There was a demand for equal time for St. Nicholas this week to balance the previous coverage on Santa.  This Sunday is the feast of St. Nicholas, so it’s the time to pay tribute to Western civilization’s other major dispenser of gifts to the naughty and nice.

Santa Claus is not exactly a style icon in that schlumfpy red suit and elf hat trimmed with fur. Okay, the suit makes sense for anyone whose job description requires him to ride around the world in an open sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer on a freezing winter night.  Warm, comfortable, and casual, but not hot by any stretch of any fashionista’s imagination…

And Saint Nicholas?  Once upon a time he didn’t think fashion mattered, as those tattersall check pants under the bishop’s robe scream loud and clear.  Not a good look, as Heidi Klumm would say.   A one-off Fendi sack might help.  And Knecht Ruprecht so needs to lose those boots.

St. Nicholas got it through his head that he had to get serious about the brand and hire some image consulting firms.  Here are two options from the Wiener Werkstatte that include makeovers for Krampus.  Pretty sharp accessories!

Then there is Lou Loeber’s radically stripped down ensemble, with Zwaert Pieter rockin’  stripes, from Nieuwe Beelding.   Glad the choice isn’t up to me.  All three work!