Please, raise your glass (or cup of coffee, as the situation allows) to white socks. To finish this article, I’d like to propose a toast. There is nothing more classic than white socks with white trousers, and yet there is also nothing more 80s. Navy club jacket (either single or double-breasted), white high-rise pressed jeans, light-blue shirt, gold and blue regimental stripe tie, black tassel loafers, and those signature white over-the-calf socks. However, for me, the pinnacle of The Style Council’s style is a particular outfit that I will never forget. If you’re trying to give your monochrome ‘artist look®️’ a bit of panache, there is nothing better than a trenchcoat and dark sunglasses. At first glance, their outfits may look a bit contrived but there is something in the way they wear it that just screams authenticity. Only one word truly captures the spirit of the thing: ‘Cool’.
They wore such combinations as British three-button rowing blazers with white denim, white suede loafers, and blue Oxford cotton shirts or beige oversized trenchcoats and black rollnecks, black mohair trousers, spectator shoes, black sunglasses, and those iconic white socks. How do you dress when making music so unique? Mr Paul Weller and Mr Mick Talbot’s clothing choices are a mix of American preppy style, British cool, and classic menswear. At this point, I should point out that I am aware that, if I’m allowed to go on for too long, I will start to resemble Bret Easton Ellis’ Patrick Bateman, so I will stop there and go over into discussing The Style Council’s signature style. I don’t think there is anyone who can summon up the images and feelings of a late-evening stroll on the banks of the Seine in good company and perhaps a bit of a wine-fuelled haze. If you don’t quite know what I mean, I would recommend listening to The Paris Match. I would describe their music as having a natural elegance that I associate with a certain lifestyle. Like, for example, the sentimentality of the work of one of Tears for Fears. It doesn’t suffer from the excesses of its contemporaries. The Style Council’s music is undoubtedly a product of its time but it still rings so true today at least it does to me. I have a vision of leaning on a wall looking particularly cool humming along to You’re the best thing.
While the pandemic has us all locked down, there is no better time to put on Shout to the top or My ever-changing moods and dance away our blues. Known together as The Style Council, they are true style icons of the 1980s. Today, we will focus on two of the brightest examples, Misters Paul Weller and Mick Talbot.
And now, finally Long Hot Summers - the long-awaited and eagerly anticipated definitive career anthology teaming with all the greatest hits and more is released. And they didn't need big hair to get there. There are so many examples of people who can make it work for them. With their generous slew of chart hits, The Style Council were one of the defining pop bands of the 80s. Why is it that white socks get such a bad rap, especially from those who lived through their heyday, the 1980s?I, personally, don’t fully understand it.