Weird is cool (Weirdfish)

Member Name: thedevilinme

Product:	Weirdfish
Date:	18/03/09 (199 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cool is Weird

Disadvantages: Original surf style

I'm not a follower of fashion in any way. I was never a Nike 'ticked' approved kid growing up or someone who was ever concerned if I wasn't seen in the right brands and colours. I wear mostly generic stuff, mixed with the odd label that takes me eye, basically because I don't want to be labelled in any way, if you excuse the pun. I have noticed from the guys I know that it's mostly the working class ones that spend lots of their wages on labels and brands, one presumes to try and elevate their status. The blokes that spend the most tend to be not the brightest neon bulbs in the sign. I personally link think fashion to the need to be in a gang or tribe in the safety of your piers rather than being comfortable in what you wear and I was never that person in any way. I went through a stage of wearing t-shirts emblazoning with the exotic places I had been to as a badge of honour but today I just want to wear something that reflects my personality...laid back and confident...

I've always liked surf wear, those pastel colours and original cartoon designs actually representing the culture it stands for, a rare case where the branding encapsulates the lifestyle rather than trying to create a brand for a consumer. People who love surfing tend to design these names like Weird Fish and Billabong and you won't find the big brands being sold in department stores. They are niche lines for niche punters. When I worked my way around the world for most of the 1990s I did love to stay by the beach and get into the whole romance of the surf scene, especially gawping at those girls in the tiny bikinis that seemed to hang off and around the surfer dudes. After my first few attempts at being a surf God I had to eat sand and salt water and the girls continued to hang off the surfer dudes, another bedraggled Brit dragged out of the surf by the Aussie lifeguard.

I'm now very much an armchair surfer, if you will allow me such a pun, sitting more on the beaches looking at the pretty girls than balancing on top of the crashing waves when the beach beckons, the wearing of the colours my contribution to the culture. I'm sure at my age buying the surf wear is all part of that need to look younger and healthier but I genuinely do like the clothes and their mark of quality. I'm sure close inspection of where the shirts and clothes are actually made would quickly wash away any ethnical stance, the fleeces not exactly hand woven on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii by beautiful maidens...more likely a heaving acrid industrial estate in China. But they are of good quality and I don't mind paying twenty quid for them.

The fleeces are their star product, pastel colours but also rustic shades, thick and woven too, the familiar designs less prevalent and subtle, the logo the most prominent. They do a small range of rugby tops although there's only one design I like there, a rich deep blue one. There is also a 'slub' (longer sleeve shirt) and polo range available on the website, but not really traditional beach wears and very stripy. The shorts-they call leg wear-are very surfey and on the knee cap and for this quality of garment £25-£33 quid is a decent price. The fleeces are as cool as ever and the Macaronis, the thicker all weather fleece, are expensive but as equally gorgeous, ocean blue through to sea shell cream. They also do stripy evening shirts but a logo on the top pocket is not my thing or pose. As I say I'm not a brand or logo follower.

-Adults-

Polo's £33
Slubs £28
Slub Piqué £30
Leg wear £25
Rugby £35
Knitwear £45
Fleeces £43
Macaronis £52
Jackets £55
T-Shirts £20
Men Shirts £30

-The Kids Range-

I have to say I don't agree with kids wearing brands and the prices for the smaller sizes in all the above don't seem to correspond with the percentages of less material used. I suppose if I was well off with kids and lived near the beach they would look very cute in their little woollen fleeces. There are hats and sandals for all ages and some bits n bobs too.

-Accessories-

Hats £10
Bags £18-£35
Purses and wallets £10

http://www.weirdfish.co.uk/

On the high street the only place they sell Weirdfish is in a surf and skate store called Two Seasons, which I believe go up against Vans stores who sell Billabong stuff. Billabong used to be the best pastel coloured surf range and design but went mainstream and adopted plain primary colours. Apart from their Cheltenham and Bath stores the actual Weird Fish shops are all in the SW in beachside surf type resorts and towns, although too cool for Newquay. Their Salcombe store is the landlocked oddity up in Staffordshire.

Truro
Dartmouth
Looe
Cheltenham
Padstow
Dartmouth
Salcombe
Bath

Wearing the clothes is strictly a summer thing for me and only one item of the range at the time. I always cringe when I see people dressed in head-to-toe in the same expensive brands and so for me its juts the T-Shirt of just the shorts. Yes the ranges can be expensive but it's my one treat fashion wise and I'm proud to wear it.

Summary: Surfs up!