Is Britpop the Best Men’s Style Era? We Think So

By Esme Carty

Men’s fashion is just as ever-changing as women’s fashion. At the height of Love Story, we saw men seeking inspiration from JFK Jr. just as much as women were drawing from Carolyn Bessette’s looks. While the looks range widely, a style aesthetic that we personally love is an ode to the 1990s Britpop era of bands such as Blur, Oasis, and The Verve.

The Britpop era can be characterized by baggy jeans, polo tops, and track jackets. The first band to lead the era were a band named Suede, they blurred the music boundaries between glam rock and post-punk, creating the music genre the UK—and soon world—would learn to love. At the same time in 1989, Blur rolled onto the music scene, in which led to a new fashion movement. Damon Albarn—the lead singer of Blur—was first rocking slouchy polo shirts with denim and floppy hair, but eventually created his iconic uniform people would be recreating to this day. The uniform entails sports jersey’s, relaxed denim, adidas trainers, and the mod cut that’s been gaining a lot of popularity these days.

On the topic of the mod cut, let’s talk Oasis. The tumultuous Manchester-grown brothers of Liam and Noel Gallagher popularized the parka jacket, sunglasses inside, and the bucket hat. Another iconic Britpop head of hair is Richard Ashcroft of The Verve—although a short-lived stint, a very legendary one. Ashcroft was known to wear narrow silhouettes, with soft leather jackets, fitted tops, and semi-flare jeans—sometimes even barefoot on stage.

Now we see the Britpop look continue to live within men’s fashion even thirty plus years later. Not to mention the absolute popularity of this look taking over Silverlake in Los Angeles. The artsy guys of today pin Liam Gallagher to their mental mood boards while listening to the Gorrilaz, honoring Damon without even knowing it. Thank god for Britpop!