Because its default setting is "barely credible", every day could be April Fool's Day in the fashion world.
So when the real thing rolls around it isn't always easy to sort the wheat from the chaff - or, if you prefer, the real from the you're-having-a-laff.
And so it was this week, as Wednesday came and went and I found myself wondering if an English primary school did actually mount a fashion show to a soundtrack of punk rock. If a blog showing a dog modelling a range of menswear "looks" was entirely kosher. And whether American sports label Lululemon really was selling a range of men's trousers called the ABC Pant, with the ABC bit standing for "anti-ball crushing". It turned out that my doubts were misplaced: not one of these was an April Fool's Day fashion prank.
The school in question was in York and was supposedly holding a fashion show as part of a history project showing how people dressed through the decades. Yes, even the 1970s. Even more bizarre, it used as its catwalk music-of-choice The Stranglers's 1977 punk anthem No More Heroes after which the pint-sized models were treated to a video message from the band's bassist (and karate black belt) Jean-Jacques Burnel. He's friends with one of the dads, apparently.
Even more intriguingly silly is American blog Menswear Dog, also a soon-to-be-published book. The dog in question is Bodhi, a Japanese Shiba Inu owned by husband-and-wife team David Fung and Yena Kim. He's a graphic designer, she's a (wait for it) fashion photographer. Do you remember that famous series of paintings showing dogs playing poker? Well, imagine something similar. In one image Bodhi is dressed like a rap mogul in an Adidas Originals sweatshirt, a pair of Persol sunglasses and an American Apparel beanie. Snoop Dogg, perhaps? In another he's done up for the Grammys in a tuxedo and bow tie. In a third, he's Christian Gray. One even appears to be a selfie.
And finally to my favourite, the ABC Pant. This item is designed to give both the wearer and what the label coyly refers to as the wearer's "family jewels" plenty of room to breathe. The breeks work their magic thanks to their special ABC "engineering", basically a "wide panelled gusset" and something called "four-way stretch Warpstreme�¢ fabric". It in turn is "sweat wicking", whatever that means. And the price? A sizeable £188, so I hope you're sitting comfortably - though if you've already stumped up for a pair, you probably are.
Apparently the ABC Pant has proved a hit Stateside and, though few customers who have posted comments on the label's website refer explicitly to how un-crushed they feel their family jewels to be, those who do mention their genitals confirm that the technology works.
Mind you, I think the woman who signs herself Jillymac hasn't properly grasped the idea behind concept. "These pants look amazing on my hubby!" she writes. "They hug him in all the right places". Surely the point is that they don't? Or - here's a thought - is she just joking?
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