Image: istockphoto.com
Who was it that said ‘clothes maketh the man’? I had reason to recall that adage this week when I found that my strong reaction to a pinstrip suit led me to cancel an appointment with my prospective pension adviser.
I should clarify that I’ve never actually met the adviser who appears to be a perfectly respectable member of the financial classes and comes recommended, but I had the misfortune to come across his photo in a magazine over the weekend and have reacted violently against his pinstripes. Somehow the suit seems to me to convey the air of a fraudster. It’s a dilemma because my reaction is entirely irrational yet no less difficult to set aside for recognising it as such. Perhaps I haven’t had enough exposure to suits – or certainly not to pinstripe suits. I’ve led a sheltered life as my regular readers will know. To be honest, I’ve mostly only seen pinstripes worn by the failed property developers that crop up from time to time on our television screens these days and by no-good city types in TV dramas. I did notice that were some to be seen on the streets of London when I last visited about ten years ago but I have no idea whether the pinstripe is still in vogue with city types – nor indeed whether city types themselves are in vogue in the fallout from the financial crisis. I do know my pension planning has taken a tumble as a result of the suit. I’m seriously looking for an alternative adviser. I wonder would I have reacted as strongly if the potential adviser was a woman?
Perhaps it’s the three buttons as well? Not good…