Paper Monitor
A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.
Once upon a time, dress was quite simple for politicians.
There's a great Central Press photo from Budget Day 100 years ago. It shows David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill on their way to strut their stuff.
Both men wear top hats, waistcoats and frock coats. They have pocket watches with the chains clearly visible. Their collars are white and starched. Lloyd George has a tie with a stud, and carries an umbrella. Churchill has a bow tie, and prefers a cane.
They look, in short, like Edwardian Reservoir Dogs.
Fast forward a century and politician dress is so much more complicated.
Take David Cameron for instance. A couple of papers seem rather intrigued by a dark jacket he wore on Saturday.
in the Times represents one aspect of the coverage. Its correspondent describes a "black, epauletted M-65 battlejacket-inspired coat".
The Daily Mail on Monday . It described:
"The biker-style jacket from Gap and jean-like trousers from Zara, which he combined with the open-necked shirt from trendy Japanese store Uniqlo, were obviously picked in the hope of making him appear more informal."
But the paper doesn't seem ready to let go.
Today's Mac cartoon is on the theme and there's a , querying his chocolate brown shirt.
Then there is some very confusing stuff about why he's wearing items from brands like Gap and Uniqlo.
Platell, sadly, falls short of a call for a return to 1910 standards.
In the interests of balance Paper Monitor will be featuring future fashion analyses of other party leaders, assuming they wear anything to pique the interest of the papers.