Dumb Echo

Another vulgarised turn from, shamefully, the Northern Echo, where a TV reviewer writes:
Hustle has always been all mouth and no trousers. All surface gloss and glitz without much soul.

Again,'surface gloss and glitz' somehow translates into 'no trousers', when it's a clear case of the fancypants opposite. When even the Northern Echo cocks it up, is there any hope for the original glorious phrase?