Official In-Store UK Launch of Dressers

If you haven’t heard about Dressers then you’re either knocked unconscious on the field or deeply snoozing under the terraces, as this piece of football, casual, and fashion history is definitely not an artifact you want to be sleeping on.

Dresser boys at heart (grown to be legends in the scene) Matt Johnstone and Kerso take us through the pages of their book on an adventure that spills out into the cozy interior of the London-based Weekend Offender boutique. Built in 2004 by Sam Jones and Rydian Powell, the label offers designs coined by its founders to be ‘clever, quirky, and vibrant’, pulling their inspiration from various subcultures, specifically including terrace casuals and the acid house scene. Not only is their mission in line with that of the Dressers book authors, but certainly the name of the shop itself rings right as well.

With the appropriate venue booked and the tantalizing invitations sent through the streets of the UK (and over the wires of the World Wide Web) the stage was set for a night to remember. Over a hundred cats came through – many casuals, but not all, as the crowd was well mixed – creating a great vibe and forcing the fun to spill out of the shop and onto the pavement. The Cherry Cola Club’s resident DJ Mark Kerry – whose rise to fame in London (and beyond) was brought on by the series of Noel Gallagher after-shows he put on throughout Europe – bumped through for some smashin’ tunes to keep the night alive. Dishin’ out a sweet serving of rock, indie, ska, punk, Nothern soul, and psychedelic, it was obvious he’s no beginner, and in fact Mark’s jammed out at other stores in past, including Pretty Green.

What’s a party without party favors though, right? And so, to service people’s growling stomaches and initially shy demeanors, the legendary Bodean’s came through with free food and ample supplies of beer, cider, and wine. All good things came together around 6:30 PM and pushed to the dark parts of the night as folks chilled and conversed, free from the all-to-familiar (for some) fighting nature of the casuals scene. Don’t worry officer, just another ho hum book-signing here, carry on!

Of course, though, speaking of the devil, the highlight of the night was the book itself. Praised in it’s launch and honored by the crowd, the authors did signings, their publishers made an appearance, and some copies went out the door at discounted ‘friend’ prices. Others who helped out along the way showed up too, alongside the fans, friends, and families, and even eatmoreshoes’ Creative Director, errol, got tagged with the nickname ‘E’, because “he’s evasive”.

All in all it was a jolly and jubilant event that celebrated the launch of something enormously vast and simply fantastic. If you’ve got a copy of Dressers and not yet broke the seal, then please, do yourself a favor and dive into the madness of some of the UK’s past decades to see what fun, fame, and fortune was had by the Motherwell crew known as ‘Dressers’. And for those of you who haven’t grabbed a copy yet, keep your eyes peeled on our Facebook fan page as we’ll be dropping a contest soon to allow a lucky trainer fan the chance to win a free copy!

written by Dylan Cromwell

photography by errol