Why can men dress for summer?
Forget April. David Cameron and Gordon Brown, both beginning their summer holidays this week, have discovered that it is July and August that are the cruelest months for politicians. All winter long, our clothes-donkey leaders are insulated by the uniform security of suits, shirts and ties. Then, for a brief, blue-sky window – when they are obliged to do a summer holiday photo call – they are gripped by a kind of sartorial madness. Suddenly, a battalion of hacks – previously unconcerned with the fripperies of style – decides to lay into them for their crimes against board shorts and sandals. A couple of years ago, it was the turn of Tony Blair, who went for ham-fisted, Chiantishire-chic, appearing in linen shirts and pleated chinos. This year, we’ve had Cameron looking like a grown-up Julian from the Famous Five in his washed-out polo shirt and slightly institutionalised shorts (I’d like to bet that his mum has sewn in name tags), and dour, long-trousered Brown, who clearly thinks that
