How we dress sends a social message to the world, and politicians know this better than anyone. Whether it’s rolling up their sleeves and pretending to get stuck into some manual labour for the first time in their lives, throwing on a scarf to yell “Go Sharks”, or donning a pair of infamous budgie smugglers, Australian politicians rely on the power of style.
Crikey sat down with Derek Guy, editor of online menswear outlet Put This On — or you might know him as that viral “menswear guy” on X — to rate and roast the outfits of a few selected Australian politicians.
Guy rose to prominence after a shift to X’s algorithm blasted his earnest assessments of celebrity outfits onto “For You” tabs everywhere. His most recent take was his comparison of controversial TV host Piers Morgan’s style to “menswear icon” Kermit the Frog.
Anthony Albanese
We asked Guy to rate several photos of Anthony Albanese first: one from the 2022 Midwinter Ball and another of his prime ministerial portrait.
On Albanese’s fit for Australian politics’ night of nights, Guy said that if he were advising him, he would “make a few changes”.
On the shoes: “He’s wearing black derbies, which is a kind of shoe with open facings — the part of the shoe that holds the shoelaces. He should be wearing a more formal shoe like a plain-toe, patent leather oxford, or a black formal pump.”
“The other thing that I would advise him is that with this specific outfit, he’s wearing a wing collar shirt with a bib,” Guy said. “So what he needs is some kind of waist covering … he can do a low-cut vest, what’s called a formal vest. And the formal vest should be made in the same material as the jacket’s facings. The other thing I would advise … I would say next time get a dinner jacket that has a peak lapel or a shawl collar lapel.”
On Albanese’s prime ministerial portrait, Guy was much more taken, noting that it “looks really good”.
“The material is nice and textured … his shirt collar’s points reach the lapels, it’s a well-cut suit,” he said. “If only all politicians dressed this well.”
Scott Morrison
Looking at Albanese’s predecessor, we showed Scott Morrison’s iconic Hawaiian holiday outfit, as well as a shot of Morrison giving a speech in Parliament.
Asked about Morrison’s travel attire, Guy was unequivocal.
“You know, it’s not great. It’s not a great outfit.”
Guy cited the 1999 classic The Talented Mr. Ripley as an example of where Morrison could take some cues for better beachside style.
“It’s a great film if you want to look at how you might want to dress at a beachy seaside town,” he said.
“There’s a lot of retro-styled knits, fuller pants, linen trousers.”
Asked to look at Morrison’s more regular looks in parliamentary speeches, Guy was equally uncomplimentary.
“The tailoring is not the greatest,” he said.
“The shoulder line is very soft, and the shoulders are extended. It’s just kind of like a cheap, off-the-rack suit.”
Guy noticed a key difference between Morrison and Albanese that would have bypassed even the most eagle-eyed observers: their choice of ties and how they tied them.
“Albo is wearing a Windsor knot, and ScoMo is wearing a four-in-hand. In my view, when I think of clothing in terms of social and historical language, the reason why the four-in-hand is often considered a ‘better’ knot is because it was the knot used by the upper classes.”
“While it seems ScoMo is wearing what would be historically considered a more upper-class knot, the only thing is that he seems to buy kind of cheap ties. His ties have a little bit of a sheen to them — they’re just kind of like cheap mall ties, whereas Albo in his photo, has a much better tie with the grenadine. It doesn’t look like a tie that a high school student would buy for their graduation. And [Morrison’s] suits don’t fit that well.”
Despite his assessment of Morrison’s style, Guy said it was nonetheless a “massive improvement over many American politicians.”
John Howard, Penny Wong
We put the outfits of a number of other Australian politicians to Guy, including John Howard in his Wallabies tracksuits, former Liberal MP Craig Kelly, as well as Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, and Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley.
Guy was a big fan of Howard’s green-and-gold walking getup, telling Crikey it told a story.
“I think any kind of dress with this kind of social language is good. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t like the photo of ScoMo in just a t-shirt and swimming trunks — it’s just a generic, meaningless outfit. You’re going for a walk and you’re wearing a full tracksuit? In the colours of the national rugby team? I think that’s cool.”
While he was complimentary of all three of the women shown, Guy took a particular liking to the style of Penny Wong.
“Stressing that I don’t know anything about womenswear, it’s not my lane, I think they all look nice. Personally, I like what looks to be a bouclé texture on Wong’s jacket. One of the things that sticks out to me is that they all look better than American politicians.
“They all look great. If only US politicians would dress as well.”
Craig Kelly
Guy’s strongest criticisms, however, came as we began to wrap up our chat, and his ire was reserved for Craig Kelly. Crikey hadn’t brought up Kelly specifically, save for including him in the sample of photographs provided ahead of the interview, but Guy wanted to make clear the controversial politician’s tie was “really ugly”.
“He should not only not buy ties from that shop, but he should not go back to the shop where he bought that tie because they very likely sell bad clothes,” Guy said.
“Get rid of that tie, get a shirt maker to make you a better shirt collar with a longer point. Get a jacket that has a wider lapel, because his broad frame needs a wider lapel so that it doesn’t look like such a stingy lapel on such a large frame.
“And most of all, which I think most people would notice first and foremost, he should learn how to tie the tie so that the two ends are not so far from each other. I don’t even know where the long end of the tie ends!”
Of the selected politicians shown, Guy had a resounding winner for best dressed Australian politician — the current prime minister.
“He’s got the best casual wear and also tailored clothing, I think.”
Disclosure: Your correspondent worked from June 2019 to September 2020 as a sales and style consultant for Hugo Boss, during which he styled a number of Australian politicians. His former affiliations and clients had no bearing on the judgments made in this article or the choice of politicians presented.
What iconic fits from Australian politicians have we forgotten? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
