the Pet Shop Boys

"I'm completely schizophrenic about clothes," confesses Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant. "At home an London, I just wear jeans and things. The outfit I'm wearing now I'd probably never wear in my private life. I tend to wear this just for official matters."

Officially, Tennant and his partner Chris Lowe "have been prisoners of rock 'n' roll for the past two weeks," as they put it. An American jaunt on behalf of their film, It Couldn't Happen Here, and a new single, Domino Dancing, has brought them to the swanky confines of San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel. But it's all in a day's work for the British duo who've ruled the pop charts since the release of their hit West End Girls in 1984.

Their deliberate approach to worldwide promotion has kept them on the international trail most of the time they aren't in recording studios. And when you travel as much as the Pet Shop Boys (who, despite the fact that they've never toured live, do seem to spend much of their time jet-setting around the world), thinking about what to pack is essential.

"I'll always take a couple of pairs of jeans," says Tennant. "Something to relax in. I always have my Liberty-print-lined Levi's jacket and some T-shirts, although I don't really wear them. I also take my current Pet Shop Boys clothes - at least four or five different outfits. Chris can always mix and match, but my clothes are pretty specific. I always take too many shirts - too many clothes, really."

Then there are his two classic English bowlers "The bowlers are a new thing for me," he says, removing a soft ivory hat from its box. "I was walking in London and saw this fabulous hat shop. I asked for one that wasn't black. I knew it would look good with this suit. I did buy a black one as well, but I never wear it. I just carry it around the world with me. Travelling with hats is a real pain. You can't just chuck them in a bag because they'll get ruined."

Lowe, a study in streety sportswear, has considerably less difficulty with his packing. "Loads of T-shirts, clean underwear, nice socks and regular clothes so I can just disappear into the masses," he says. "Some of my Pet Shop clothes are so obviously my clothes that if I wear to go into the street wearing them, everyone would know it was me. And I wouldn't like that. As a Pet Shop Boy, I like to wear clothes that I would never be able to wear as Chris Lowe, person. For an appearance at the London Palladium, I wore this Issey Miyake jacket in plastic with ribs and massive shoulders that puff out when you blow it up. I looked absolutely loopy."

Today he looks only mildly loopy, decked out in Issey Miyake rain gear and a Fila training outfit purchased in L.A. I had just brought a Fila top in Dallas and i wanted to see if they had anything else, he says. I love this shiny material and the collar that goes straight up. It's very understated. I like wearing track suits too. it's like putting on your pyjamas - not really getting dressed. There's no effort.

Tennant on the other hand, is resplendent in a Yohji Yamamoto suit that's fit for an international investment banker. Together they present a striking look - the blueblood and the B-boy - though they hardly consider themselves fashion trend-setters.

"Boy George is someone who changed fashion," Lowe explains. "He's far more influential than I am because he's truly talented when it comes to dressing himself. I saw him recently and he had these Kentucky Fried Chicken boxes he was using as ankle spats. It looked fantastic."

"In Britain," Tennant adds, "there's a lot of interest in what Chris wears. At the Issey Miyake shop whenever Chris wears something new on television, they get loads of phone calls."

Miyake is, clearly, the Pets pet designer. "He's a thoroughly modern clothing designer. There are so many designers who are just looking back, seeing clothes from the past and re-making them. The thing about Miyake is... he's mad. The shapes he gets are pure art," comments Lowe, a former architecture student. But neither Boy is limited to designer-dictated fashion, "I've always liked fashions where kids decide what's going to be in," says Lowe. "I've always liked seeing what everyone else is wearing. I like to jump on the bandwagon straight away, if not sooner. That's what I like about fashion, the way it always changes."

"Which can make life rather loopy when your job requires a wardrobe that keeps up with fashion's rapid changes," Tennant admits. "We tend to go out and buy things when we've got a TV show to do. like clothes, but to be honest when you're doing all this shopping, it becomes a chore. When we first started, I'd go to a designer's place and just buy one jacket. Now I'll get the whole look - the right shirt, tie, jacket. It all looks better together. Some designer clothes don't really go together and you can end up looking like a label casualty."

"One of the reasons we buy so much stuff," Lowe concludes, "it that we're always on display. You have to have quite a few clothes. If you buy an outfit that's stunning, you can't wear it more than once. But you can wear jeans and a T-shirt anytime."

This article was written by Jeff Spurrier and appeared in an unknown magazine

Special thanks to Mary (Domino99) for sending me a copy.
There is a link to her Funnily Enough web site from the And Finally page.