Dr Sarah Ingham is the author of The Military Covenant: its impact on civil-military relations in Britain.
Before it blew up in, er, spectacular fashion in 2002, accountancy giant Arthur Andersen introduced Dress Down Fridays. Along Savile Row, home of bespoke tailoring, views were canvassed about this relaxation in sartorial standards. When asked if it were game over for historic firms like his, one boss replied: “It won’t be the end of Henry Poole. It will be the end of Arthur Andersen.”
Today, Savile Row remains a globally renowned centre of excellence, with clients happily paying £5,000 for an entry level suit. AA is long gone, the corporate equivalent of being torn up for dusters.
Conveying power is central to early portraiture. Court painters, including Holbein, captured the magnificence of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Majesty was reinforced by Tudor sumptuary laws, which regulated the use of fabric, fur and colours according to social rank.
Instead of proscriptions about sable, cloth of gold and purple silk, can we expect codes about T-shirts, bucket hats and Adidas Gazelles?
One of PM-in-waiting Burnham’s first exchanges with the Leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition was not about Ukraine or the cost of UK borrowing (10-year gilts edging up again), but to correct her claim about his T-shirt being black: it was navy blue.
Having spent nine years as Greater Manchester Mayor kitted out as an Oasis fanboy, Burnham seems to want to stick with the Gallagher brothers’ vibe. The Times reported that the new PM does not plan to wear a shirt and tie, except in the Commons’ chamber or for an “exceptional event.”
Isn’t any Prime Minister’s diary packed with exceptional events? Isn’t that the point of being top dog in the Westminster pack?
With big dog Boris Johnson usually looking like an unmade bed crossed with an unruly haystack, and his adviser Dominic Cummings described by Vogue as dressing like “an arsy Year 10 student” in garb “unironed, unflattering and unbecoming in a man of 49”, the Conservative Party has had its fair share of wardrobe malfunctions.
PM David Cameron’s cringe “Tail-Gate” – should he wear morning dress or a suit to the 2011 Royal Wedding? – highlighted that oiling up to, and second guessing, voters always backfires. The Daily Mirror said he was finally forced to “cave to his inner toff”. On the day, David Beckham wore traditional tails with zero fuss.
Early-era Cameron trod on eggshells about his privilege: by the end he unleashed his inner Flashman and gave Jeremy Corbyn a dressing down about smartening up. Immaculately turned out, from his well-tended hair down to his polished black brogues, Cameron looked the part of Prime Minister.
Like many politicians, Burnham hopes his Dress Down Everyday conveys relatable mateyness.
It doesn’t.
Given they want to confiscate voters’ money and boss them about non-stop, he should realise by now MPs, let alone PMs, are never regarded as mates. If he wanted to dress Manchester, he should have remained Manchester Mayor.
With taxpayers picking up the tab for their salaries and expenses, the least MPs can do is show up to work looking professional. Too many Labour women in MPs are less Iron Lady and more bag lady.
Speaker Hoyle, who rightly insisted that male MPs scrub up better after the Bercow era, seems to turn a blind eye to female fashion fails. Frocky horrors include dresses which should never be seen outside a beach bar in the Burnham “gizza job” group selfie in Westminster Hall.
Women on the Starmer-era front bench might have all had the same hairdresser, but at least it made them look as if they took the job seriously – and ensured they were nothing like pre-makeover Louise Haigh. Perhaps she hoped the rhubarb hair would distract everyone from the admission of fraud.
Along with Sir Keir and his wife, both Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves got donors to finance their wardrobes, a freebie grab which set in motion Starmer’s early bath almost from the get-go. Given tax-troubled Rayner’s Teletubbie-green clown trousers and the former Chancellor’s ill-fitting pale pink suit with more creases than an origami dragon, it’s surprising the donors didn’t ask for their money back.
Recent industry figures suggest the UK fashion and textile industry contributes £62 billion to GDP, with £23 billion in tax revenues and employs 1.3 million people. Giorgia Meloni has no problem with being an ambassador for the Italian fashion industry.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg famously swapped his grey hoodie for a suit when he gave evidence to the US Congress in 2018. It was a gesture of respect not only to the senators who questioned him, but to their electorates.
On Wednesday PM Burnham headed west to announce a £2 bus fare cap, reinstating a previous Conservative policy. He didn’t bother with a tie. The city and people of Bath were obviously judged not “exceptional” enough. Such a move reveals a lot about Burnham’s approach to government.