Watkinson STYLE AND SUBSTANCE
A VERY wise five-yearold recently explained to me a theory about happiness, it was so simple yet profound: imagine you are carrying an invisible bucket, the bucket contains your happiness, it can be filled by something as simple as a smile, yours or one you receive, by doing something kind for someone or hearing a funny story. Likewise your bucket can be depleted by a cross word or mean behaviour. Someone who filled all our buckets with happiness during the first lockdown was Captain Sir Tom Moore. Along with our proverbial buckets, he filled the coffers of NHS charities to the tune of £38m by doing sponsored laps of his garden, breaking world records for fundraising. Now Captain Sir Tom has broken another record, as the oldest ever cover star of GQ magazine.
The 100-year-old veteran is pictured looking resplendent in the January issue. Wearing his dinner jacket and draped in the Union flag, he looks every inch the national hero he has become.
But Captain Tom is no stranger to looking dapper. During his daily fundraising he was always immaculately dressed in his regimental tie, a perfectly pressed shirt under his pristine blazer, his military medals polished to perfection.
While the majority of us are still reaching for anything with an elastic waist, Captain Tom is debonair. The shot of him standing next to his trusty walking frame is nothing short of iconic.
The hollow nature of fame was highlighted during lockdown. When, for a few months there was nowhere to go and nothing to “plug”, celebrities became irrelevant.
In 2020 our heroes have to have more substance, which is why Burberry chose footballer Marcus Rashford MBE to front its youth charity campaign. Burberry released an image of Rashford wearing its signature checked scarf as a cape – a reference to him being a hero.
The Manchester United star has made headlines for his campaign to end child food poverty, and caused the Government to make two U-turns over providing free meals during the school holidays. Using his platform for good, he blew apart the stereotype of greedy footballers. A modern-day hero and now the face of Burberry.
2020 may have been a rough year, but our style icon game is strong, 2021 has a lot to live up to.