A North and South Divide ?

It’s funny, as I walk around Manchester’s much coveted Northern Quarter I can detect a slight mood that hangs in the air. It’s not contrived in anyway; it’s just there. Lingering.

Neat, rolled Selvage denim, Yuketten Moccasins, Shirts of different cut and style, predominantly checked have become a noticeable trend around the area that’s made up of Manchester’s creative community. An older purveyor of this North Western look paces purposefully past. Breaking only his stare to assess my own get up. No doubt an Oi Polloi aficionado, all that’s missing from the scenario is his trusty copy of manzine. One hundred and eighty miles to the south, a pair of worn, Grenson brogue boots clatter around the cobbled thoroughfares of Spitalfields. They pass through the old meat market and head towards Albam and the old Truman brewery. An array of Rolled Chinos, Chambray shirts and slicked side partings caress the look of online fashion blog flaneurs. There are plenty of wayfarers on display amid the younger disciples and deck shoes are also in abundance. However, the enthusiasts of inventory magazine have more than a hint of self-justification about them. Americana echoes around East London.

Of course, this is all complete nonsense. Surely with the way things are in this day and age there cannot be any real evident style variations based upon our location? Or can there?

Without unravelling the rich tapestry of history relating to the Manchester and London divide, it’s clear that a definitive attitude difference is prevalent, perhaps not in the cities Boutiques, but definitely by their respective customers. You can draw some paralleled comparisons between the laid back, creative community of the Northern Quarter; with its subtle blend of inner city mettle and cosmopolitan undertones and that of the area around East London that takes on the same guise, as a thriving hub of ideas and creativity.

When exiting Liverpool street station, turning left as to venture towards Hackney and Shoreditch, the atmosphere is one of a hustle and bustled nature. After taking the small side streets and caverns that are stained with the inestimable tales of time, you finally pick up the scent of the area around brick lane and with it, the haven laid old-Truman brewery. While walking around this metamorphosed jungle of colour and exuberance, it's unmistakable that it is indeed London that lies beneath the soles of your feet. It’s a palatable sensation.

Manchester on the other hand has always been regarded as the second city, even though it boasts as much cultural nous as London does, if not more significant within the vials of human creativity. It's among the old networks of Victorian cobbled streets, where once the scuttlers of old clattered in their skulduggery, that a true attitude of one up-manship and self-importance came to beautiful fruition. The protagonists of this knowledge and self-confidence, which is most justifiable, is a far echo from that often contrived coolness that descends upon the streets of our nations capital.

The debate that has raged on for decades, which has taken up so much newsreel and magazine column inches is one that will never cease to end. But is it really down to a North / South rivalry of style and culture, or is it that incessant spark that ignites our passions and evidently makes us who we are, no matter what post code we fall under.

copyright Saul Wilks. 23/7/2010.