The Bloke Core is the best thing to come out of TikTok

Football jersey, a pair of boot cut jeans and a low effort sneaker. The Bloke Core, the latest fashion trend born on TikTok, is as simple in look as difficult to explain thanks to a genesis that starts from the social platform and arrives up to the worst British pubs. The paternity of the name is attributable to @brandonlhuntly, tiktoker who first coined the naming of what despite being born as a trend in total antithesis with the fashion world owes, at least in part, its success to some of the things recently seen on the catwalk. From the collections of Wales Bonner for adidas to the recent collbo between the German brand and Gucci seen a few months ago, the Bloke aesthetic is a strange mix between the culture of the English stadium and something that came out of the mind of Lotta Volkova. As in most cases, however, it is difficult to determine who was born first, if the egg or the chicken, if the Bloke Core or the fashion passion for soccer jerseys in a trend that has part of its roots in thrifting, finding part of its aesthetic especially in vintage jerseys that have begun to peep in the Per Te of all those who are part of the "Fashion Tok", the Tiktok dedicated to fashion.

It is there that in the past trends like Cottagecore were born, one of the many examples of subcultures that on the social network find the right place to romanticize an aesthetic that, outside of TikTok, would probably not exist. The Bloke Core is no exception and those who on TikTok feel part of a community, in everyday life would probably be part of the huge group of soccer fans so obsessed with their favorite team to wear the jersey even on weekdays. It is no coincidence that at the root of the Bloke Core there is, at least ideally, what someone called "scumbro", the trend launched by Pete Davidson and Jonah Hill that sees in low effort and apparently casual clothing its own workhorse. But looking back the examples are numerous, even touching Jonatan Leandoer aka Yung Lean, who with his fit made of rugby polo shirts was a bit of a distant relative of those who now walk the streets of New York with a Sampdoria jersey of Vialli.

Although the Bloke might be destined to last very little, its example reminds us of two aspects that have become recurrent. On the one hand there is the strength of TikTok as a platform capable of giving life to or bringing together subcultures, trends and simple fans, while on the other hand there is once again the power of revival, a word abused with Y2K but that for once is not associated with a decade of uncovered bellies and graphic tees of dubious taste but with the British aesthetic brought to the fore by brit-rock, Oasis and the obsession with English soccer in the 90s as told by Nick Hornby. The incredible thing, as happens in these cases, is that none of the Bloke Core's protagonists have ever experienced any of this.