Why The Repeated Trashing Of British Fashion Sense?

No, not by us! By their countrymen, who, today, ask two burning questions: “Do Rich Yanks Dress Better than Rich Brits?” and “Why DO British men on holiday dress like oversized toddlers?” (Okay, “burning” might be an exaggeration):

Leaving aside the supremacy of inventive British fashion, you’d think, after Sunday’s loss to Germany and the attendant Wembley goal mishigas, the British press could lay off for a few days. (And we use “press” loosely, since one of the quoted writers is professional crank Liz Jones.) But no. So egregious, apparently, are the sartorial crimes of the nation’s rich people and travelers that both must be held up for public scrutiny.

First up is the ever-misanthropic Jones, who proclaims her countrymen on parade to be “monstrosities.” On a recent jaunt to the airport, “There were hairy thighs on show, and armpits (I don’t want a bare male armpit hovering inches from my nose as I settle in my seat). There were man boobs and, worse, bulky, dirty rucksacks.” (Jones does not, naturally, distinguish between people’s God-given bodies and the accessories they choose to carry; it’s all offensive to her.)

So much for the plebes. But, to hear the Telegraph‘s Harry Mount tell it, the wealthy are just as monstrous. To wit, says Mount, check out the assemblage of international rich men recently on display at a New York polo match. While the Yanks sport some awful-sounding combo of linen and studiedly-unbuttoned pink shirts, “the British rich still tend to be a little more shabby.”

There have been rumblings about a distinct coolness between US and British governments in the wake of both the BP disaster and the Churchill Bust Affair. This was invoked, in stentorian fashion, before the two nations faced off in South Africa. But when the countries’ rich men are competing for least-offensive douche-suit, things have gone too far. Can’t we just agree that all these people are rich, and travelers of both our lands look ridiculous?

Prince Harry’s New York Polo Match – Ideal Habitat For The New American Preppy [Guardian]
Why DO British Men On Holiday Dress Like Oversized Toddlers? [Daily Mail]