THE MOST TROUSER-MAD MAN IN BRITAIN!
“They call me ‘Mr Trousers’ ”
MEET Billy Tappit, a factory worker from Ashington in Northumberland. He’s your everyday man – he goes to work, he goes to the pub and he goes to the football on Saturday. But wherever he is, there’s one thing for certain… he’ll be wearing trousers!
He told us: “I love trousers so much that I wear a pair every single day!”
That’s because Billy, 54, is a pantolophile – a fancy word meaning someone obsessed with trousers. And the 54-year-old ex-schoolboy is so mad about these cloth leg coverings that he has now written a book, Trouser Bout That, Then! all about his love for trousers. In it, he tells the fascinating story of a life that has been spent completely and utterly obsessed with trousers.
Billy’s eccentric behaviour has led to him becoming a bit of a celebrity in the Ashington and Newbiggin area where he lives. “Folk call me ‘Mr Trousers’ because it’s all I ever wear,” he told the Northumberland Ague. “Whether it’s a pair of jeans for work, jogging bottoms at the football, or a smarter pair of suit trousers when I’m down the social club, I’m never in anything else.”
Billy’s collection of strides stands at a whopping 15 pairs, and includes 4 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of chinos, 3 pairs of dress trousers, 2 pairs of joggers and a pair of lounge pants. “People think I’m mad when they find out how many pairs of trousers I’ve got!” he said.
But if you think 15 pairs is a ridiculous amount of trouserage for one man, then you’re in for a shock. Because Tappit’s collection is about to get even BIGGER!
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“I’m going to get a pair of camo pants from the Army and Navy shop to do the gardening in,” he said. “I just can’t get enough trousers, me.”
Billy has even dedicated part of the wardrobe in his bedroom to housing his vast collection of trousers. “It’s a big wardrobe, and just as well,” he said. “I keep my shirts, jumpers and tops on one side and all of my trousers on the other,” he confirmed.
The former boy scout has been wearing trousers since 1979 when he started middle school, and hardly ever covers his legs with any other form of clothing. “I’ll sometimes wear a pair of shorts if it’s really hot in the summer,” he said. “But as soon as the temperature drops a bit, it’s back on with my trusty trousers.”
And it seems that the people of Ashington are thrilled with their local celebrity. “Billy comes into my shop for a paper and a scratchie every day on his way to work, and he’s always got a pair of trousers on,” laughed newsagent Ada Bucolic. “It’s mainly jeans, but occasionally, he’ll be in a pair of cargo pants or chinos.”
“‘I see you’re wearing trousers today, Billy,’ I say, pretending to be surprised, and we always have a bit of a chuckle,” she said.
“We see him every day as we pass on the way to school,” said mum of two Samantha Beermug. “The kids love him. They wave and shout ‘Hello Mr Trousers,’ and he smiles and waves back,” she added.
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But not everyone thinks Billy’s odd behaviour is lovable. Tappit’s long suffering wife Cheryl admits to occasionally getting frustrated with her husband’s trouser obsession. “It’s just trousers, trousers, trousers every day with him, even at the weekends,” she said “He won’t wear anything else on his legs.”
Trouser Bout That, Then? – The Story of Ashington’s Mr Trousers is available on Amazon as a vanity published print-on-request book, priced £3.99.