Ireland's new casuals

We see it all the time, mainly in the cities, but it’s spreading like butter on a summer’s day to the rest of the country. The fashion of the scumbag! In the U.K they call them ‘chavs’, scumbags is fine for Ireland, as they don’t need cultural acceptance.

It must be seen to be believed but no matter how tough you want to be perceived as being, you still must have some sense of what looks good and what doesn’t. So obviously there is more to a tracksuit than a fashion statement.

There’s practicality to the uniform of the scum as well. It has developed into regalia that is as beneficial to scum economically and practically, as the gardai outfit is to the public.

We all know the garda uniform, and you know it’s a garda wearing it when you see it, but how easy is it to distinguish between one uniform wearer and the next?

The concept behind the uniform of scum has come out of the gang culture in the USA. There all gang members wear the exact same attire, white tee-shirt and jeans. What’s the reason behind this?

Well if there has been a shooting, or a store robbery, witness’s description will be White, Black, or Hispanic male, white tee-shirt, blue jeans. When police approach a grouping they suspect may have committed the crime, how can they tell which banger was being described. Protection by lack of detection is the way these gangs work.

Ireland’s new wave scum are the same. On the occasion of being held up at knifepoint in a shop and describing the perpetrator to the Gardai, they basically said there is no hope of catching him, it could one of many.


For every person who wears a suit at work every day, selling and buying shares acceptably gambling with people’s livelihoods- there is a guy in a tracksuit running his business too. But you have to know what to look for.

Not every person who wears a swoosh or three stripes is out on the make, but some unfortunately are. And it’s more to do with how they wear their clothes rather than what they are actually wearing.

Small time dealers are making small time statements that let people know they have or have not got wears to sell. It’s done simply by socks.

The new craze of people wearing socks over their tracksuit bottoms is a way of letting people know if they have drugs to sell, or if they are looking for drugs. A right sock over the leggings is an advertisement of stock to sell, a sock over the left leg means that a person is looking for stuff to buy.

The odd nutter has socks over both leggings meanings he’s both got stuff to sell, but is willing to buy drugs also.

It’s simple but a way of doing business without being too obvious. But don’t fret if your son is working on this kind of fashion statement. As it is in the country at the moment, people are doing it as mode, a way of acceptance in certain groups.

These people who are genuinely selling stuff are more noticeable by their pockets. Tracksuits are not known for the concealing powers being loose and lacking the stability and stiffness of denims.

These people don’t often carry their supplies on them and usually have a small entourage with them or in the near vicinity. This is a way of splitting the proceeds amongst them so they don’t get caught with a large amount of money. So strangely, empty pockets are more likely to be the people to talk to if you are looking for supplies.

The drugs are usually stashed and very little carried on the person, so if by any mishap they are caught by the gardai, the amount of drugs found on them may be termed as ‘personal use’; this is a minor offence in judicial terms. Also this reduces the possibility of the whole batch being discovered, so future profits can be protected.

The other benefit of tracksuits and trainers is you can use them for their purpose, running! Although the gardai have modernized their uniform and it is more adaptable to urban settings, it’s still not ideal running attire, nor are their shoes. Air-max, Henry Lloyds, Adidas and the like are just a bit more advanced than Dubarry’s. Being kitted out right is of great benefit in avoiding detection.

All cultures dress to their benefit. The football hooligans of the seventies and eighties wore expensive designer clothes rather than replica kits of the teams they supported as it would be too easy to spot them in glaring football kits. The umbrella name for these groups became ‘casuals’, it came from the fact guys were wearing casual clothes.

It’s possible that Ireland has developed casuals of her own! If we to do anything about it, maybe we’ll have to pull our socks up too.