You don't forget the first time someone smashes you in the face with a pint of lukewarm piss. It was 2005 and I was 15 years old, standing in the City of Manchester Stadium waiting for Oasis to take the stage. These Oasis homecomings were treated by Mancunians as communal gatherings rather than mere concerts. Think Woodstock, but replace the hippies with English lads in Stone Island charged up on beer and cocaine. It was exhilarating, debauched, at times violent, and completely terrifying.

Ten years earlier, Oasis and southern rivals Blur were at the vanguard of Britpop, an umbrella term for a guitar band movement that rejected the introspection of grunge and all things American. Kurt Cobain was dead and a new wave of UK bands were leading the charge.

Western culture has a knack for dichotomy and Britpop was no different. As the story goes, you had Oasis, "working-class heroes" embodying the gritty spirit of Manchester, and then there was Blur, the "southern softies" more in tune with university students and artisanal latte-drinking Guardian readers. The reality, of course, was a little less black and white.

"At its peak, with the Blur vs. Oasis chart battle was headline news across the country," says Ollie Evans of vintage fashion platform Too Hot Limited. "You couldn’t turn on the TV or radio without people talking about it. It was massive."

The style of the era was mod revivalism but with a football casuals twist. Parkas, polos, track jackets, and bucket hats were the group's core uniform, with a bit of sportswear thrown in for good measure. adidas Gazelles, Levi's 504s, and Stone Island crewnecks became the costume de rigueur for weekend warriors as they swaggered into football stadiums across the country.

Yes, it could be chauvinistic, with many of its traits best left in the past forever, but for the kids of that time — especially those like me who grew up in social housing, who feel out of place in the fashion world and probably always will — it taught us to say "Fuck it." As long as you have a bit of swagger, you'll get by just fine. Just watch out for flying pints of piss.