The Basement is the best place on the internet right now

Oscar Wilde, one of those guys who literally never stopped mouthing off, once said that a map of the world without utopia isn’t worth glancing at. For a long time we’ve chased the idea a perfect world, blood’s been spilt, kings have been beheaded, dictatorships established and we’ve never got any closer to it. Until now – until quietly – with a minimum of fuss and a total lack of guillotined aristocrats, a Facebook group called The Basement became the best place on the internet, and the closest thing to utopia human beings will ever establish.

You know the internet. You (painfully) grew up on it. You know that an online argument is to daily life what war is to peacetime. In an online argument, everybody on the other side isn’t just bad – they’re evil, and they need to be destroyed. Anyone who’s gone viral could tell you that. The internet, by and large, is a bad place where you behave more badly than you would in real life.

The Basement is completely different and it’s hard to put into words how and why it’s different to outsiders. The Basement is a Facebook group for the sale and discussion of streetwear. That’s all it’s supposed to be. But what makes it special is the culture and the way it’s become something more than just a place where you can get a really good deal on a Supreme varsity jacket.

It’s organic

Fashion has always been stagey and curated, more performance than real life. On The Basement you can see different styles of clothing, put together by a real person who’s wearing them, rather than being sold a lie by a slick magazine or Insta account.

It’s people wearing good clothes, all day, every day.

It’s less hassle than eBay

There are more streetwear bargains on The Basement than anywhere else online. And there are bargains everywhere:

I rate this. 

Would cop these. 

Can’t get these in JD Sports. 

It’s friendly

If you’re a dick the admins will find you and they will remove you. The result: there are no dicks on the basement. You can come to The Basement show off your new 35mm shots and the replies you’ll get will be “nice shots”, “cool shots”,  “liiiiiit”. This is community without rinsing. If you posted like this anywhere on the internet the trolls would come for you.

Your questions will be answered

There are 44,000 people in here and they’re all tight as fuck. If you need to know something about streetwear, this is the place.

Everyone lives like a king

Seriously. There was a shout out about people’s rooms and they were all amazing.

It’s exclusivity can boost your self-esteem (if you’re looking for that kind of thing)

Life can be a cold, harrowing disappointment. Sometimes you just want to belong to something, to feel greater than yourself. If you’re into sneakers and you’re looking to add meaning to your pitiful existence then The Basement is for you. Your friends haven’t heard of it, so being part of it can be an easy way to feel better than them. You can start saying things like “The first rule of The Basement is that you don’t talk about The Basement” as everyone within a five-mile radius rolls their eyes.

It’s turned into something that goes beyond good clothes

People come to the Basement for good deals on Reebok classics and they end up asking for advice about their girlfriends. I don’t want to get too moist here but it’s usually good advice, unbiased and helpful. A whole generation of people who know the difference between Air Jordans and Janoskis are using it as a help forum. Streetwear is the common foundation, but they’ve ended discussing their lives, relationships, music, pets, what they had for lunch – everything.

So one guy wrote:

Basement fam i need help, so around September last year I meet this chick we get on well we have some fun but nothing serious. Then after a few weeks she airs me and we don’t talk for a week or two. Then around Halloween we throw a party and she’s there, we getting on well, we start hanging out again and we start going out properly, we have fun together, partying together, end up getting really close, meeting all each others friends and family and what and falling for each other, then I just found out during the week she aired me she fucked some other guy, and now everyone knows. I’m so torn because she means a lot to me and we’ve become really close, but this has really hurt me, serious advice please?

And then the first reply was so on point:

You weren’t together when it happened, don’t get hung up on retroactive jealousy.

Fin.

There’s cool shit on it every day

How often does someone on Cuntry Living hike seven hours to the Democratic Republic of Congo – Rwanda border through some of the thickest mud on Earth? Not that often. And if they did the comments underneath would be a hellscape of accusation and counter accusation written by a load of Oxbridge types who have never had sex before. On The Basement everyone likes the picture and describes it using the word “badass”.