Streetwear, Gorpcore & the future of menswear.

Menswear is changing. Even Virgil says streetwear's gonna die.

Meanwhile, there's this growing trend of urban dwellers wearing camping gear like they're headed Upstate...

Meet Gorpcore.

Is it replacing streetwear?

[thread]

So let's unpack:

1/ What Gorpcore is + where it came from.
2/ What makes something Gorpcore.
3/ Its place in the culture.
4/ Predicting just how mainstream outdoor-wear can go.
What is Gorpcore:

Ever heard of "good old raisins and peanuts?"

It's another phrase for trail mix. Yep, that's it.

So how's this related to Gorpcore?
Gorpcore is someone who wears a (trail) mix of: technical, utilitarian, function, outdoorsy-wear on the regular.

... you know, clothing *traditionally* reserved for trail runners. Hikers. Campers.

Kind of like this:
In 2017, The Cut's Jason Chen coined the phrase Gorpcore as a way of describing this budding species.

But it ain't new.

It's been around for years, gaining steam in the late 2010s.

Chen says Gorpcore represents a style-shift away from minimalism (what's known as Normcore).
Here's Chen's piece if you're interested in a deeper dive on the origins.
https://t.co/R09YQeOftC
Characteristics of Gorpcore?
It's:
- playfully normal.
- ugly on purpose.
- painfully obstinate.
- obscenely colorful.

All at the same time. Here's what I mean 👇
A direct quote from someone Chen interviewed:

“Listen, if you dropped me somewhere upstate, I’d cry... but I love clothes that can transport me."

that's the irony of Gorpcore.

By being non-style, it *is* a fashion statement.
But what *actually* makes something Gorpcore?

I've got 4 indicators: color, shape, layering, and function.

Here's your guide to detecting Gorpies in the wild... 🏕️
1/ COLOR
Color is key.

You often see it with the outerwear and socks.

From fleeces and windbreakers, to soft-shell puffers, color is where you make it pop.

More from Culture

One of the authors of the Policy Exchange report on academic free speech thinks it is "ridiculous" to expect him to accurately portray an incident at Cardiff University in his study, both in the reporting and in a question put to a student sample.


Here is the incident Kaufmann incorporated into his study, as told by a Cardiff professor who was there. As you can see, the incident involved the university intervening to *uphold* free speech principles:


Here is the first mention of the Greer at Cardiff incident in Kaufmann's report. It refers to the "concrete case" of the "no-platforming of Germaine Greer". Any reasonable reader would assume that refers to an incident of no-platforming instead of its opposite.


Here is the next mention of Greer in the report. The text asks whether the University "should have overruled protestors" and "stepped in...and guaranteed Greer the right to speak". Again the strong implication is that this did not happen and Greer was "no platformed".


The authors could easily have added a footnote at this point explaining what actually happened in Cardiff. They did not.

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॥ॐ॥
अस्य श्री गायत्री ध्यान श्लोक:
(gAyatri dhyAna shlOka)
• This shloka to meditate personified form of वेदमाता गायत्री was given by Bhagwaan Brahma to Sage yAgnavalkya (याज्ञवल्क्य).

• 14th shloka of गायत्री कवचम् which is taken from वशिष्ठ संहिता, goes as follows..


• मुक्ता-विद्रुम-हेम-नील धवलच्छायैर्मुखस्त्रीक्षणै:।
muktA vidruma hEma nIla dhavalachhAyaiH mukhaistrlkShaNaiH.

• युक्तामिन्दुकला-निबद्धमुकुटां तत्वार्थवर्णात्मिकाम्॥
yuktAmindukalA nibaddha makutAm tatvArtha varNAtmikam.

• गायत्रीं वरदाभयाङ्कुश कशां शुभ्रं कपालं गदाम्।
gAyatrIm vardAbhayANkusha kashAm shubhram kapAlam gadAm.

• शंखं चक्रमथारविन्दयुगलं हस्तैर्वहन्ती भजै॥
shankham chakramathArvinda yugalam hastairvahantIm bhajE.

This shloka describes the form of वेदमाता गायत्री.

• It says, "She has five faces which shine with the colours of a Pearl 'मुक्ता', Coral 'विद्रुम', Gold 'हेम्', Sapphire 'नील्', & a Diamond 'धवलम्'.

• These five faces are symbolic of the five primordial elements called पञ्चमहाभूत:' which makes up the entire existence.

• These are the elements of SPACE, FIRE, WIND, EARTH & WATER.

• All these five faces shine with three eyes 'त्रिक्षणै:'.