I hardly ever read your blogs because to be honest I would rather waste my time on Facebook.
However three of my very good friends have been mentioned and I cannot let this pass. I have known Car, Ant and Joe for years and yes they were always Laburisti or Mintoffjani as much as they knew I was always a Nazzjonalista. We ve talked politics, argued too but we have never let our differences in politics sour our friendship. If anything we joked about and still do, close to an election.
Unfortunately blogs like yours do nothing but foment hatred. And yes I have lived through Labour times and know how horrible it was too but life goes on and God forbid we continue with that type of reasoning.
But as they say in Maltese tibna f’ghajn haddiehor taraha imma travu f’ghajnejk ma tarahiex.

[Daphne – If you would rather waste time on Facebook than read about current affairs and politics, at your sort of age, then quite frankly I’m not surprised at your other preferences. Similarly, do not be surprised at mine. But I’d work out a game plan if I were you: wasting time on Facebook at 70 is going to be pretty sad.]

I tend to disagree with you on this Daph. As you know, Anthony, Joseph and Carina are good friends of mine. they have friends from all walks of life but are definitely not social climbers. We never talk politics. Not now. Not then. That is because we have very different political views and do not want that to come between us. I will not change their mind and they will not change mine. We just agree to disagree. And they are certainly not boring. I have had some great times in the company of all three.

Thank you Daph…and I have to admit, that though I lead a pretty active life, I’m totally guilty of the Facebook thing myself :) though I am 45 and very very proud of it, would not go back a single day! Each to his own I suppose…

Daphne, let’s agree to disagree. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, I have only ever found them interesting and people who think outside the box, I have known them since I was young, they formed part of our Sliema group and it certainly wasn’t fashion or politics that got them in there, though we all knew what their political leanings were.

[Daphne – Yes, we shouldn’t argue about something like this, though I do admire you for sticking up for your friends in your own name. Few people would bother. I don’t share your view that they think outside the box. They are simply in another box, but it’s a box all the same. That’s why they’re so boring. Anybody who can’t function without a peer group and who constantly craves and seeks peer approval is by definition conventional. It might be a different sort of convention, but it’s convention all the same. Truly original people tend to be sole or lone operators. That’s what makes them original. They plough their own furrow without giving a damn what others think and they certainly don’t move around in a pack. This might be for the good or for the bad, depending on the person. But you’re not going to find them collecting Likes on Facebook or wondering whether their shoes will spell social exclusion. And quite frankly, you really have to wonder about the intelligence level of people who conduct half their social life via Facebook at the age of 50 or thereabouts and living in a small place like Malta where you see each other all the time. But I guess that’s all part of pretending that nobody’s actually 50 even when we are, because that might mean they actually have to grow up.]

I really am quite baffled by some of these comments. As far as I know there has never been a ‘facade’ as far as these people are concerned. But some of us see beyond political opinion when we form friendships. I know I would pick any of these three intelligent, educated people above countless others in this country who think they are oh so superior but in reality are simply closed-minded and bigoted.

[Daphne – Theresa, the closed-minded and the bigoted are those who never move beyond the narrow confines of their group and their group’s meagre interests, and who surround themselves with people exactly like them or very similar. Yes, there was a facade. Did you ever hear Anthony Sultana, Joe Fountain or Carina Camilleri raving over coffee about how wonderful KMB or Sant were at the time, or how they were going to rush to vote for them? No. But vote for them they did. They didn’t talk about it because it wasn’t fashionable to be Labour when KMB and Sant were leading the party, though there was a brief moment back there in 1996. Of course people still knew they were Labour (Mintoffjani, actually), but they never spoke about politics because the people among whom they wished so avidly to social climb – for these are, in essence, social climbers and nothing more, using fashion as ‘the way in’ – were completely against Labour. Now, they feel comfortable. I don’t much care, since they were never my crowd and I couldn’t be bothered. But I find it absolutely fascinating the way their hdura comes out at the slightest sniff of il-partit taghhom being in the ascendant. I had the most incredibly vulgar things written about me by Anthony Sultana, without the slightest provocation, in public on Facebook (and this after I publicised his art work free of charge in my magazines, would you believe) and the rudest possible telephone/sms exchange. I hate to say it, but clothes and a thin veneer of social polish are really nothing but a facade for the appalling reality of their home background. They think manners are something you put on in the morning to impress the group to which you belong. Disgusting, really. Cheap and tacky all round. As for those who think they are superior to others, it’s actually Joe Fountain, Anthony Sultana and Carina Camilleri who think this way. Think about it. Didn’t one of them have a television show telling others how to dress and behave? But basically, Theresa, it’s not the sin of being Mintoffjani which I won’t forgive them for, but the far greater sin of being unutterably tedious, one-dimensional and so, so boring.]

Trida ta’ kollox barra tal-housewife li fil-fatt hi. And lest you forget, she’ll make sure to remind you that it was thanks to her that Tiffany won Britain’s next top model.

It’s not just about being fat. Being cheap needs to be put into the equation too. And to join the two comments (Baxxter’s and Daphne’s), as in Karl Lagerfeld’s promo (at 1.50), “It’s all about taste. If you are cheap, well, nothing helps!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHECaB9mNtU

Well, actually she has always called herself Carina (I was at school with her). Pierre Camille, her husband, also changed his surname to better suit his job as hair stylist.

He is fat. Let us be clear on that. And short. Now a short, fat man must tread carefully. He could spend ages trying to find an off-the-peg suit that will fit him. Or he could get them made to measure. Joseph Muscat is a millionaire. He can certainly afford made-to-measure suits.

Unless the man looks like a Greek demigod, the jacket’s tail should cover the backside. Muscat’s jackets are too short. They were made for those skinny Beatle-type fashionistas that have become all the rage. Sadly, thought, he can never be them. Far too short.

The jacket’s at least two sizes too small. He will have gone for that size because of his short arms. The rule with jackets is you start from the chest size, and anything else is then altered. Unless of course you’re fat, in which case you need to get the cut right to fit your waist.

There should be half an inch of space with a closed jacket, enough to fit two fingers. Muscat’s is clearly straining at the button.

As for the chest, if you’re heavy up top, like Muscat, you need to get a Scholte drape cut, not a ruddy skinny Britpop one. That’ll give a more relaxed fit around the shoulders and chest.

The ideal suit emphasises the V-shape which is the essence of manliness. Muscat is pear-shaped. There is no way a normal jacket will look good on him. Get them tailored, Joseph.

Trousers next. Too long. One clean break is the rule for British style. Two if you’re continental. Anything more than that and you look like those kids from Brigata Laburista.

Muscat’s trousers are the hipster type. Big mistake! When you’re fat and short, what you want to do is to have high-waisted trousers, so there’s a clean, unbroken line from your shoes to your chest where the shirt becomes visible.

He also appears to carry stuff in his trouser pockets. Either that, or his thighs are really fat.

Can I start a style column in Taste? Will this do for a first draft of “Dressing down the celebs – What not to wear”?

[Daphne – Taste is about food. Even Jason Micallef knows that.]