MAN FRIDAY ADD A TOUCH OF SWAGGER WITH A BRIGHT, JAZZY SHIRT
David Beckham isn’t afraid to camp it up in a Versace shirt. And why not, says Stephen Doig
For some it’s the polite chatter of Wimbledon, for others it’s the Queen’s departure to Balmoral. As far as I’m concerned, summer is not summer until the sight of Elton John in a fabulously garish holiday attire emerges: like that first taste of Solero, but wrapped in Versace gold gilt. Like the blooming of a rare orchid, it’s an occasion that’s all the sweeter for its scarcity; whether being carried by four brawny minders aboard the tender to his yacht in St Tropez or hosting the Beckhams on said pleasure cruiser, as he did this week, he joyously applies his stage show swagger to his off duty getaway get-up. And his style is all the more refreshing for it.
It’s a sentiment that his friend Mr Beckham has run with, snapped this week seeing out the
last days of summer with a sartorial bang by his wife Victoria, who shared a photo of him slumbering in a wildly opulent Versace shirt to match Elton John’s Medusa-heavy decor.
Beckham has perhaps been the most influential, and experimental, figure in the world of men’s fashion in the last two decades, no stranger to boundary pushing via his sarongs, head bands and spray-on (Versace, again) leathers. As the Instagram accounts of both the John-furnishes and the Beckhams prove, both camps are embracing, well, camp for their end of summer peacock display.
And why not? Most men spend their working lives in corporate uniforms, so you can’t blame a fellow for embracing a touch of exuberance as he changes for aperitivo time, and there’s something particularly joyous about seeing a fellow who spends his life in greiges and navys (not that Elton John or Beckham do) liven up his wardrobe a little. Likewise it’s boom time for the jazzy shirt contingent; the normally minimalist and austere Prada has created a range of bombastic bright shirts and Versace’s neon and gold tendril silk shirts – a staple of the Nineties – are staging a comeback.
If you’re tempted into more razzmatazz, a couple of guidelines are advisable. Steer clear of the children’s TV entertainer connotations by muting down the rest of your wardrobe; see Beckham’s pristine white trousers with his multihued shirt. Likewise, leave it for occasions that call for a touch of high campery: a continental wedding or festive cocktail event, rather than Sunday lunch with the in-laws.
And while images of the biscuit-tanned Beckham are preferable to this Scotsman’s newborn-fishpale visage, you might have clocked that this very byline picture has morphed from the suit and tie of an ITV newsreader to a fruity pink shirt that even Widow Twankey might deem too bells-andwhistles. In these dismal times, sometimes the only blast of merriment available is a jazzy patterned shirt.