Ladies and gentlemen,
Velcome to Vanker Ville, Situated between the banks of the Absurd and Prespestorous.
Our higher end areas are known for a passion for Italian tailoring. The tighter the better. Socks are strictly forbidden but we strongly advise you cultivate an Instagram account that promotes your love of Negronis and classic cars.
Our next area of interest is Hipsterville. Please note you cannot shave in this postcode district. It is essential that you promote your individuality and creativity whilst looking exactly like your neighbour. Chore jackets, Redwing boots and a supply of coffee beans are provided to everyone and we do mean everyone.
Next on our tour is the suburb of Jam Town '79. Hey, it's a modern world but here you can relive your youth. it's all about down sizing. Simply pick your chest size and we'll supply you with clothes that are at least a size smaller.
Finally, we come to the collegiate, Little Ivy. This exclusive suburb, that's difficult to find but the best place to live. Here you'll find some of the most interesting cats, who although from time to time disagree, will guide you through politics, literature, jazz, films and so much more. They are passionate about what they know but remain open to new comers and new ideas. If you end up living here you will be rewarded beyond measure.
And with that thought I'd like to wish all on this forum a merry Christmas and a healthy new year.
Alvey
Well written Alvey. This reads like this forums 'mission statement'.
You write 'and so much more' and I would include Architecture, Furniture design. At one time when Worried Man was here we even got into discussing 'tractors'!
Alvey, you're so nice to wake up to... Enjoyed this immensely...
Whatever you do, have a good one and love to the family.
Great post Alvey!
Another essential for Hipsterville denizens is to spend all your spare cash on tattoos, preferably full arm sleeve, but any area of your body is good. Once considered a sign of rebellion these markings now point to conformity.
'Skinny jeans'. A look I fail to understand. Football hooligans looking like off-duty rent boys. The tattoo? I'm ashamed of mine but, yes, back in 1976 an act of rebellion. The tattooist, roll-up between his lips, a splash of Captain Morgan in his well-sugared tea. 'Now, mate, if yer arm should drop off I'm not liable... y'unnerstan'?' 'Fair enough'. My elder daughter has two. Moronic. Or Omicron.
Loved this Alvey, I think Bradley Wiggins encapsulates the first three.
Whoever spotted that anagram is on the ball.
Woof, it was a Yodel delivery driver I got it from. Happy to pass it on.
Chaps,
Please feel free to suggest who else should populate the suburbs in Vanker Ville. I'm sure you can think of some more tribes I've forgotten
Yes Woof - forget the tattoo's. Or is it now called body art?
Remember though Little Ivy whilst not exclusive draws the line at people who take it all too seriously.
^ It should be slightly playful, I think.
'Body art'. That got me thinking. Perhaps the Japanese (for example) promoted it in this way. But, in my youth, circa 1975, it was your show-off dickhead who sported a tattoo. Usually just the one, though. Often a swallow with their name beneath. I was a slightly wild kid who considered necking whisky and having an ear pierced as acts guaranteed to piss off the older generation.
Now I am the older generation.
"Our next area of interest is Hipsterville. Please note you cannot shave in this postcode district."
Combs luxuriant but slightly unruly beard, applies dubbin to work boots.
Got to admit I occasionally go down that route as I love a bit of buffalo check, a denim chore and (especially) a pint of IPA!
Never really got on with the pair of Red Wings I have, though.
Watch it.
There are penalties for straying from the straight and narrow path.
Such as having your Emma Peel collection confiscated.
AndyV
What always shocks me is the cost of wearing these type of clothes. Utility clothes are often more expensive than regular clothes.
It appears that if your ambition is to dress like a Welsh Sheppard who drives a Harley whilst home brewing lime IPA and curating wooden clothes pegs it's pretty expensive.
"There's gold in them thar Welsh hills" Alvey.
TU Clothing (Sainsburys) doing - what looks like - a reasonable denim chore for £35 at the moment if you need an entry item :-)
Chaps,
Please feel free to suggest who else should populate the suburbs in Vanker Ville. I'm sure you can think of some more tribes I've forgotten
Lads Town, here you'll find young lads in hoodies, joggers, sliders & Sports Direct white socks. The obligatory man bag is an essential accessory along with a stick thin girlfriend with a David Dickenson fake tan and Groucho Marx eyebrows. Oh I forgot the hoodie has to worn over the LA Dodgers Baseball cap.
A down jacket can also be worn all year round even during the hottest days of summer.
The Lads Town look has been with us for twenty years and more in one form or another. Some of them were sporting Tibetan-style hats a few years ago. There was the odd knobhead at the school I worked in sixteen odd years ago who did the trackie bottoms tucked into socks thing, which is still around. We did have one rather interesting looking female who used to wander the streets looking like Britney Spears.
The modern postman seems to be in a class of his own. I don't believe most are human but simply manufactured in an industrial unit somewhere off the M1. Not too much hair on top, massive beard, stretchers in the ears (competing with the plug-in), shorts, tats on each leg, often of a highly obscure nature.
A poster on here once defined Shoreditch as 'Twat Central'.
Shuffleton Village. Where it is compulsory for any group of two or more old ladies to walk abreast. Slowly. And seemingly without purpose. Do not walk too fast or too close to the villagers. As they will suddenly come to a halt for no apparent reason.
Other residents are couples with mobility scooters who ride next to each other on the pavement. Each with a dog on a lead. At least one of the couple must look suspiciously able.
In Shuffleton Village you may park your Nissan Micra or Honda Jazz on double yellow lines, as long as you employ your hazard lights to show other road users that you’ll ‘only be a minute’
Upon completion of refuelling the above vehicle you must enter the site shop to buy your weekly supplies and have a nice chat. On your return to your car you should ideally sit in it for a further ten minutes to rearrange your handbag, shopping and rear view mirror. When you have your seatbelt on and have safely started your engine. Please do remember that you didn’t pick up The Daily Mail, and return to the site shop immediately.
Preparing for Shuffleton is the sixty-something who knows you want his parking space so spends at least five minutes studying non-existent text messages while waiting for 'er indoors (mutton dressed as mutton) to reappear from B and M. A good many of these about in the pre-Christmas period. Their sons are the hulking brutes in nylon football shirts and grubby trainer socks humping great boxes of cheap lager across the car park. They still think Boris Johnson is a card, would love to have a selfie taken with Nige and enjoy Jeremy Corbyn's TV show: 'All dem work-shy chavs on benefits, matey. Ought to be put up against a wall 'n...' Also - on and off - 'Daily Mail' enthusiasts. Personalised number-plates are sometimes in evidence.
Then there are the 'big watch' men over on DressedWell...
On the outskirts of town is RuggerBugger Hill. Here you'll find a strange mix of tweed, heavily logo'd rugby shirts that aren't anything to do with actual clubs and shirts with collars that simply won't sit straight. You see these chaps look slightly lost when it comes to Summer. It's the only time of the year when they can't wear their brogues n barbours. Fit is unimportant as fitting-in here is more important. Right of centre politics, a love of Cornwall and remembering a true gentlemen always lights a ladies farts.