Paper Monitor
11:45 UK time, Wednesday, 23 April 2008
A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.
It's not often that a designer will put the likes of Catherine Zeta Jones, Sienna Miller, Queen Rania of Jordan and Jerry Hall on the backburner to instead craft outfits for the burger-flippers of McDonalds. But that is what Bruce Oldfield has done, giving the fast food chain's workers an a la mode new look.
And the fashion editors of the press have duly elbowed their way nearer the front of the papers with the story of the McDonald's uniform being reinvented by the couture designer.
The main amusement across the red tops and the qualities is how adaptable Mr Oldfield has proved himself to be. The man is used to dressing A-listers who figure prominently in male fantasies (speaking of which chaps, Kelly Brook is single once more, and the Sun has the exclusive). But Bruce can't half turn a dab hand to the size 30 polyester job demanded of him with the McDonald's brief.
His ruched silk creations have clung to Anjelica Houston's curves for a Vogue cover but the Times is appreciating his machine washable ties and sleeves cut short enough to dodge ketchup.
Female front-of-house staff will now wear a patterned blouse with a smart black skirt and "jaunty" neck scarf at the tills, says the Guardian. Deputy fashion editor Hadley Freeman extracts a decent bit of fashionista bitchery as she quotes Bruce saying that he wanted to wring the necks of Trinny and Susannah as he watched the pair fuss over redesigning a hospital uniform.
The skirt and blouse look puts Lisa Armstrong, the Times fashion editor, in mind of Pan Am flight attendants in the days when it was all glamour to be repeatedly offering passengers beef or chicken.
And the Sun's fashion editor Erica Davies also notes the "Fly me" influence but with a more tabloid verdict: "This is one duty-free perfume short of a budget airline look."
The Sun also runs a visual appreciation of McDonald's outfits across the years, from 1970s stripes to the red tabards of the 80s.
One more thing. The Guardian seems to overlook something in quoting Mcdonald's chief people officer observing that customers are treating the new-look staff better. Never mind that the star pattern on the blouses is "a bit Louis Vuitton" - what sort of job is a chief people officer? And do they have to wear a polyester uniform?
The 
