He seems happy with himself, that’s something… François-Xavier Bellamy was on a trip to the South-West at the end of April. Less than two months before the European elections, the head of the list of the Les Républicains party stopped in Toulouse for a public meeting intended to get his campaign off the ground. Stuck at around 7% in the polls, the Versailles MEP exhausted, pell-mell, Macron, Mélenchon, Glucksmann and Bardella. In front of two hundred activists won over in advance, he especially took the opportunity to showcase the support of the deputy for Lot, this “dear Aurélien” Pradié.
For the occasion, François-Xavier Bellamy did not pull out all the stops from a sartorial point of view. On the contrary, he appeared in this eternal navy suit, which over time has become the official work uniform of the French political class. So let’s take this opportunity to remind you for the umpteenth time: contrary to appearances, the navy suit is not the absolute epitome of elegance, neither from an aesthetic point of view nor from a historical point of view. For a long time, it was gray that benefited from all these considerations.
Gray like this? Yes. Well almost. Not far away. But still too far. Here, this gray suit, which has the undeniable advantage of not being navy blue, suffers from a series of symptomatic ailments of the time. Concretely, the jacket appears too narrow, decorated with lapels that are too thin and equipped with a sewn pocket in the worst taste. The pants are obviously too tight, too long and too low waisted. It also goes very poorly with a pair of brown shoes that are way too light to be chic.
Tired of our whining? We understand you. So let’s take advantage of this white collar to cultivate ourselves a little. This indeed allows us to remember that these white collared shirts, very banker, not to say very Wolf of Wall Street, have a very specific reason for being. At the beginning of the 19th century, clothing began to be fitted with detachable collars, to facilitate washing and starching. Later, when color began to establish itself in men’s wardrobes, it was decided, for simplicity’s sake, to keep white collars and pair them indiscriminately with colored shirts…
Finally, how can we not say a word about this beautiful plant installed in the front row of the meeting? In this case, at first glance it appears to be a philodendron, a plant from the Araceae family native to the tropical forests of Central America and able to grow in the shade and without much water. Sculpted in bronze by Picasso in La Femme au jardin in 1930, this plant has, according to certain ancient beliefs, magical powers, including those of guaranteeing health and posterity. For victory in the Europeans, on the other hand, no promises.
