HWS managed to get a Q&A with my good pal Roo Oxley author of the book Clobber, model and Terrace Girl on her recent visit to Glasgow. It was good to get a sit down and chat on subcultures and put it on paper. We met in McCHuills Bar in the Merchant City as we always try to do. She is one cool lady and the Guinness did flow.
Ayup lass, thanks for meeting us, how’s things?
Ayup Chop, all sound thank you, hope you’re orate?
All good chick …
So, to kick off, I read that you were crowd-watching at Stoke matches and seeing what I would describe as a working-class catwalk is this where you started your love-in with casual labels?
Yeah it was at the matches in the late ‘90s but also spilled out into what the lads were wearing anyway. Stoke was a town of football casuals, so a lot of dressers were milling about.
I have heard you say ‘it’s how you wear it’ I believe that also, I think sometimes you need to mix it up a bit would you agree?
Totally. No one should wear such identikit boring uniforms, all rack-ready badged up. Be creative and just wear what you want to wear! I still pull out loads of old nineties’ pieces and mix it with new stuff, be it CP or Primark. Wear what suits your style, and if you haven’t worked out your style by now, then you’re fucked and clearly just don’t have any!
Agreed, I think it was Andy Weatherall that said ‘fashion is temporary—style is permanent’ fashion is just something you do until you find your own sense of style.
Well as Coco Chanel also said, fashion fades only style remains the same. Fashion is fleeting but you need to be aware of it so as not to be stuck in the same old sartorial hole. You need fashion to evolve your own sense of style. Fashion should enhance, guide and teach you what you already know- to have style is to know which bits of fashion suits and underpins your personal style.
We must do this one, can you give us your top five tunes?
I’m Only Sleeping —The Beatles
Gimme Shelter — Rolling Stones
Massive Attack—Unfinished Symphony
Rhythm Foundation—Let the Whole World Know
Oasis—Slide Away
Oh and top three thread labels?
Aquascutum
Tacchini
(Vintage) Stone Island
Do you have a favourite DJ from over the years.
I used to live and work in Ibiza so seen all the big ones from that era, like Carl Cox, Sasha and co, but my favourites are Stoke legends Pete Bromley and Daz Willott.
80s Casuals Classics shop has been in Glasgow for over a year now and is always worth a visit, I see you are wearing Gabbici, is that label you wear a lot of? I think it’s a quality thread and a decent price.
Yeah I love the mod vibe of Gabbici and Neil Primett has done a great job of bringing attention back to the label at 80s Casual Classics. What I’ve had recently has been really smart.
Do you think modern-day ‘soccer’ is part of the reason why a lot of us still wear Terrace clobber, as we feel it is perhaps a heritage thing that is being taken away from us?
I cover this in more detail in my latest book, ‘Clobber!’ but the football scene, and the terrace culture that went with it, is pretty much dead. People who affiliate with it, or indeed any subcultures such as mod, rave etc, will still wear clothes that represent the era that makes up such a big part of their identity. Modern football is so soulless that the last subculture that preceded this—the Casuals, is something that many cling onto, out of nostalgia, or just because it looked (still looks) cool as fuck.
What’s your opinion on Glasgow and McCHuills Bar?
It’s a pisser, great craic —I’ve been asked to come back. And if I don’t come back I’ll be kidnapped 😉
What has the casual scene brought to your life as a woman, and what do your female friends think of your involvement in it?
That my friend, is all to be revealed in book number 2!
Can you give us an IN and an OUT for this week?
IN:
England in the euros
Tacchini Trainers
OUT:
Sambas
Sunak Vibes
What are your hopes and expectations for Stoke City next season?
Same as every season- hope for the best, expect the worst. Expect Stoke City!
Thanks for coming Roo x
No worries.
Thanks to Paul Kealy as always, also Neil Primmet, Nick from McCHuills and Richard Kelly for coming along and doing the photos.
* Roo Oxley is a freelance writer born and bred in Stoke-on-Trent. A football girl, Roo has long attended Stoke City football games both home and away. With a master’s degree in marketing and a successful career in marketing following this, Roo has written about subcultures, music, fashion and football but with a particular interest in terrace casuals. Dressed impeccably always, Roo ultimately knows her clobber, inside and out. One of the leading and most well-known female casuals today, Roo intends to continue to write about her one true passion:
Casuals@missroooxley
roo.oxley@oxleycontinproductions.com
Holywell Street 
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