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| Et tu, Osborne? Caesar-style makeover for chancellor | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Imogen Fox, head of fashion at the Guardian | Imogen Fox, head of fashion at the Guardian |
| Never mind OBR and GDP, it was how the chancellor has chosen to mask MPB (male pattern baldness) that was subliminally in the spotlight, thanks to the camera angles in the Commons. | Never mind OBR and GDP, it was how the chancellor has chosen to mask MPB (male pattern baldness) that was subliminally in the spotlight, thanks to the camera angles in the Commons. |
| The politics of the George Osborne’s wardrobe have changed radically. A comparison with his look for the autumn statement 2013 exposes the extent of the makeover. | The politics of the George Osborne’s wardrobe have changed radically. A comparison with his look for the autumn statement 2013 exposes the extent of the makeover. |
| His hair, once swept back like a beaver, now sharp, Caesarish and possibly familiar with Just for Men. His 2013 jowls now so 5:2-ed into oblivion that you half expect to see a jawbone device as he gesticulated from the front bench. His suit, while still unshowy and midnight blue, now at least well-fitting. The overall effect is a tilt at looking more slick CEO than slack chancellor. | His hair, once swept back like a beaver, now sharp, Caesarish and possibly familiar with Just for Men. His 2013 jowls now so 5:2-ed into oblivion that you half expect to see a jawbone device as he gesticulated from the front bench. His suit, while still unshowy and midnight blue, now at least well-fitting. The overall effect is a tilt at looking more slick CEO than slack chancellor. |
| Cabinet ministers are no less immune to a mid-40s wardrobe crisis than the rest of us. What is noteworthy – judging by the way Osborne rattled off billions and percentages – is that he is familiar with the tactic of obfuscation. And nothing distracts like an image reinvention. | Cabinet ministers are no less immune to a mid-40s wardrobe crisis than the rest of us. What is noteworthy – judging by the way Osborne rattled off billions and percentages – is that he is familiar with the tactic of obfuscation. And nothing distracts like an image reinvention. |
| Many people will have taken in more of his haircut than the detail of the statement. The chancellor knows full well that since conference season his new look has been under scrutiny. The way he nervously fidgeted with his hair pre-performance revealed that he believes he has set his long-term tonsorial forecasts reasonably high. He wanted good hair on Wednesday because he knows it counts politically as well as personally. | Many people will have taken in more of his haircut than the detail of the statement. The chancellor knows full well that since conference season his new look has been under scrutiny. The way he nervously fidgeted with his hair pre-performance revealed that he believes he has set his long-term tonsorial forecasts reasonably high. He wanted good hair on Wednesday because he knows it counts politically as well as personally. |
| What next for the post-makeover Osborne in the runup to the election? We predict he will embrace wearable tech with the presence of | What next for the post-makeover Osborne in the runup to the election? We predict he will embrace wearable tech with the presence of |
| Teo van den Broeke, senior style editor at Esquire | Teo van den Broeke, senior style editor at Esquire |
| George Osborne’s image problem is not just that his job has been to deliver deeply depressing news at deeply depressing times, it has also been the way in which he has delivered it. | George Osborne’s image problem is not just that his job has been to deliver deeply depressing news at deeply depressing times, it has also been the way in which he has delivered it. |
| With his flyaway wisp of boring brown hair, that profiterole face and his slightly sour demeanour, the chancellor was not the kind of man who should have been tasked with dispensing bad tidings. But in the past year, Osborne has given himself a bit of a makeover – if the rumours are true, government adviser Thea Rogers has had a hand in it too. Not only has the chancellor shed his ample tummy by trotting around St James’s park every day and following the 5:2 diet – which involves restricting calorie intake for two days a week – he’s also cultivating an impressively subtle perma-tan, he’s wearing suits that actually fit (just look at today’s impeccably cut navy number. And that tie!), and he’s had his hair cut to resemble a latter-day Julius Caesar. Or Maximus Decimus Meridius. | With his flyaway wisp of boring brown hair, that profiterole face and his slightly sour demeanour, the chancellor was not the kind of man who should have been tasked with dispensing bad tidings. But in the past year, Osborne has given himself a bit of a makeover – if the rumours are true, government adviser Thea Rogers has had a hand in it too. Not only has the chancellor shed his ample tummy by trotting around St James’s park every day and following the 5:2 diet – which involves restricting calorie intake for two days a week – he’s also cultivating an impressively subtle perma-tan, he’s wearing suits that actually fit (just look at today’s impeccably cut navy number. And that tie!), and he’s had his hair cut to resemble a latter-day Julius Caesar. Or Maximus Decimus Meridius. |
| In addition to his new super-groomed aesthetic, Osborne has also been photographed wearing hi-vis jackets on several factory visits over the past year. A far cry from the uppity prefect look he was sporting in 2010, this svelte, urbane chancellor – as happy wearing a Savile Row two-piece as he is wearing the uniform of a blue-collar worker – is a far sweeter pill to swallow. | In addition to his new super-groomed aesthetic, Osborne has also been photographed wearing hi-vis jackets on several factory visits over the past year. A far cry from the uppity prefect look he was sporting in 2010, this svelte, urbane chancellor – as happy wearing a Savile Row two-piece as he is wearing the uniform of a blue-collar worker – is a far sweeter pill to swallow. |