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| What’s the point of trousergate? It’s a way of dressing up another Brexit row What’s the point of trousergate? It’s a way of dressing up another Brexit row | |
| (1 day later) | |
| Who cares what men wear? Not even men! In 2011, when Boris Johnson was mayor of London, he opened London Fashion Week, and when asked what he was wearing at the launch, replied: “I don’t know … a suit.” When a woman in politics can be this nonchalant about her clothes, we might really be getting somewhere. Until then, we are cursed to spend far too much time hearing and thinking about Theresa May’s “bitter chocolate” leather trousers. I already have. Some observations: they are too wipe-clean and too flappy; leather flapping round your ankles is not right, if you ask me; and her Burberry trainers seem a bit weird too. But as I don’t have to wear any of it, I really don’t care. I am liberal like that! I let other people dress themselves without staging an intervention or calling the police. | Who cares what men wear? Not even men! In 2011, when Boris Johnson was mayor of London, he opened London Fashion Week, and when asked what he was wearing at the launch, replied: “I don’t know … a suit.” When a woman in politics can be this nonchalant about her clothes, we might really be getting somewhere. Until then, we are cursed to spend far too much time hearing and thinking about Theresa May’s “bitter chocolate” leather trousers. I already have. Some observations: they are too wipe-clean and too flappy; leather flapping round your ankles is not right, if you ask me; and her Burberry trainers seem a bit weird too. But as I don’t have to wear any of it, I really don’t care. I am liberal like that! I let other people dress themselves without staging an intervention or calling the police. |
| May wore the trousers recently for a magazine shoot, and they have apparently been judged by Nicky Morgan, former education secretary, to have been too extravagant. They cost nearly a grand, and the argument goes that only someone out-of-touch would spend that much on clothes. | May wore the trousers recently for a magazine shoot, and they have apparently been judged by Nicky Morgan, former education secretary, to have been too extravagant. They cost nearly a grand, and the argument goes that only someone out-of-touch would spend that much on clothes. |
| These poor trousers have been working overtime: soft leather worn by a hard Brexiter. In fact, they’ve been working so hard that they now seem to have taken on a whole independent life of their own and are involved in a spat with a Mulberry bag – also allegedly expensive – owned by Nicky Morgan. One day children will be heard asking: “Where were you in the great leather goods war, Mummy?” | These poor trousers have been working overtime: soft leather worn by a hard Brexiter. In fact, they’ve been working so hard that they now seem to have taken on a whole independent life of their own and are involved in a spat with a Mulberry bag – also allegedly expensive – owned by Nicky Morgan. One day children will be heard asking: “Where were you in the great leather goods war, Mummy?” |
| Or of course they won’t, because all this is simply dressing up a row over Brexit between May and a significant part of her party, who want a much softer Brexit than she appears to be pushing for. Boris Johnson is allowed a serious spat with May, based on international relations, specifically diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia. But May and Morgan’s actual disagreement is being reduced by all around them to some fashion slapdown. | Or of course they won’t, because all this is simply dressing up a row over Brexit between May and a significant part of her party, who want a much softer Brexit than she appears to be pushing for. Boris Johnson is allowed a serious spat with May, based on international relations, specifically diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia. But May and Morgan’s actual disagreement is being reduced by all around them to some fashion slapdown. |
| Given that Morgan has vowed to be ‘a thorn in May's side', not much love appears to be lost between the two of them | Given that Morgan has vowed to be ‘a thorn in May's side', not much love appears to be lost between the two of them |
| Given that May sacked Morgan as education secretary the minute she could, and Morgan has vowed to be “a thorn in her side”, not much love appears to be lost between the two of them. Texts from May’s aide, Fiona Hill, to Morgan, about not wanting her in a meeting – one text ended “so there” – are utterly childish, but so are Morgan’s remarks about never having spent as much on an item of clothing as May has spent on her posh trews. | Given that May sacked Morgan as education secretary the minute she could, and Morgan has vowed to be “a thorn in her side”, not much love appears to be lost between the two of them. Texts from May’s aide, Fiona Hill, to Morgan, about not wanting her in a meeting – one text ended “so there” – are utterly childish, but so are Morgan’s remarks about never having spent as much on an item of clothing as May has spent on her posh trews. |
| The ensuing sanctimony about how much people receive in jobseeker’s allowance each week misses the point that male politicians regularly spend this kind of money on clothes. David Cameron apparently had suits costing more than £3,000. Women’s clothes are always frippery, luxury and always deemed unsuitable by someone, somewhere. No wonder Hillary Clinton and Angela Merkel developed their own uniforms – the pantsuit and the black trousers with interchangeable jacket respectively. May likes to signal something beyond her straight-edged locked-down persona through her shoes, asymmetrical necklines and block colours. This is potentially as near as we might get to a clear sense of her personality. | The ensuing sanctimony about how much people receive in jobseeker’s allowance each week misses the point that male politicians regularly spend this kind of money on clothes. David Cameron apparently had suits costing more than £3,000. Women’s clothes are always frippery, luxury and always deemed unsuitable by someone, somewhere. No wonder Hillary Clinton and Angela Merkel developed their own uniforms – the pantsuit and the black trousers with interchangeable jacket respectively. May likes to signal something beyond her straight-edged locked-down persona through her shoes, asymmetrical necklines and block colours. This is potentially as near as we might get to a clear sense of her personality. |
| The sniping here about clothes is proxy for something else. Mutual dislike and political disagreement, something that goes on every day of the week in politics, has been given legs by its treatment as essentially female behaviour. | The sniping here about clothes is proxy for something else. Mutual dislike and political disagreement, something that goes on every day of the week in politics, has been given legs by its treatment as essentially female behaviour. |
| Now that Morgan has been seen with that Mulberry bag, which also apparently cost nearly a grand, we must read this latest leather item as a terrible blow to the soft Brexit position that Morgan represents. Or something. A bag is never just a bag. Remember the obsession with Margaret Thatcher’s handbag? What did she keep in there? What Freudian treasure trove do women hide in their purses? Morgan’s roomy bag now signifies some vast hypocrisy. | Now that Morgan has been seen with that Mulberry bag, which also apparently cost nearly a grand, we must read this latest leather item as a terrible blow to the soft Brexit position that Morgan represents. Or something. A bag is never just a bag. Remember the obsession with Margaret Thatcher’s handbag? What did she keep in there? What Freudian treasure trove do women hide in their purses? Morgan’s roomy bag now signifies some vast hypocrisy. |
| So, by their leather items ye shall know them. I am glad to see the future of Europe is being fought through a war of accessories. All of it is a huge displacement activity as the reality sinks in that we have years ahead of being bored rigid by Brexit. | So, by their leather items ye shall know them. I am glad to see the future of Europe is being fought through a war of accessories. All of it is a huge displacement activity as the reality sinks in that we have years ahead of being bored rigid by Brexit. |
| Forget the trousers. This is about how May handles dissent in her own party. Banning Morgan and her bag from meetings just makes her look insecure and over-defensive. May can wear a tutu or a wetsuit, made of leather or not, but she is going to need a much thicker hide if she is going to hold her party together. | Forget the trousers. This is about how May handles dissent in her own party. Banning Morgan and her bag from meetings just makes her look insecure and over-defensive. May can wear a tutu or a wetsuit, made of leather or not, but she is going to need a much thicker hide if she is going to hold her party together. |