What The Latest Video Should Be Wearing

Posted on September 28th, 2008 Comments Off

Forget fashion gurus, catwalks or magazines. If you want to know how to look cool take a look at the economy.

Looking at newsreels of the post-war depression what is immediately obvious is how well-dressed everybody is.

Times were not just hard, they were desperate; the needy were down to eating the leather from their shoes but only the soles – the uppers were polished like glass, the men all wore suits and ties and womenfolk put on ball-gowns to queue for soup.

It didn’t stop at clothing, either. Spurred on by film stars who used corks to effect their elocution, everybody tried to speak the Queen’s English as if they were auditioning for an announcer’s job at the BBC. In 1981 – pre-Falklands and the defeat of the unions – the economy was in trouble, the country was depressed and everybody tried to behave like Sebastian or Julia from Brideshead Revisited (OK Yah!).

Along come the boom times and what happens? The BEEB won’t touch you unless you are a full-on Geordie, Scouse or Jimmy. Builder’s Bum is pre-requisite if you want to get laid, the less talented you are the more likely it is that you will be celebretised and if you are born middle-class to plumy parents raised during an economic slump you’re only hope is to take an intensive course at the Wigan School of Charm and hope the breeding doesn’t peep through. Printers have long-since dumped their embossing machines and spell-checking is only used to ensure that text-speak appears at least once in every sentence. Online it’s the same; YouTube is full of politicians and dull brands desperately trying to gain some street cred.

All this is about to change with the credit crunch upon us. Fannie and Freddie have set the fashion trend for the next period, not Trinny and Suzannah. It’s time to remove that tattoo, practice the Windsor knot and drink tea with your pinkie sticking out.

Oh, and if you want your video to be taken seriously, put it in a bespoke player & emboss it with your brand. Everyone will want to know what you’re wearing.

The comments are closed.