If you do any of these obscure 29 things, you’re officially radiating dadcore vibes

Dadcore. The fashion and lifestyle trend that pays homage to 90s ladette culture and the reassurance of today’s blokette culture. The aesthetic is associated with symbols of fatherhood and has made the un-fashionable, fashionable. Dadcore is flipping “cool” on its head and pushes the boundaries for how far we can push typically ugly, practical, chunky garms into the hottest new trends. Dadcore music is anything found in your dad’s mucky CD collection in the glove compartment. Dadcore lifestyle consists of dad jokes like “hi hungry, I’m dad”, patting techniques in places of hugging and go-to conversations about the bloody traffic – “I told you leaving at this time would mean Friday rush hour”.

The girlies are swapping coquette bows for blokette beers. All you need is a tin of Stella in hand, anything that could have been pulled out of your dad’s wardrobe, as long as you paid £20 for plus shipping on Depop, and a iPod nano chockablock with Britpop and dadcore anthems. Dadcore is an ode to dressing as a physical representation of the paternal midlife crisis, the grim turned cool.

Time to load up the Citroen Picasso and jangle your keys passively aggressively whilst you wait for the kids to catch up and join the dadcore army. If you do any of these 29 things then congratulations, you are dadcore:

1. You wear jorts unironically

The world changed the day jorts became un-ironically fashionable. A baggy jort matched with a baggy t-shirt, or a tucked in t-shirt for the dadcore diehards, and you’re good to go. Adam Sandler has never looked so daddy cool.

2. You call every Uber driver ‘mate’ and an instant bond is formed

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“How’s your night been mate?”, “Busy night mate?”, “Mate, are we mates?”

3. Socks and sandals

Jesus sandals are a must! Birkenstocks with socks aren’t everything, but they’re a great place to start.

4. Football t-shirts

Essentially, if you’re dressing like Smithy from Gavin and Stacey you are doing it right.

5. Your Netflix consists of Peep Show, The Office (UK only) and The IT Crowd

Grainy remnants of the golden Channel 4 days. Peep Show’s Jez is your style icon.

6. Bum bag stuffed with essentials

Dadcore essentials. Tin of Stella, loose change, soft-mints, a screwdriver.

7. Your musical tastes are evocative of your dad’s CD collection in the glove compartment

Anything Britpop will do. Mucky Blur and The Verve CDs, a dash of the Killers and a pulse of Pulp soundtrack your life.

8. You reply with ‘hi hungry, i’m dad’ to any comment regarding someone’s hunger

A niche one. Good alternatives also include: “Hi *insert food craving*, I’m dad” to “I really feel like *insert food craving*today”, and the ever honourable “Hi tired, I’m dad”.

9. You are constantly reminding your flatmates to turn the lights off if they’re not in the room

Gas and leccy babes, come on.

10. You can sleep on any terrain, in any weather

But obviously you never fall asleep on the sofa, you are simply resting your eyes.

11.You shake any piece of furniture to check its in tact

The only way to confirm a structural piece of furniture is secure and in tact is to give it the magic shake. One hand shake will suffice for a sturdy looking piece. The two hand shake is reeled in should there be some unstable structures.

12. No photoshoot is complete until you take a ‘silly one’

Please do a silly one. Your nanna’s 80th just needs to be documented by us sticking our tongues out and doing peace signs behind an unknowing poser’s head. And of course, all of these photos will include cropped out heads and a thumb over the camera lens.

13. Your leg rises like a phoenix every time you sneeze

The walls shake and surrounding folk jump out of their skin.

14: Dogs? We don’t stroke or hug them. We pat them

Because us blokes and blokettes don’t hug. We pat.

15. Your idea of doing the big shop is buying three packs of Sainsbury’s own biscuits, milk, bananas and a Hovis Seed Sensations

You can’t be trusted. One more failed big shop and you’re getting your Nectar card confiscated.

16. You would rather stuff your pockets to the brim than bring a bag with you

Unless it is the mandatory bum bag of course. Otherwise it’s bursting at the seams pockets of your cargo shorts.

The bags under my eyes is the only bag I need #millennial #boomerhumor

17. You call any meal without meat ‘rabbit food’

God forbid the kids become vegan. It’s left wing liberalism gone mad. Meat and two veg forever and always.

18. You smugly ask your pals ‘have you only just gotten up?’ because they’re still in pyjamas, but you’ve been out and about since 6am

I can hear the tone of voice for this one. Cynical, cynical world.

19. You passive aggressively mutter under your breath about traffic

Clue: It’s probably one of the passengers’ fault that you’re now stuck on a pile up on the M25.

20. Your favourite trope of birthday cards are the ones with the crude cartoon characters on it

Captions include, but are not limited to, “happy birthday you old fart” with a cartoon of a man farting, or a social comment on marriage such as the cartoon couple calling each other “old tit”.

21. You use Facebook like it’s your job

Your Facebook comments are always immaculately formally written, and always punctuated. Typ0s ar3 a crucial .

22. Your phone case is the book style one

It’s probably made from leather. It’s definitely peeling to the high heavens. It’s stuffed with vouchers and cards. You dadcores live a chaotic lifestyle.

23. You have a MBE in being rude to waiters

Look. You might not mean to be rude. You might think your tone of voice and humble demands are nothing short of sweetness and light – besides, it’s the service you’re paying for, right? But your friends and family are squirming around the table as they watch you huff and puff about the lack of pale ales on the menu and give the waiter a knowing look. This will be discussed during the car ride home.

24. You have a niche hobby of coin collecting

Job requirements include: Finding niche and potentially valuable vintage coins and looking them up on eBay to see how much you could make from selling them.

25 . You complain about reality TV, yet hover to watch it in the doorway on route to leaving the room

Look dadcores – it’s ok to say you enjoy Love Island. Your half-arsed huffs, puffs and shaking of the head isn’t fooling anyone. You said you were leaving the room 15 minutes ago and yet you’ve been watching from the doorway and have been asking who’s coupled up with who.

26. BBQ season sets your soul alight

You may never step foot in the kitchen all year around, but come BBQ season, the tongs are in your hand, the “Head Barbecue Chef” apron is on and the burgers are on the wrong side of chargrilled.

27. You have the magic touch for temperamental technology

Printer not printing? Oh it’s because you haven’t done the magic tap, turned it on and off again, sold your left kidney and walked away for a bit!

28. You weaned yourself off prosecco and onto pints

Cool girls drink pints.

29. And whilst cargos were once a thing of the past, they are the uniform nowadays

Camo, cord, jean, linen, cotton. Whatever! As long as it starts with C and ends with GO.

Featured image via @pipertoohey, @kmikaelachan and @hannahdavenportsucks on TikTok.

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