Menswear

When I was younger than I am today my mother would buy all my clothes including: sandals, shorts in the summer and Duffle coats and black shoes in the winter. Always cheap and always purchased in Dunnes Stores. I, understandably, had no choice in the matter. Even when I grew older I continued the tradition and got all my gear (not a drug reference!) in the famous Irish chain. Through my teens I would get myself, chiefly, check flannel shirts, jeans and any other item I could afford and liked. Parental control had, by that stage, been relinquished and I can tell you I was only too delighted to ditch the Duffle coats - so uncool.

Underwear is something I take serious: from briefs to thongs and then boxers. I've tried the lot. Nowadays I only wear boxers, the only difficulty (all men will understand) is that they don't carry much support and that can be slightly problematic on occasion. "Too much information" I hear you cry and I won't go into things in more detail except to say that, for men at the moment there is now an enormous range in choice for undergarments that previously didn't exist. Some of course prefer nothing underneath but that's another story.......

The change happened about two years ago. In came Parka jackets and Hoodies and out went my pullovers and any crappy old coats lying around. When most people grow older they become more conservative in what they wear. Not me. What other 36-year-old can boast of having 13 (count 'em!) Hoodies and 4 Parka jackets? In a previous entry, in the 'Chronical' I have mentioned T-shirts and their importance in my wardrobe. A terrible addiction, one that requires ongoing treatment. I'm bracing myself for possible surgery in the future and can't bring myself to throw any of them out.

The proprietors of 'Gentlemen Please' (Mens shop, Blackrock) will not have to worry about me entering their establishment largely due to the fact that suits and other formal wear is mainly what they have on sale there. Apart from the exorbitant price of the clothes, I find suits and formal wear repulsive. I'd nearly have a sex change operation than wear such garb. Not for me. Having said all that, I for one still believe that suits can be of enormous benefit in the right circumstances. Most obviously weddings and funerals.

But also politicians simply must don those serious threads. I am a member of the Zimbabwe group of the Irish section/Amnesty International and I was making the point to a colleague, recently, that Morgan Tsvangirai (Zimbabwean opposition leader) looked particularly powerful and dapper when he wore a suit. The awful tyrannical dictator in the aforementioned country, Mugabe, is quite dapper himself, but Tsvangirai puts him in the shade in that regard.

As I've said I would never wear suits but Morgan should always wear one - makes him look far more presidential than if he wore traditional dress, which he does from time to time, and it creates an image of weakness. These days I prefer to wear clothes with a more stylish look. My purchasing power is still not great though I usually shop in places such as: JACK+JONES, PRIMARK, MOTION PICTURE, M+S and on occasion TOPMAN. It is the casual look I go for and I guess it always will be. I'd fight a war to stay that way!