Braving the weather
This is a Labour Party publicity photograph of the Great Leader and Michelle braving the weather to vote in St Paul’s Bay. I am fascinated by what they wore.
They stepped straight from their Burmarrad doorstep into their car, drove to the polling-station in St Paul’s Bay, then walked a few metres from the car to the building.
For those few metres, they wore all-weather gear, hats (seen in other pictures), scarves and – in her case – wellies.
I think this is absolutely hilarious.
The Great Leader’s choice of a North Face anorak intended for climbing mountains in sub-zero temperatures has provoked a bit of a discussion. If it’s a real North Face jacket, some people said, then Michelle could have bought a few years’ supply of cauliflowers or cabbages and gbejniet for her soppa tal-armla with the money saved by not buying it in the first place.
But that’s not what interests me. I know those two have lots of money to spare and the fuss Michelle made about not being able to afford cabbages was just so much rubbish.
Why North Face, in particular? That’s what I’d like to know. It’s probably because Obama wears one, but in Europe, it’s the wrong brand.
If he had the right sort of advisers, they would have told him that it should have been a Barbour, or a Belstaff. Of course, these cost a whole lot more cabbages, but they are the right thing.
And he should have worn weather-appropriate cords, not faded blue jeans. A jacket’s weight and weather-resistance should always be matched by the weight and weather resistance of the trousers beneath.
Now for Michelle. I’ll leave aside the poor quality of her jacket and trousers. We all love cheap and cheerful tacky clothes for messing around in and showing how little we care, but when you’re the Great Leader’s wife off to vote before the cameras, they’re best left at home – more so if you’ve probably spent a small fortune to buy that rubbish.
No, it’s the silver ‘fashion wellies’ that really get me. Nobody should wear wellies to walk down the street unless they are five years old and want to splash in puddles. If wellies were adult wear for rainy days, then the streets of northern Europe would be full of people rushing around wearing them as a matter of course.
If our Michelle really had to wear boots because of a bit of wind and rain, then they should have been proper leather boots.
There is no place in life for silver fashion wellies. Proper wellies should always be green, bought at a farm supply shop, and used exclusively for gardening, trudging through fields, walking the dogs through the mud, or mucking out stables.
Coloured wellies are tolerated when worn exclusively for show in an urban context and paired with a matching SUV and possibly a Great Leader, but they must always be Hunter.
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As if she’s going to wear proper wellies.
She’d have to be seen entering one of the shops in Burmarrad to get herself a pair of those.
Did someone splash Joseph, or does he need further training?
[Daphne – Yes, in fact that’s where I buy mine. They’re proper green wellies, the only sort that are acceptable outside Hunters at music festivals in the mud. All other sorts of wellies are Eurotrash affectations or disco-baubles for chavs, but let’s not elaborate.]
I got my gardener’s wellies by e-shopping. Only cost me 14.99 euros. They’re green with yellow rubber soles and no flash. Those wellies look very expensive. Anzi mhumiex Louis Vuitton.
The wellies look like Gucci’s to me.
[Daphne – Terrible. The equivalent of a Gucci shopping trolley. Or a Gucci lamp. Wellies are functional, and should be made by specialists…like North Face jackets. The Muscats probably think that North Face jackets are worn because they are a ‘branded item’, not understanding that specialist function actually fed and still feed the brand.]
The Sherpa porters are bringing up the party.
I was in New York recently and at Macy’s, North Face jackets were actually rather affordable compared to the prices in Europe. Probably the Great Leader bought his when he visited the Maltese community in Astoria some months back.
They produce their own waterproof breathable material, called Hyvent, which is cheaper than Goretex. Wear a Hyvent shell underneath a showerproof smock and you’re sorted. Cheaper than a Goretex-lined hardshell, and more versatile. Bring on the deluge.
So she has the money to buy Gucci wellies but no money to buy cabbage and gbejniet.
Exactly, The North Face specialists produce ‘high performance apparel’ designed for athletes, hikers, mountaineers, explorers, extreme sports enthusiasts and rockclimbers.
Actually I think Michelle’s jacket is also North Face. Her boots are either Gucci (worth lots of cabbages) or fake Gucci print.
Bravo, yes, it’s North Face too.
Thank you – finally someone pointed out their ‘we are braving the hurricane to vote’ fashion statement.
Does Gucci make wellies?
http://thelondonlifeofagirlygirl.com/tag/gucci-wellington-boots/
[Daphne – Just as I said (surprise!): the women shown in those paparazzi shots are wearing either Hunter wellies or the original green functional variety. None of them are wearing Gucci wellies or anything like that.]
No, the Chinese do. Gucci makes millions of dollars by putting its brand on them.
Are those Garry Glitter’s boots?
Is that Prince’s jacket?
Is that the North Pole?
Is that Philip trailing behind?
What a show.
