The Spin/Hugo Chavez column for Anothermag.com

The Spin | Hugo Chávez

— March 30, 2010—

David Hellqvist tries to make sense of the sartorial choices of World 
Leaders in his fortnightly column The Spin

There can be no doubt that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has friends in high places. Actor Sean Penn seems to be constantly defending Chavez, American film director Olive Stone has made a documentary about him, and – to top it off – British Super model Naomi Campbell once interviewed President Chávez for GQ Magazine. Not bad for a man most people struggle to label a dictator or a socialist hero.


Chávez, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Venezuelan army, divides opinion wherever he goes. We know for sure that the US doesn’t like him – and vice versa. Of course Chávez is more friendly towards Obama than he was with Bush, and Chávez has even claimed that POTUS Obama is more left wing than himself; a statement Obama probably wasn’t too happy with.


Hugo Chávez might be on fairly good terms with Obama, but his real political and fashion hero is Cuba’s Fidel Castro. The socialist regime of Castro’s island and the length of Fidel’s presidential tenure are both major sources of inspiration for Chávez. The Venezuelan president has been in power for more than 10 years, and it’s safe to say that he wouldn’t mind doubling that.


The strongest sartorial point to Chávez’s political wardrobe is his consistent colour coding. On that point he even outdoes Castro, who always wore a khaki uniform. But Chávez and his stylist have gone for a more Communist approach through ALWAYS making sure the colour red is part of his outfit. Be it a beret, a tie, a t-shirt, or several of them at the same time, blood red is his constant fashion friend.


As we all know, red is a difficult colour to pull off. Its strength and connotations threatens to out manoeuvre the wearer. Therefore it’s a testament to Hugo Chávez’s political charisma and fashion courage that he pulls it off. And who am I to tell Venezuela’s President that blue is actually his colour…




David Hellqvist is a freelance journalist for AnOther Man, Dazed & Confused, i-D,ZOO and a Contributing Editor to American website JC Report

Guess who's back...

                                       

EX PM TB is back on the campaign trail, supporting GB and slagging off DC.

Slick, wealthy and righteous, Blair spoke to a Labour meeting in his old constituency, but - a bit like his whole political life - TB and what we wore look better from a distance, rather than up close! 

New Generation Tory Toffs

This is the new generation Tories, according to a Guardian story. They bothered with what they had to say. I didn't. I know anyway. "We need change. We need this and that. Today is bollocks, tomorrow will better", and all that. But no mate, tomorrow won't be all that good as you make it out to be. You'll bloody well find a way to fuck it up.  


Nice parka dude. This reminds me of that politics fashion shoot the Observer did a while back. Shirt by Thomas Pink, Parka by Lambretta, haircut by Mr Topper and magazine by The Spectator. Twat.

This guy is, of course, just cool. I dig him.

    

Are you getting undressed or are you putting the jacket back on? Either option is disturbing to me. And white. The colour of innocence. What are you hiding?

Trainers? What are you trying to do? Look like 'one of the people'? Put your feet down woman, and get changed - unless you're off for a run? Casual is good, yes, don't take such liberties, Tory woman.

The Spin/Barack Obama column for Anothermag.com

http://www.anothermag.com/current/view/184/POTUS_Style

The Spin | POTUS Style
David Hellqvist tries to make sense of the sartorial choices of World Leaders in his fortnightly column The Spin


Like many powerful men on the international political stage, President of the United States, Barack Obama is often upstaged by his wife. This is in no condemnation of the President’s personal style, more a testament to Michelle Obama’s glowing personality, colourful wardrobe and sartorial freedom. Quite often the American leader is even pushed out of the fashion limelight by his two daughters, Malia and Sasha.


Nevertheless, we have a high and mighty POTUS: his slender 6”1 frame makes him stick out in a crowd, and simplifies the process of making him look fashionably presidential. Consider the facts: tall and slim is ALWAYS better than short and stubby. Of course, POTUS also has facial advantages, and there is no doubt that – if there ever were to be one – Obama would score highly in a US Presidential beauty pageant.


Certainly, Obama is better known for his rhetorical skills than his personal style – the compulsory suit offers harsh boundaries in terms of imaginative sartorial adventures. But in his spare time, Obama has both impressed and let down his dedicated following. Recent holiday snaps revealed the president sporting beige slacks and a simple yet stylish navy polo shirt. Less is more, and this guy knows it. Simple colour combinations; easy on the details: let the authority of the office do the talking!


On the other hand, we have seen Obama on stylistic crash courses. Especially in his far too modern wraparound Ray Ban sunglasses, and last year when he pitched the obligatory first baseball throw in the NBA league: he stepped up to the plate in ill-fitting and stonewashed jeans, teamed up with the wrong kind of Nike trainer. Not a good a look for anyone, let alone the Leader of the Free World.




David Hellqvist is a freelance journalist for AnOther Man, Dazed & Confused, i-D,ZOO and a Contributing Editor to American website JC Report

Dati + Dior = Love

Rachida Dati, a French MEP politician, wears leather trousers and adores Dior. How can you not like her? And when she isn't out shopping, she's busy in Brussels slagging of the European bureaucracy. Read the full story about the poor immigrant cum French top notch politician under Sarkozy HERE

Michael Foot and his Donkey Jacket

The passing of Labour legend has led to salutations and honourable messages from politicians across the field. British politics has lost a giant. His legacy has been heavily discussed, as it should be. But it is also worth mentioing Foot as a snappy dresser, albeit a controversial one. As this article in today's Times point out.


At the Cenotaph in 1981(pictured), Foot wore casual shoes and a green coat which was dubbed a Donkey jacket. The press at the time didn't like it. The Times, at the time, said Foot looked "dressed as if he had just returned from walking his dog on Hampstead Heath in green donkey jacket, sneakers and paisley tie". In the early Nineties Foot, through his biographer, said the coat was from Jaeger and that the Queen Mother complimented him on the day. “Why, Mr Foot, what an awfully nice coat,” she said, adding that it was “a smart, sensible coat for a day like this”.

Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai - The Mad Hatter

Hamid Karzai, the man once proclaimed by Tom Ford to be "the chic-est man on the planet" due to his hat, is losing his sartorial credentials as we speak. Or rather, as I write. In his ever-present Karakul hat - made out of the pelt of foetal or new born lambs - was the coolest thing around when Karzai took power in Afghanistan in 2002. Not so much anymore.


Now, a whole war later, the hat isn't what it used to be. Karzai is struggling in the political arena, and his signature accessory is suffering a similar fate, at least according to this NYT article. The decline of the man and his hat has left a road heavy with fashion victims and, if we're to believe Ahmed, an Afghan in his 50s shopping for a new hat, not much cred to presidential role: “I went back to my village in Logar wearing my karakul hat and people laughed: ‘There goes the old man who thinks he’s president'". It ain't easy be a trend setter. Hamid - or being a prophet in your home town, for that matter...