We should dress to impress again writes Andy Mitchell

The fabulous Chorley MP Sir Lindsey Hoyle is a man after my own heart when it comes to wearing suits and looking the part.

For 30 years, I prided myself on being probably the most over dressed newsreader in the history of commercial radio, with my selection of pin stripe suits, waist coats and stripy blazers.

Yet there was something about getting dressed up to go to work that signalled to me that work was separate to free time, and that we shouldn’t be turning up to the office looking like we are going for a day out at the zoo.

Over the last 18 months, of course, we haven’t needed to get dressed up to go into the office, for the simple reason that we ran our lives from the kitchen table.

I wonder if those lucky to have their own office space at home, got dressed in office attire to convince themselves they were at work?

Dressing in business attire, is of course, about much more than looking smart. It’s also about a state of mind. It’s about playing a part in a different scene to the one where we are dressed in jeans and tee shirts.

Thirty years ago, you may remember, the ladies of the office were in full time competition with each other over who could manage the biggest shoulder pads in their power suits. Indeed, it got so ridiculous at the office I was working in 1989, that two couldn’t pass each other easily down our narrow corridor. This wasn’t just about looking good, this was competition to see who could look the most fearsome!

September always brings with it change.

It’s back to school in those ill-fitting blazers we would grow into by Easter. It’s a time to put holidays behind us and knuckle down until Christmas.

Therefore, I argue that Sir Lindsey (pictured) is quite right in his assertion that we now need to get back to normal , and wear the right clothes in the right setting.

We need to get back to the idea of “dressing to impress”.

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