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Adrian Barich’s 19 January 2023 PerthNow opinion piece treats eshays as the latest youth subculture to attract attention in Perth, while comparing them with earlier groups such as bodgies, widgies, mods, rockers and skinheads. His account offers a columnist’s snapshot of style, slang and belonging—not a survey of all young people who identify with the label.
What Barich’s Perth account describes
Barich says his interest began after hearing about a reported ban on red shoes at a Hillarys nightclub. Prompted by his children, he set out to understand the youth culture behind the label “eshay.” The examples in his piece reflect what he encountered and how he interpreted it in Perth in January 2023.
Clothing and style
Among the items Barich associates with the look are Gucci-style bags, Nautica shirts, track pants and Nike Air Max Plus sneakers, often called Nike TNs. He also mentions fake TNs. These are examples from his column, not a standard uniform or proof that every person described as an eshay wears them.
Slang and local references
Barich gives “Eetswa” and “Ashcay” as examples of language associated with the group. He also writes that saying “6061” can summon eshays from that postcode. Those details are his descriptions of local usage, not evidence that the terms or reference are universal.
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What the label means—and what is uncertain
The origin of “eshay” is unsettled. Mark Gwynn of the Australian National Dictionary Centre told the ABC that a Pig Latin connection to “yes” is a stronger candidate, while stressing the uncertainty: “So it looks like yes might be more a stronger candidate so to speak.” Gwynn said there is no firm evidence for the proposed derivation from “sesh.” ABC’s report and interview with Mark Gwynn explains the competing suggestions.
Gwynn also cautions against treating eshays as a group with one background: it is a cultural grouping, and its members do not all come from the same school or class. That distinction matters when reading a column that uses a few recognisable details to describe a broader label.
Belonging and the comparison with earlier subcultures
Barich interprets the appeal of eshay identity partly as a desire to belong. He also speculates that it can be a way for young people to assert power in a society that treats them as second-class citizens. Those are his explanations, not findings established by a study in the column.
His historical comparison places eshays alongside bodgies, widgies, mods, rockers and skinheads. The analogy rests on broad similarities in clothing and style, shared language, and the role of identity and belonging. It does not establish a direct line of influence or continuity between these groups, nor does it show that members of any one group were alike.
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Barich’s piece is useful as a dated, Perth-specific account of how one columnist described a youth subculture and its place in a longer sequence of public fascination with youth styles. It should not be read as a current survey, an ethnographic study, or a definitive guide to who eshays are. The original appeared as opinion on 19 January 2023: PerthNow: “Eshays just the latest in long line of sub-cultures to hit Perth”.
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