The first time I saw
it was on the subway one morning soon after I arrived. A guy heading in to work, no doubt. He was wearing a pair of pre-faded, nondescript jeans neatly turned up at the ankle, a grey suit jacket and a blue tie, loosely knotted with thin
pink stripes running through at an angle. His shirt was unbuttoned at the neck.
I figured he'd left home in a hurry - without tucking his shirt into his
trousers. I thought nothing of it until another guy got on at another stop with
the same unfinished appearance. Maybe it's a look I thought to myself - still
not truly believing it could be.
Soon enough the train was packed, full of
early morning commuters, like me, heading towards Manhattan. At each stop a new set
of commuters got on as others got off; with each exchange of passengers at
least one new version of the look boarded the carriage. They reminded me of teenagers trying to be cool despite having been dressed by their mothers.
It was weird.
There I was imagining
that New York would be awash with A Continuous Lean clones, and the first
discernible trend I see is this. As I got off at 34th Street, I wondered if this trend might catch on in the UK - among anyone older than fourteen, that is.
