Noughty but nice: Trash club night at The End in 2007
(Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)Picture the scene: east London, somewhere in the mid-Noughties. The back of your throat is sticky with the vaporous XXL HOLD spray (the ratio of ‘fringe’ to ‘hair’ comes in at a sensible 80:20). Ed Banger Records’ latest release reverberates from your new iPod Nano. Your legs are slick with American Apparel lamé leggings and the 1980s blouse — salvaged from a vintage shop in Brick Lane — is still a little musty. Before you head out to White Heat at Madame JoJo’s via a pint at The Old Blue Last, you’ll scroll Henry Holland’s latest collection on style.com and play around with some MySpace HTML code.
Y2K begone, the halcyon days of indie sleaze are having a resurgence on TikTok and Instagram (@indiesleaze). As any good subculture should be, it was parodied in the 2010 viral YouTube video Being a Dickhead’s Cool. It is the last fashion subculture that existed partially offline, which is perhaps why, in a time when we are oversaturated in digital content, it has an appeal again online, in the clubs — and only time will tell if it makes its way to the runways.
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Instagram users who prefer their scrolling experience to pack a nostalgic punch should follow @derekridgers now. The Chiswick-born fashion and subculture photographer began sharing his archive work on the ’gram a few years ago.
Whether it’s punks snogging in Camden or indie kids partying at Madame JoJo’s circa 2003, Ridgers’ black-and-white imagery ironically takes you back to a time before Instagram even existed.
