Breaktime - Yoofspeak

24th June 2011, 1:00am

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Breaktime - Yoofspeak

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/breaktime-yoofspeak-16

Crepz or crep (n)

Means Footwear, especially stylish trainers

Usage “Check out Shaz’s well propa crepz.”

“She’s only got one top but she’s got bare crep.”

Ash hi-tops? Vintage Nike Air Force Ones? Old-skool orange Pumas? The debate rages on among the young and kewl. What you wear on your feet has long been crucial for teen style, especially in our own culture where school uniforms severely limit the poor dears’ capacity for self-expression. If you eavesdrop on playground conversations or visit online messageboards, an amazing proportion of talk-time is devoted to laces, eyelets, nuances of colour and texture and pull-on-ability, key components in the Yoof’s shoe fetish. For US hip-hop, “kicks” is the popular slang, but the mot juste right across this country has been in vogue for at least a decade. It’s not clear how and when the Yoof acquired it, but crepe-soled suede shoes were worn by upper-class cads in the 1940s, mutating into the “creepers” (originally “brothel-creepers”) favoured by Teddy Boys, Rockabilly fans and punks.

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