Cast your mind back to 2020 (if you can bare it). Most of us were stuck at home with little to do, bored of Zoom quizzes and Instagram posts of people making banana bread.
And while we were consistently sat doomscrolling online, an unforgettable meme was born.
Four blokes went viral on social media simply because of their outfits. No, it wasn’t a bunch of Marvel actors at a premiere or members of One Direction reuniting.
It was simply just Alex Lacey, Kevin Rooney, Connor Humpage and Jamie Philips standing outside a bar. Four Lads in Jeans, obviously.
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Originally taken in 2019, a lad posted a snap with his mates to Instagram with the caption: “Tight trousers chose us.”
And a year later, especially on X, the photo of the very-tightly trousered blokes went absolutely viral, picking up thousands and thousands of views and likes for the many memes born from it. Sea shanty videos were even made of them, the lads were doing interviews and a temporary statue of them even went up for the Birmingham Weekender 2022 art festival.
And now, nearly four years on since its prime, a new 'Four Lads in Jeans' photo has dropped.
Say goodbye to the leg-strangling trousers as the Birmingham boys have moved on to ‘wide legs’ in a photo shared to their creator page and the official Bullring shopping centre account.
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And people are all making the same observation as the lads ditch the skinny jeans.
One joked: “They have beaten the skinny jean wearing allegations,” as many pointed out on X: “Actually mad how fashion trends evolve hahahahah.”
Another even wrote: “Excellent barometer of how the fashion has moved on. Mid 1990s Bill Gates geek chic now.”
As others joked: “Skinny jeans are officially out. They are like the coal mine canaries of men’s fashion in the UK.” One even put: “Bit more normal but that’s worrying.”
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Others were more happy to see them again as they simply put it: “Glad they’re still friends.”
On Instagram, some went so far as to say that ‘skinnies should never have been a trend’ as many said the ‘wide looks sooo much better’.
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And another even joked about the move to those freeing wide-leg trousers: “So happy for their blood circulation.”
The lads spoke to LADbible back during the initial vial days as they were asked if they were OK with the onslaught of memes: “Yeah we've got to be, ain't we?
"Taking the p*ss out of us having like skinny jeans. Well yeah, I'm 6ft 4ins man, I've got skinny legs."
Topics: Fashion, Social Media, Viral, UK News
Jess Battison