Growing up as a white, privileged middle-class boy there, I’ve seen and experienced the transformation in how white men dress and talk about looks. Up until the mid-eighties, straight white men made sure that they were perceived as ‘men’ and were very conservative in their dress, stressing their alleged lack of interest in their appearance. Looking at how other men dress would have definitely been interpreted as gay. As with the UK, that has changed completely now.

But, black men were completely different. Even the poorest of them were extremely fashion-conscious and spent inordinate amounts of money on their appearance, sometimes to the detriment of other aspects in their lives. They knew all the right brands which encompassed all sorts of brands, eg conservative English brands like Pringle, and not just the latest American fashions. I remember discussing this with a black colleague of mine and laughing at how lefty whites, particularly students, dressed down as much as possible, possibly out of some (misguided?) identification with the black working classes. He told me that black people found it strange that much wealthier white men dressed so badly when they could so obviously afford to dress well. To them, it was bizarre. Funnily enough, he didn’t regard it as hypocritical as he could so easily have done. It was just some strange thing that ‘them whities’ did that made no sense. It took me to explain to him the reasoning behind it.

Today, of course, it’s all very different. Every young man in South Africa, black or white, is very conscious of appearance and fashion. To me, as an older man who grew up in less brand-conscious and more politically-aware times, I find it rather extreme while appreciating that looking good and taking pride in one’s appearance is a ‘good thing’.

I just wish that men had not become such slaves to fashion.

Their problems are financial illiteracy and a laddish disdain for education, intelligence and difference. In other words, they are gurriers. Thankfully, the Poles outnumber them now, and at least they want to work.