Is that Stefan Buontempo also braving the weather? Lui che centra? Or is he taking the role of a bridesmaid? So it seems.
Hunter wellies:
http://cdn.babble.com/family-style/files/2010/07/article-1024588-018097B500000578-764_468x860.jpg
They are not even using umbrellas or wearing hoods in this picture.
That’s because of gOnzI PN and the dire economic situation they have brought about. We are living in hard times. Today the honest worker finds himself skint and unable to afford proper jeans and umbrellas after buying a North Face jacket.
Today one is forced to choose between buying Neil Armstrong wellies and cabbages for the kids.. Bring back Mintoff I say, we didn’t face such dilemmas under him.
Imma wara li jivvutaw kellhom jibqghu telghin fuq il-quccata, jilbsu l-iskiing gear, make a fast descent down the slope, traversing, dodging trees and other obstacles until they reach the finish line, with a double somersault.
http://www.polyvore.com/gucci_interlock_gg_wellies/thing?id=26771881
North Face?
Sawt Face does it better.
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Silvio_smart-casual.jpg
Ta’ l-anqas Joseph mar mal-mara jivvota. Fl-2006 Franco baqa’ d-dar mal-mummy u d-daddy u ma marrux jappoggjaw ‘il-kandidati tal-PN Ghaxqin.
Two North Face anoraks + Gucci Wellies = A lifetime supply of cabbages.
However, those cheap leggings don’t really brave the weather, do they?
You forgot to mention the scarf: there’s quite a large white label stuck on it.
You forgot to mention the expensive hairdo.
Ic-crieket u d-djamanti u eggspaansiff watch.
……..and the expensive makeup.
Dawn il-pantomini biex joħorġu naqra mill-karozza u jitfgħu vot? Mur ġibhom passiġata fil-‘wilderness’ tal- kampanja Maltija, x’aktarx ikunu qishom Bear Grylls fil- Himalayas .
Jista jkun li libes ghal kesha biex jitla fil-gallarija l-gdida jifrah u jiftahar quddiem il-folla kemm zied voti.
Imma ma garax hekk ghax wara 5 snin ta’ aks u dwejjaq li gabna fih Gonzi zied biss 152 vot.
Vera success qed jaghmillu lil PL.
A pair of chavs.
She complains about the price of cabbages and then steps out in her Gucci wellies.
North Face anoraks retail at about £150 GBP and more.
Most BBC jourlalists wear them; North Face give them to journalists, with a lot of TV exposure, for free. This is dishonest and should not happen. I read about it in the British press.
I wouldn’t say North Face is not European; I see I lot of Italians in Italy and Brits in UK wear this make.
I bought a North Face anorak a few years back in Malaysia, where they are made, it cost me £30 GBP.
I agree with you about Michelle’s boots, they are not discreet, though one does need boots in Malta with all those pot holes and uneven roads.
I wonder what Gonzi was wearing, you never mock him on his dress sense.
[Daphne – That’s because I never have to.]
Britain and Italy are not Malta. The two very bad storms Malta has ever experienced happened in 1989 and 2012.
Saturday’s bad storm was a one-off. North Face apparel are ‘a waste of money’ for Malta’s weather, unless, of course, you’re a skipper crossing Malta to go to Lampedusa, by boat every week, rain or shine.
Get something from the local Marsaxlokk market, and if this idea isn’t good enough do something better for Malta’s economy – help it, shop locally and not internationally – it’s only a jacket, not Dresden, after all.
We’ve been here before. It’s not the North Face jacket itself, it’s the wearer. Everything the Muscat couple does seems so damn contrived. Maybe it’s the Cheshire cat smirk. Or the swagger. Or the total mismatch between the man’s physique and the jacket’s specifications. It jars.
I’m sure that the Muscats make use of those jackets abroad while on holiday and not in Malta.
By the way Daphne, you failed to mention the jeans Dr Muscat is wearing. That is the worst thing I spotted on this photo. They are awful, a future head of state should not wear such jeans.
[Daphne – Yes, I mentioned them. Totally unsuitable for his shape, age, position and the occasion. People with short, thick legs should never wear tight, faded jeans, especially not in middle-age.]
Paul, The prime minister is head of government, not head of state.
Oops!
Have you noticed that Stefan Buontempo is recently always stuck to Joseph’s coat-tails? What’s on the agenda – elbowing out Toni Abela? Still, the word which comes to my mind every time I see Buontempo is ‘inspidu’.
Probably Muscat wears that brand because young people in Europe wear North Face jackets. You know, being a youth himself.
In the EU I always feel like an outcast with my Kappa. Love it though as it always it took care of me even in the sub 30s.
Whatever happened to Bundeswehr parkas? They were all the rage in the early 21st century.
http://www.gucci.com/it/category/f/women_s_shoes#boots
she could have at least got her nails done PROPERLY and as for Joseph, he’s Malta’s latest cool leader isn’t he? if there was ever one.