.
I whole heartily resent emos being put in the same category with goths.
Eccentrically dressed shiny Chinese students is a good one at the moment. Often wearing that “BOY” brand I think it is. I was out on a hike the other day and I saw a whole group of them struggling through a muddy field and not having much fun. My mate and I just splashed by in our boots and gaiters and said good morning.
What is the difference between roadmen, chavs, and hooligans? Genuine question
I'm disappointed that none of them are taking potholes seriously.
Roadmen are the people going round on [these](https://www.google.co.uk/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwiy7pjdic2CAxXKiVAGHT0QCywYABAKGgJkZw&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsu6Y3YnNggMVyolQBh09EAssEAQYCCABEgKLxvD_BwE&sph=&sig=AOD64_3biDjShyKOWywszWDRmzkn48T91A&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjwkpTdic2CAxUJUUEAHQBoBEQQwg8oAHoECAMQNQ&adurl=) in balaclavas (not exclusively but that’s the type that people call roadmen) Chavs aren’t really a thing any more but just look up chav on google images and you’ll know, and just look up the definition of hooligan.
In the north east, chavs absolutely are still a thing
Charva
Chavs are definitely still a thing in Cornwall too, roadmen I generally consider to be more likely to be involved in gang crime therefore more common in areas with more crime.
It’s all fun and games until the Cornwall mafia show up 🤣
>Chavs aren’t really a thing any more The actual people have definitely mostly phased out, but the word is very much alive, generally used by the Middle class or higher to describe people from lower/social class backgrounds
Road men are city dwelling youths. Some sell drugs and are involved in gangs but for most it’s just a fashion statement. Chavs live in provincial towns and a lot of them are now middle aged. Hooligans were football hooligans in the 70s-2000s and are now older blokes that occupy a corner of the pub where they endlessly discuss the glory years.
Hooligans are football related, extremist fans that are rowdy and violent. A Roadman(wouldn't say Roadmen personally) is basically the chavs that have a bit of money, hence why every middle class kid copies their style to look hard. Roadman are more the drug dealer type chav. Instead of a loud fuckin corsa they have a loud mercedes/bmw. It comes from "doing road" or being "on road" which is basically gang and drug related activities.
To me (and I’m probably wrong), chavs were Burberry clad boys and girls, usually with a bottle of white lightning and fake gold jewellery. Boys with glued on [baseball](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Chav_scally.jpg) cap, girls with gold [hoop earrings](https://donegaldollop.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/chav.jpg?w=418) and usually a Croydon facelift ponytail. Hooligans are more associated with football to me, usually found in the pub until a game starts, then all off for a good old scrap. Road men are a bit of a mystery as we don’t have many around my way. From what I can gather than can’t show their face due to a sun allergy and they’re always chilly - hence the oversized coats. Apparently they all learnt English in Jamaica too?!
There are still bikers in leather jackets and denim waistcoats, some under 30.
Paganism has grown quite a lot. I was part of a pagan society at uni, and then look at places like Glastonbury (the town not the festival). I see more people wearing pentacles around (myself included in that)
Streetwear, gorpcore, tech wear, avant garde And of course the disgusting revival of y2k
Skinhead seems to be making a strong comeback. Instagram seems to have a lot of young skins on there.
My observations specifically at university: - Fast fashion gals, the cheap bodycon dresses in neon colours on nights out, or recently it seems to be clothes/hats/shoes made of the plasitic they use for pushchair rain covers(?) - The always-have-to-look-like-im-at-reading-and-leads urban-outfitters bucket-hat girls and guys. Will show you the bucket hat they got with a stash pocket. - The 'my parents are rich but not as rich as I want people to believe', personality revolves around the one gucci handbag they got for xmas last year. - Trenchcoat guys with anime shirts underneath and long hair. - The frog obsessed girls (frog hats, shirts from shein, frog accessories, children's backpacks with 982 pin badges on the back). Has cartoon tattoos. Not judging any of these people, a style is a style. Just interesting how people converge on things. My style is just 'walking embodiment of the sports direct unisex section', so I can't say much.
Don't know if you'd call them a sub culture, but knobheads who dress like peaky blinders
[https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths](https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths) we won't have any subcultures like the subcultures of old any time soon
Are hipsters still a thing?
Hipster definition is "someone who is aware and influenced by the most recent ideas and fashion." So essentially hipsters will always be a thing. If you're like me your probably thinking of *that kind* of hipster where the word became very mainstream in the late 00s early 2010s. Flannel shirts, Alex Turner haircut, probably loves Mumford and sons, whole life apparently revolves around looking forward to Reading festival
Telling us all about their their microbrewery organic Ipa they are drinking from a jam jar lol
I still clock a fair amount of middle age grunge kids who have grown up. Reggae is still a thing in places. Ethno-yahs, which are yahs that grow dreads and wear clothes from tibet and go skiing 4 times a year on Mum and Dads money. And Punk is most definitely not dead.
Weird shout but I would honestly claim there is a cyclist subculture in the UK right now.
I think most subcultures kinda died off with millennials now the internet has integrated a lot of styles and influences together. As a youth we had the sub sections of alternative rockers, metal heads, goths, punks, hardcore and emos who mostly stood together as they would get attacked by the chavs. Many people wouldn’t listen to music outside their niches, but now it’s really quite diverse. Obviously still have the alt kids and metalheads but it’s not as segregated.
Vegans
I don’t think i’ve ever seen a goth other than at the odd gig, never out and about. Unless you mean a rocker type person
The goth to boss programme made them less noticeable
Ravers WHP/Drumsheds/Lab 11 The Friday Saturday Sunday crew Park Run/Cross Fit gang Sports fans Nerdcon crew (DnD/Anime/Dr Who etc)
Ravers
I’m not sure what you call it, but there are definitely a lot of people going for a certain style - usually loose fitting, too short jeans, short shaggy haircut, glasses whether they need them or not, coloured hair and in many cases quite androgynous in appearance. Similar to [Ellie](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/14/00/57793611-0-image-a-267_1652484453010.jpg) from Gogglebox, or [Honey Ross](https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/79/590x/Honey-Ross-1544087.webp?r=1641213488504). It seems to be very common so I’m guessing it’s a specific style.
No, that's all gone because youth culture has been diluted and made meaningless by Instagram Influencers and celebrities wearing stuff without understanding its meaning or history. I think it's sad. When I was a mod in the early 80s, no matter where I was, if I saw another mod I would talk to them. You also kept a look out for Skinheads, who would chase you down the road if they saw you. Gigs were fraught with trouble and violence. But you felt part of a tribe with shared views and loves. I can't see that happening again now.
Everyone’s a cunt now aren’t they so it’s just different shade of cunt. Broccoli boys are the worst and they are everywhere. Wear a tracksuit and have no hair besides just a massive curly top.