David Cameron dons £13 wellies to visit flood-hit York
Ah, what trials and tribulations
for leaders of democratic Nations!
While Mr. Putin can swagger with a chest that's bare--
since few would dare to criticize him there,
even after deciding to push
through floods and mush
in order to strike an historic pose,
a British P.M. must always have on the right clothes.
And, if necessary, obscure his or her aristocratic roots
by donning rather more plebian boots,
in order later to enjoy
re-election by the hoi polloi
in some future vote---
but also please note:
To Brits there's no need to ask: "What is a wellie?"
since they see them often on their telly
and they're named after a hero
who was able inspire fashion
as well as loyalty and passion,
while to us Yanks their name's significance may be zero.
So if, post Xmas, you need to while away some tedia
please glance at this , taken from the Wikipedia:
The Duke of Wellington instructed his shoemaker, Hoby of St. James's Street, London, to modify the 18th-century Hessian boot. The resulting new boot was fabricated in soft calfskin leather, had the trim removed and was cut to fit more closely around the leg. The heels were low cut, stacked around an inch (2.5 centimetres), and the boot stopped at mid-calf. It was suitably hard-wearing for riding, yet smart enough for informal evening wear. The boot was dubbed the Wellington and the name has stuck in English ever since. In the 1815 portrait by James Lonsdale, the Duke can be seen wearing the more formal Hessian style boots, which are tasselled.[2]
In his biography, it is reported that Wellington noted that many cavalry soldiers sustained crippling wounds by having been shot in the knee – a very vulnerable and exposed part of the body when one is mounted on a horse. He proposed a change in the design of the typical boot by having it cut so as to extend the front upward to cover the knee. This modification afforded some measure of protection in battle.
Wellington's utilitarian new boots quickly caught on with patriotic British gentlemen eager to emulate their war hero. Considered fashionable and foppish in the best circles and worn by dandies, such as Beau Brummell, they remained the main fashion for men through the 1840s. In the 1850s they were more commonly made in the calf-high version, and in the 1860s they were both superseded by the ankle boot, except for riding. Wellington is one of the two British Prime Ministers to have given his name to an item of clothing, the other being Sir Anthony Eden. (See Anthony Eden hat.)
HzL
12/29/15
David Cameron dons £13 wellies to visit flood-hit York
Prime Minister appears to decide against wearing his own Hunter wellies in public
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David Cameron sported a £13 pair of wellington boots as he visited flood-hit York yesterday, in an apparent repeat of his decision to keep his expensive Hunter wellies out of the public eye.
The Prime Minister faced ridicule earlier this year when a biography reported he was so worried that his own Hunter boots might "make him look too posh" on a visit to the flooded Somerset Levels in early 2014 that he sent an aide to Asda to buy a cheap pair of Dunlop wellington boots "to give him the common touch".
But the decision backfired, authors Anthony Seldon and Peter Snowdon reported, with Cameron’s election strategist Lynton Crosby later receiving feedback from voters specifically citing the image of the Prime Minister wearing “shiny new” wellington boots as a reason for regarding him as too posh.
David Cameron in his (L-R) Dunlop (Somerset 2014), Countrywide (York 2015) and Lowther wellies (Oxfordshire 2007)
Mr Cameron yesterday ditched the Dunlop boots purchased in 2014 in favour of a pair of boots emblazoned with the logo ‘Countrywide’. The same brand of boots, described as “value PVC adult wellingtons”, retail for £12.99 online.
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