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Diary

Oscar Humphries

Wednesday, 26th September 2007

London Fashion Week is one of those events, like the Lib Dem Conference and the Max Power show, that is important to a few people but passes most of us by.

I haven’t really been paying attention to the party conferences. The Liberal party conference seemed to be the Kazakhstan Fashion Week of party conferences. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sir Menzies Campbell telling people he isn’t too old. I’m not sure I’m with him on that and think the lady doth protest too much. Someone has obviously told Gordon Brown to smile — the ghost of Tony Blair perhaps. Not mentioning Cameron once in his speech seemed a little harsh. Ignoring him completely suggested to me that Brown regards him an entirely benevolent enemy. Gordon Brown has some new suits, made for him by the tailor Timothy Everest. I’d been considering commissioning Everest to make me a teen-chav-provoking suit. I’d requested generous ‘terms’ and was waiting to hear back. Even if he offered me 0 per cent over a year, I wouldn’t want one of his suits. Being patronised by a politician, especially one like Gordon Brown, is the death knell of the tailor. Politicians should be more like bank managers — safe and drab. I wonder if the tailor who hides Prescott’s ample folds in navy-blue wool boasts about it. I think not.

Oscar Humphries is a contributing editor of The Spectator.

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