Not only is Jonathan Ross on a three-month unpaid suspension from the BBC for his prank phone calls, but earlier this week he was caught by the paparazzi locked out of his house wearing just his "pyjamas". The disgrace! In fact, they weren't pyjamas at all. Ross was sporting a £575 pyjama-esque suit from Vivienne Westwood's current collection. Garish it may be, but it has provenance.
Ross is actually in a rare position with his latest style choice: he has fashion on his side. Pyjamas are a big influence for spring/summer 09, particularly at Dolce & Gabbana, who filled their men's and women's catwalk collections with spotted and striped silk bedclothes, intended for daywear. PJs have long been an influence for Miuccia Prada, who often uses the more delicate buttoning found on nightclothes to soften up her shirts. Meanwhile, Japanese designers such as Comme des Garçons and Junya Watanabe have deconstructed pyjamas as a symbol of Britishness, taking obvious Brideshead Revisited references and turning them into something crinkled, crushed and exorbitantly expensive.
Ross's error has been to wear too much catwalk in one outfit. The bottoms, which in the jumpsuit version are worn baggy and slouched, make Ross look like a child trying to wake his parents on Christmas morning. Much more pleasing is the top: the acid-coloured heraldic pattern has a dizzying effect. Worn with alternative trousers of one colour, this might work on Ross. But he was born with a tendency to pile it all on, rather than to be content with just enough. It's an instinct for excess from which he has suffered in his professional life as well as with his attire. Ross has got to learn when to stop.
