At the end of the day, it's all a matter of taste | Jack Marshall's column

Steve’s jeans in Stranger Things. Manny’s bright suits in Scarface. Cliff’s boots and Hawaiian shirts in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Frank’s jackets in The Irishman. Everything The Dude wears in The Big Lebowski, but especially the cardigan.
Manny (right) and Tony in Scarface.Manny (right) and Tony in Scarface.
Manny (right) and Tony in Scarface.

Maybe lockdown has slowing singed the already-frayed edges of my consciousness. Maybe I’ve unknowingly fallen prey to advertising for retro gear. Either way, it’s a stone cold fact: I genuinely can’t get enough of old-style clothes.

This is understandable for a simple reason: it’s beyond argument that retro clothes look cool. They just do.

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But, at the same time, this is unsettling for an equally simple reason: I can vividly remember thinking the exact opposite and, what’s more, I can't remember changing my mind.

Changing your mind is a healthy thing. More people should do it. Case in point: I used to hate onions and enjoy Facebook. Now I very much dislike Mr Zuckerberg and what he’s done and love a good shallot.

This is fine; people change, tastes evolve. Everything changes but change itself and all that jazz.

Not to get all ‘football manager’, but at the end of the day, my uneasiness comes from the fact that my change in opinion came like a bolt from the blue.

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In fact, it arrived so unceremoniously that I still thought I thought something else right up until I realised I didn’t.

My opinions changed behind my back, surreptitiously pivoting a full 180 degrees without me even noticing.

Steve from Stranger Things’ blue jeans are not just a bit appealing, I genuinely can’t imagine a time when or a reason why I’d have thought otherwise. The suits in Scarface are works of art; Cliff’s garms are one of the best things about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. De Niro wears the hell out of those jackets and The Dude is, well, The Dude.

I had no say in the matter. I just sat there, blissfully unaware, as my axis of taste shifted underneath me.

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Which begs the crucial question: what other random things which I currently dislike will I one day find myself enjoying? Will I develop a taste for celery? A passion for reality TV? An affinity for Jacob Rees-Mogg?

Who knows? Who cares? The best thing is just to roll with it. Wise as always, The Dude himself has the best take on the matter.

“Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.”

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