Like Winston Churchill’s bowler hats and Margaret Thatcher’s tailored suit-skirts, the image of Rishi Sunak as prime minister appears destined to become synonymous with the cropped trouser.
The tailored, skinny fit look, reminiscent of a mid-noughties indie band, is said to be preferred by the PM because he believes it helps him appear taller in photographs. But according to Saville Row tailors, the tiny trousers may inadvertedly mean 5ft 6in Sunak is coming up short.
Iordana Marin, a London tailor from JohnDana explained: “Shorter trousers are more of an Italian style of tailoring that was worn four years ago. That kind of cut is not for Rishi Sunak.
“It’s not for people who are in positions of power. The cut is more for party wear, for more fashionable people. For him the trouser length should be touching his shoes, it’s not working for him.”
Another tailor, of Hidalgo Brothers on Saville Row, said that Sunak’s ankle grazers may not be doing him any favours.
When asked if shorter trousers could help the vertically challenged, they explained: “I don’t think so necessarily. It could, but they would have to be more narrow. Because if it is shorter and wide it will actually make you look shorter. That’s very important.”
The topic first hit the headlines in 2021 when the prime minister sat down to interview Gordon Ramsay, which caused his trousers to rise awkwardly.
At the time, Mr Sunak’s bespoke tailor, Henry Herbert, jumped to the prime minister’s defence telling The Independent that short cropped trousers are a “more professional” look.
The sartorial conundrum reared its head again on Tuesday when The Sun’s political editor quizzed the PM on his apparent fashion faux pas.
Mr Sunak defended himself, replying: “Well I don’t think they are that short.”
Pushed on whether he thought his style was trendy, he added: “I tend not to like lots of baggy, baggy stuff at the bottom of my ankle.”
Personal stylist, Nick Hems, agrees with the PM and called on critics to cut his slacks some slack.
“He’s being current and having his own individual style. People think it’s a younger person’s game of wearing trousers like that but it’s still a very common thing to do. It’s not unusual to ask your tailor to alter your trousers in that manner.”
