Second dressed
By Colin Cameron, FT.com site
Published: Apr 20, 2007


Many years ago, Denis Thatcher was on a trip to India with his wife Margaret, then leader of the Conservative party. Getting into the spirit of things and, perhaps, in a bid to aid national rapprochement, he gamely donned a pink turban (see photo below). The resultant cover of satirical magazine Private Eye served as a warning that, when married to power, men need to dress for office as much as women.

A few decades later, the new crop of current and possible First Husbands should take note. The most prominent among them include former US president Bill Clinton, whose wife Hillary is campaigning for the Democratic party presidential nomination; Joachim Sauer, spouse of Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel; Pentti Arajarvi, husband of Finland's president Tarja Halonen; Errald Miller, who is married to Jamaica's prime minister Portia Simpson-Miller; and François Hollande, first secretary to France's Socialist party and the partner of presidential candidate Ségolène Royal, who tomorrow will be contesting the first round of the French elections.

The dress sense of male consorts is an even bigger issue now then it was in the Thatcher era. The definition of what represents public life today is much broader, so that while French privacy laws may offer Royal some protection in suppressing a fashion faux pas by her husband, Hillary Clinton is unlikely to escape the next time Bill steps out in one of his more loose-fitting tracksuits.

Oona King, a former Labour party MP in the UK, illustrates the potential problems women politicians can have with consorts.

"My husband, Tiberio Santomarco, is Italian and therefore thinks he has the last word on all things related to style, " she says. King, whose former constituency was in the East End of London (where she still lives), supports her local flea markets and believes in bringing an individual splash of colour to her wardrobe. Her husband dubbed this her "tramp " look and, as a result, occasionally abandoned her on the stump.

But the problems go beyond the obvious badly-
fitting or garish outfit. According to Richard Anderson, whose eponymous outfitters is on Savile Row, every last detail of a First Husband's wardrobe, including lapels, collars and the overall cut of clothes, can be interpreted by observers as a sign of the economic outlook. The challenge of the consort is to avoid suggesting through his wardrobe that he is aware of any downbeat forecasts for growth, inflation or unemployment, all of which could add up to potential lost votes for
his wife.

Denis Thatcher, Anderson recalls, favoured three-button jackets and relatively narrow stripes, though not so close that they suggested that, when Margaret Thatcher was elected in 1979, there was a recession on the way. "Never detract from your wife's fashion statement was his belief, " explains Carol Thatcher, who says her father, who died last year, discarded his tie only for golf. "He always dressed conservatively - that's a small "c " - with my mother in mind. "

According to Thatcher, her father understood that if you suddenly changed your wardrobe people would want to know who paid for it.

Anderson advises: "For a suit, single-breasted in navy mohair, with shirts in pale blue, yellow or pink, would mean you are understated but not a grey man, which you don't want to be. "

When he was in office, Bill Clinton followed a number of his presidential predecessors by having suits made by Milan-based bespoke tailors Duca Sartoria. As general guidance for male consorts, Roberto Girombelli, owner of the brand, recommends a blend of "classic and casual chic " both for the campaign trail and office. "Avoid any type of colour, including with the tie, " Girombelli suggests. "Anything from extremely dark grey, dark blue or even black is best for a suit with a two-button, peak-lapel jacket - double breasted would make no sense - and soft shoulder. For belt and shoes, black leather is best. "

For casual menswear, Girombelli advises mixing colours, such as beige or light grey, and fabrics, such as linen and cashmere. "Overall, wear clothes that make sense to you, so you can be comfortable but also elegant, " he says.

According to Henry Rose, Stella McCartney's in-house tailor and a man who has made suits for prominent Conservative party figures, a man's wardrobe must dovetail with the woman's choice of outfits as well as look good in its own right.

"Hillary has quite wide hips, which means she looks best in a trouser suit with a jacket that covers her behind, " Rose says. "Bill is big behind too. If his suits are not also fitted, any success Hillary has in disguising her bulk could be undermined. To me, Bill Clinton has been guilty in the past of dressing too casually - such as Hugo Boss jackets with rounded shoulders - which could have the effect of trivialising an occasion he might be attending with Hillary. "

Rose also strongly urges against too dramatic a fashion statement, which could distract from the candidate. "Lapels, for example, need to stay at about 3⅝ins, " he says. "Narrower or wider, and you attract attention. "

Royal's love of the Parisian designer Paule Ka has already drawn comment on the grounds that she is standing as the French Socialist party candidate. Rose warns that her husband should be wary of matching her boutique style. "Together would be too much, " he explains.

The couple do at least have an advantage of sorts over the Clintons, who are without any established protocol for a former president's wife running for the White House. Royal and Hollande can look to Harriet Harman, currently Britain's minister for justice and herself a candidate for deputy leadership of the Labour party, and her husband, Jack Dromey, Labour party treasurer, for some idea of how to combine their political wardrobes.

Harman, who like Hillary Clinton favours trouser suits, has advocated dress- down days in the House of Commons, though last weekend she described Conservative party policies as "back to basics with an open- necked shirt ". As a result, her husband is presumably committed to a campaign of tie-wearing. All of which suggests that, for François Hollande's sake, if Royal makes it through tomorrow's vote, she might be best to steer clear of fashion metaphors while she tries to gather more support