the times | Tuesday March 15 2022 2GM 21
News
A switch to casual outfits since the start
of the pandemic has become so
pronounced that men’s suits have fallen
out of the official “basket of goods” used
to track inflation.
The Office for National Statistics
said the rise in working from home had
contributed to the demise of the suit,
although a formal jacket or blazer was
being introduced to ensure that smart
men’s clothes were still represented.
There was a short-lived recovery of
suit sales when weddings and race
events were allowed to take place again
last year but tailoring sales overall have
remained depressed. This has prompt-
ed many brands best known for suits,
such as Marks & Spencer, Ted Baker
and Moss Bros, to make more casual
collections. Wes Taylor, Marks & Spen-
cer’s head of menswear, said the trend
for comfort had been embraced by so
many men that the retailer would start
selling elasticated waist suit trousers to
ease them back into tailoring.
Another change to the ONS basket of
goods is the introduction of pet collars
to reflect booming pet ownership
during the pandemic as people turned
to animal companions during social
restrictions.
Greater awareness about health and
fitness has also led to soaring sales of
ath-leisure clothes, prompting the
ONS to add sports bras as well as climb-
ing sessions to its basket of goods. It said
recreational and sporting services had
been underrepresented.
These healthy items are being re-
placed by doughnuts, although the
main reason for their removal is that
people are buying multipacks of snacks
to treat themselves through the week
while working from home rather than a
single doughnut.
However, in further signs that
consumers are becoming healthier and
vegetarianism is rising, canned pulses
Handlebar model Duncan Grimmond, a metalwork artist from Minskip, North Yorkshire, shows off the 1932 BSA three-wheeler he restored during lockdown, with a grille seemingly modelled on his moustache
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOPPolice were called to the home of John
Bercow, the former Speaker in the
Commons, after he was involved in a
late-night domestic issue with his wife.
Officers attended the family home in
Battersea, southwest London, last
August after a complaint from his wife,
it is believed. Arriving at the scene at
11.35pm, Met officers spoke to Bercow,
59, who then left the address. He was
not arrested and no further action was
taken. A source told The Sun that offi-
cers also spoke to Sally Bercow, 52.
The Met confirmed that its officers
had attended with an allegation of
“common assault” reported. Details
have been logged with the local police
community safety unit, it was reported.
This month the former MP for Buck-
ingham was found to be a “serial bully”
and a “serial liar” following a two-year
investigation into his conduct during
his ten-year tenure as Speaker.
Parliament’s Independent Expert
Panel, chaired by a former appeals
court judge, upheld 21 claims of bully-
ing against Bercow and said that he
should be banned from the parliament-
ary estate and, if he were still an MP,
expelled from the Commons.
Among the allegations upheld in the
89-page report were that Bercow threw
a phone in a rage, swore at officials and
mimicked the voices of some staff.
Bercow was a Tory MP but joined
Labour last year. He has had his Labour
membership suspended pending the
outcome of an internal investigation.
In response, Bercow denied bullying
anyone and said that the investigation
was a “kangaroo court”.
The Bercows have been married for
two decades and have three children
together. Sally Bercow has admitted
having an affair with her husband’s
cousin in 2015.It’s official: suits are out as men
cling to the Covid casual look
Ashley Armstrong Retail Editor and meat-free sausages have made
their debut in the ONS basket.
A greater consumer interest in
hygiene products following the pan-
demic has led to the inclusion of anti-
bacterial surface wipes.
The widespread reliance on internet
search engines has killed off reference
books from the ONS basket. Dictiona-
ries, thesauruses and atlases are now
considered obsolete as many consum-
ers prefer online maps and apps.
Domestic coal has also been dropped
from the basket before sales of it are
banned next year.
In total the ONS added 19 new items,
removed 15 and left 715 unchanged.
Sam Beckett, ONS head of economic
statistics, said: “The 2022 basket of
goods sees some really interesting
changes, with the impact of the
pandemic still evident in our shopping
habits. With many people still working
from home, demand for more formal
clothing has continued to decrease.
“So, men’s suits disappear from the
basket and are replaced
with a formal jacket or
blazer. Last year’s lock-
down saw an increase in
the number of us work-
ing out and exercising.
That has con-
tinued with the
addition of the
sports bra into
the basket re-
flecting greater
spending on
sports cloth-
ing.”
Virtues of the
suit, leading
article, page 33
Why I won’t be buy-
ing a blazer, Robert
Crampton, Times2
themselves in the sort
of bind with which
their female
colleagues have long
been familiar.
If you’re wrestling
with the issue, ask
yourself what José
Mourinho would do.
His look is a
masterclass in how to
balance clean lines
and tailoring with
softer, less starchy
pieces. Suit trousers
with fine-gauge
knitwear; dark jeans
and a blazer over a
half-zip top. A neutral
palette of navy, black,
grey and white, and
none of it (including
coats) too baggy.
Smart casual is a
careful alchemy of
comfort and context.
Tailoring is not about
to become obsolete,
but ties might well be.
Sir Paul Smith in a
checked suit layered
with a gilet and T-
shirt looks more
modern and at ease
than Succession’sRoman Roy in his
slightly too-tight
shirts and ties. Among
the tech crowd, the
crew neck replaced
collars long ago.
Try mixing in what
the fashion set call
“workwear”. Chore
jackets might once
have been for manual
labour but a clean and
crisp navy version (try
Oliver Spencer or
Arket) worn over a
shirt is less stuffy than
a blazer. Just make
sure yours stays a bit
more spick and span
than Monty Don’s.
Avoid rugby shirts
and pale trousers. Yet
not all sportswear is
verboten: Idris Elba is
proof that sweatshirts
can be smart as long
as they’re plain, fit
well and don’t
come with a
hood. Above
all, remember
it is far easier to
look scruffy in a
bad suit than in
good casualwear.Britain’s shopping basket
IN
Frozen cooked
Yorkshire puddings
Meat-free sausages
Canned pulses
Dried herbs
Men’s formal jacket or
a blazerSports bra or sports
crop top
Antibacterial surface
wipes
Craft or hobby kit for
adults
Collar for dogs or cats
Climbing sessionChildren’s car seatOUT
Doughnuts
Men’s suit
Coal
Laminate flooring
Reference booksb d t i V s aWWWWWCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCrCCCCCCCCCCCCCCJosé Mourinho is a
master of menswearHarriet
WalkerComment
F
or politicians
it’s a shirt but
no tie, cuffs
rolled up. For
James Bond,
the Duke of
Cambridge and the
Milk Tray Man, smart
casual means a polo
neck under a blazer.
For everybody else it’s
chinos but never jeans
— unless your denim
is slim-cut, dark and
has no fading or rips.
It’s easy to see why
the death of the suit
might prompt
sartorial panic among
men who have relied
on theirs to see them
through work,
weddings and beyond.
Now that overly smart
might be considered
fusty, and too casual
could be construed as
inappropriate, male
office workers findPolice called
to domestic
incident at
Bercow home
Laurence Sleator