Although Peaky Blinders (which returns for its third series on 5 May) is set in the 1920s, sartorially speaking, BBC2’s gangland epic could not feel more current if it tried. There is Thomas Selby’s (Cillian Murphy) three-piece, herringbone suit – very east London hipster having a skinny flat white in an artisan coffee shop – while his haircut (a modernised short back and sides, a TV byword for “psychotic tendencies”, hello Mr Robot) feels achingly contemporary.
But, in the context of 2016 – with Beyonce’s Lemonade, which is peppered with nods to Victoriana; Alexa Chung’s range for M&S; and the recent death of lace-fan Prince – all eyes are on his bib shirt. With the recent passing of certified lace fan Prince, Beyonce’s Lemonade, which is peppered with nods to Victoriana and Alexa Chung’s range for M&S, the shirt is nothing less than the male version of Princess Diana’s pie-crust collar. Worn without a tie but with the top button done up, it’s smart alternative to the shirt-and-tie, the neat-pleat effect providing an ornate counterpoint to the stiffness of the colour. A smart and stylish look, with a soupcon of Patrick Bateman-like menace.
