Two days ago, Lily Allen debuted her latest nail art spectacle – tiny glittery marijuana leaves painted painstakingly onto her fashionably pointed talons. (This is just weeks after she’d was spotted out in a bright green pot print sweater.) Just five days prior, Miley was spotted careering around London after her G-A-Y performance, toting a weed clutch. And Cara’s also been seen frolicking on a Cancun beach in a weed tee, before sharing an Instagrammed pot smoke ring with her 5.3 million followers on April 20th’s 4/20, the global day to celebrate the green herb.
Yup, weed clothing and accessorising is now ‘A Thing’. The green leaf motif is no longer a furtive wardrobe presence, available only on Camden’s shadier market stalls; the Class B drug is printed boldly across T-shirts, its presence rife across the internet and in high street chains like Urban Outfitters. And for every ‘risqué’ pop princess/social media supermodel wearing it, there’s a girl in her teens or twenties in a Smithson sweater, a pair of HUF socks, or a UNIF crop top. In fact, you could argue that weed clothing is now so prevalent it's more kitsch than it is controversial.
Still, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised? It’s usual for shifts in social culture to transmute into our clothing choices – the modern bra-burning, if you will – and there’s no doubt that the pressure to legalise weed (particularly in the US) has made it a consistently hot topic, leading to an increased urge to cover your tits with the printed cannabis plant. This year’s 4/20 held in Denver was the biggest yet since its genus in 1971, because revellers were finally able to openly celebrate marijuana's legalisation in Colorado, which only happened earlier this year.
There are now even apps that allow you to geo-locate marijuana dispenseries in the USA – such as Weedmaps, of which CEO Justin Hartfield recently said, ‘We’re professionals and we smoke weed all the time. You can do both now in 2014.’ Seems that the same applies to wearing weed.
Cannabis Leaf Choker, £3.80, MooingAtOwls at Etsy, and Weed Shirt, £62.37, UNIF at Dolls Kill
But this isn’t just about smoking it. It’s about wearing it – regardless of whether you do or don’t smoke weed. So why are people wearing it with such gusto? ‘The Plantlife print is just something that really speaks to the HUF philosophy,’ the people behind HUF's weed socks – that are currently selling like hotcakes – told The Debrief. ‘We’ve definitely had some criticism here and there. We’ve received multiple emails recently from students and parents informing us that HUF as a brand in general has been “banned” or they’ve been suspended from their school. These schools argue that “HUF” is a code word for “marijuana”... with a little research they'd find that “HUF” is HUF-founder Keith Hufnagel's nickname and that the print is only really a Japanese Maple Leaf!’
Which is an interesting point. Whether or not you wear the clothing is not always indicative of how you feel about weed on a consumer level – and vice versa. But HUF do admit a lot of their customers are wearing their stuff ‘for the shock factor’. So is weed clothing the right side of provocative? Or no different than a five-year-old flashing her knickers for attention at her birthday party?
Smoke Grass Skinny Jeans, £43.46, Tripp at Dolls Kill, and Cannabis Swimsuit, £6.98, painhome at eBay
It’s incurred heavy debate at The Debrief HQ. News Editor, Sophie Wilkinson, buries her head in her hands. ‘It’s deliberately asking for trouble, in a way that’s quite safe. If you’re going to be rebellious, [don’t bother to wear it], smoke a spliff! It reminds me of [Alexander Wang's] Parental Advisory jumpers, which I found a bit puerile.’ However, Features Editor Sophie Cullinane finds the whole thing quite funny. ‘I think it’s not something to be taken too seriously. If you like kitsch dressing you're gonna get it and if you don't, you probably won’t.’ Picture Editor, Anna Jay – frequently seen in a jazzy pair of HUF’s pink and red weed socks – just likes the pretty colours. ‘I don’t smoke it,’ says Anna, ‘But I love the HUF colours!’
Essentials Plant Life Socks in White/ Pink, £8.32, HUF, and I Love Weed Sweatshirt, £25, Smithson at Urban Outfitters
Divided opinions aside, though, it’s clear this a booming trade. You only need to type in ‘weed clothing’ to Dolls Kill, Shop Jeen or Etsy to build your perfect cannabis capsule wardrobe. Some of it’s fun, if you like that kind of thing. Some of it’s strange. But all of it we wouldn’t recommend you wearing to a job interview. Unless it’s at Weedsmap, of course.
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Pictures: Rex, @lilyallen, Splash
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.