Every week all the panellists on both Match of The Day and Match Of The Day II are all wearing shirts. There's not a jacket, not a sweater, not a polo shirt, not a cardigan and not a tee shirt between them.
How does this work? Can't be by accident. There must be a policy of some sort. Somebody must either ring up the members of the panel before they do the show and say "can we just check? What colour shirt will you be wearing?" or there must be a wardrobe department with lots of freshly ironed plain coloured (can't do stripes on TV - they "flare") smart shirts in lots of different sizes standing by.
I'm interested in two things:
1. Why has somebody decided that open necked shirts are the only appropriate way to dress the MOTD panel?
2. Has it never occurred to anyone that four blokes in freshly pressed shirts just look a bit camp?
No idea whether it still applies now, but the BBC used to send memos to confirmed guests on TV shows to declare what the regular participants would be wearing in order (I assume) to avoid a colour clash. Maybe the wardrobe department sorts out Lineker/Murray and then sends a forewarning to the scheduled pundits.
ReplyDeleteYou've done your share of telly David, I'm sure you've been told what to wear (or what not to wear) before...
I have indeed, Matthew, but I've always thought that the point of getting people on to that panel like David Moyes or Brendan Rogers was that they brought a gust of the outside world in with them. If they looked as if they've been dressed by their wives for the drinks party round at the new neighbours some of that is lost.
ReplyDeleteI refuse to believe that Mark Lawrenson is passed fit by the MOTD Wardrobe Dept. Although I am no slender thing, his gut-clenching shirts of recent weeks have made me shudder.
ReplyDeleteFor Test Matches, Sky appear to insist on shirts and ties for presenters, with jackets donned for the toss and presentations. However, when they cover Twenty20 it's polo shirts all round.
ReplyDeleteRecently David Lloyd got much Twitter coverage for having forgotten to take formal attire to - I think - Dubai.
There must be a lengthy set of guidelines.