Left Ephemera

‘The revolution is just a T-shirt away' - Bragg

As someone whose sartorial style may be charitably described as "protest chic" I have acquired over the years a number of items of Left Wing political attire. Some I wear on an almost constant basis while others have fallen out of favour due to changes in my political sensibilities. Here I will chronicle the items in question and what they say about the political zeitgeist.

"Spartacus" Shirt

With the recent passing of Kirk Douglas it seems right & proper that the next piece of Left Ephemera be a shirt consisting of his image.

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The man Karl Marx described as the "finest fellow antiquity had to offer" [Spartacus rather than Kirk Douglas] the Thracian Gladiator has long been held in esteem by those on the Left. The 1960 film memorable excoriated in one review as being written, directed, and starring a Red remains a zenith of cinematic depictions of the low rising as one to fight the high.

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The photo depicts my good self at a pro-Corbyn rally in Cardiff in 2016. As Kirk Douglas stated in his guise of Sparatcus: "And maybe there's no peace in this world, for us or for anyone else, I don't know. But I do know that, as long as we live, we must remain true to ourselves"

"Lower than Vermin" Shirt

Our Nye had a way with words. This garment abridges and fashions one of Bevan's most famous assertions into suitable rodent form:

"no amount of cajolery […] can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party […]. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin.

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It is interesting to note the sentiment still resonates. There is a vogue for those in Labour regardless of political mien to adopt Nye as their own even when at odds with his particular Socialism. Theirs is a sanitised Nye who heals the sick and is a kindly almost avuncular figure. The Nye I admire was red in tooth & claw and his intemperate invective is as much a part of him as his construction of the NHS.