Step aside Anna Wintour, for Colonel Barry Jenkins of the Royal Artillery Regiment has some advice to share. In a memo, the colonel has ordered his officers to up their sartorial game, suggesting that they ditch the scruffs that make them look like "train-crash survivors" and look to Princes William and Harry for style inspiration.
With the sort of language that would put even the most seasoned fashion editor to shame, Colonel Jenkins checks off a list of dressing no-nos. He dismisses "silvery" shirts favoured by football pundits, cartoon character socks, ties knotted in the manner of "a semi-finalist on The Apprentice" and – like every fashion pedant – he is insistent on the importance of good shoes. "A heavy tread and a big fat square toe won't do justice to your well-cut suit ... you wouldn't put ketchup on a dover sole." Quite.
But is Jenkins' advice to ape the princes' off-duty look (he doesn't mention the unfortunate Nazi fancy dress) as well thought-through as it might be? Before we rush to make him fashion director at GQ, perhaps it's worth taking a look at Harry's civilian style.
Mahiki man
Faded jeans, open-necked shirt, gap-year bracelets and a pair of rosy nightclub cheeks. The jeans are a little Cristiano Ronaldo but essentially this is your classic posh-boy-at-2am look. Does the colonel really want his officers to dress like the armed wing of Mahiki?
Yellow belly
Tails, lemon sorbet waistcoat and a topper. Even Harry knows he can't pull off this privileged parody of a look. What chance do the rank and file have?
You're fired
A football manager's overcoat over what looks to be a school uniform tie and jumper. He looks like a runnerup in The Apprentice. Isn't that exactly what Jenkins is railing against?
