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Young women are ditching bikinis for wife-beaters as they swear off hook-up culture for the summer.
Growing increasingly disillusioned with the reality of what Megan Thee Stallion coined “Hot Girl Summer”, young women are embracing the summer rites of their seniors—more specifically, their fathers.
‘My Instagram feed is saturated with beautiful young women drinking cocktails on yachts and swimming in the crystal-blue waters of the Caribbean. But are they truly happy? No. I’ll tell you who’s truly happy: my dad, Greg.’
Greg is 57 and enjoys spending his summer days sat on a plastic chair in the family’s postage-stamp garden, cradling a can of warm Stella. He may be developing the early stages of skin cancer, but such serenity is seldom found outside a Tibetan monastery.
‘I’ve never seen someone more content and less preoccupied with how they look,’ 19-year-old Sarah says. ‘Here I am, doing ab workouts at 6am while my dad swaggers about with the reddest arms and the whitest globe of a stomach I’ve ever seen. Yet he walks down our street like he owns it; I have a lot to learn from him.’
Fashion outlets are quick to capitalise on this unexpected trend, with retailers like Shien releasing a line of clothing inspired by these perma-tanned patriarchs. Knee-high socks, wraparound sunglasses, ¾ length chinos, and crocs are the new must-haves for the summer. Forget raves and European getaways; disposable BBQs, beer gardens, and standing by the sea with hands on hips have become the pinnacle of summer activities.
Two enterprising brothers have embarked on a mission to create Father’s Day cards for Dads who don’t quite fit the Hallmark mould.
The journey began when Alfie (23) and Jacob (24) were purchasing Father's Day cards and noticed a disproportionate amount of options for the beer-drinking, golf-playing and D.I.Ying dads.
‘Everyone has a unique relationship with their father,’ Alfie tells us. ‘And for us, distilling that relationship down to alcohol and toolkits feels disingenuous.’
‘The cards on the market spoke to one or two kinds of fatherhood,’ Jacob explains. ‘They ranged from saccharine: “you’re the best Daddy in the world!” to insulting: “you’re a grumpy old shit and you smell of farts.” Neither of those felt right to give to our Dad; surely the truth is somewhere in the middle?’
Since then, the brothers have introduced their greeting card start up. Their bestsellers include: “You Are Cerebral And Secretive About Your Childhood”, “You Rarely Say I Love You But You Show It By Helping With My Student Loans", and "You Had A Complicated Relationship With Your Own Father And This Has Reflected Greatly On Your Parenting Style, But It’s Obvious That You’re Trying To Break the Cycle”.
‘While less pithy, we feel that these slogans really represent what it’s like to have a dad,’ Jacob says. The resourceful pair are planning to break into the Mothers’ Day market, aiming their products at mothers who don’t care for watercolour flowers and teddy bears holding balloons.
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