The French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has urged civil servants to trade shirts and ties for woollen polo necks under their suits. It’s part of a drive to heat ministries to no warmer than 19°C – a policy that is compulsory in all government buildings except hospitals and care homes. French petit fonctionnaires can take inspiration from President Emmanuel Macron, who has been leading by example in a classic black polo neck. Ca chauffe!
Le Maire’s suggestion has been criticised right and left. The leader of the opposition, Marine Le Pen, tweeted ‘Don’t have enough heating? Let them wear cashmere’, and Gaspard Gantzer, a former adviser to the socialist president Francois Hollande, labelled the idea ‘grotesque and paternalistic’. The economist Thomas Porter told France Inter Radio: ‘I don’t expect an economy minister for the sixth or seventh economy in the world to tell me to put a polo neck on. That’s for my mother or grandmother to do.’
Well, Thomas, sometimes grand-mère knows best. Of course it would be helpful if politicians were able to come up with energy policies that didn’t cost the Earth, or ruin it, but given the dire state of global affairs and the chilly winter we all face, Le Maire’s suggestion is actually a good one. It’s cost-effective, easily attainable and more importantly, it’s incredibly chic.
No central heating necessary for Monsieur Macron. He is strong. He is tough. And thankfully he looks a darn sight better in a polo neck than Matt Hancock
After all, is the polo neck not the national dress of France? Playwright Samuel Beckett famously wore one after moving to Paris, and what would a French mime be without theirs?
Granted, the polo neck is risky. Some faces just look silly without a visible nape. When Matt Hancock appeared on the Diary of a CEO podcast in a polo neck, he was widely mocked. But our friends across the Channel understand the art of the polo neck. The French realise that, whatever Russia is doing to the energy markets, the polo neck is here to stay.
The turtleneck has a whiff of radicalism and has been a political statement for at least 50 years – from Gloria Steinem to the Black Panthers. It subtly signals a rejection of norms. Macron is joining the long and noble tradition with a canny sartorial statement. No central heating necessary for Monsieur Macron. He is strong. He is tough. And thankfully he looks a darn sight better in a polo neck than Matt Hancock. As do almost all women.
I know plenty of people who could benefit from a bit of government mandated fashion instruction. The past few seasons have shown us that covering-up is in. Gone are the 2000s trends of micro mini-skirts and spaghetti straps; hemlines are lower and necklines are higher. There is no neckline higher than the polo neck (other than a burka, which might be partly why French policymakers are so opposed to them).
Many unfairly associate the polo neck with 1970s dads, but there is plenty of evidence to demonstrate that the polo neck can work for everyone. Whether you’re an actress (Audrey Hepburn), a model (Jane Birkin), a tech billionaire (Steve Jobs), the greatest tennis player of all time (Roger Federer), James Bond himself (Sean Connery) or a multi million-dollar scammer (Elizabeth Holmes), the polo neck is an outward and visible sign that there is nothing you cannot achieve and nobody you can’t rip off.
Of course, Le Maire’s suggestion prompted a furore. That’s what happens when politicians give advice. But our leaders might be wise to follow the French lead. The energy crisis calls for solutions that are easy to achieve, cost effective, environmentally conscious and on top of all that, chic. Vive la France! Vive le polo!
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