Dress codes should be celebrated not dressed down

As dress codes go, “polo shirts and stonewashed jeans” hardly fills the heart with joy. It does not conjure an image of glamour and fun, or of dancing the night away with a handsome stranger. It certainly doesn’t bring to mind a night at Annabel’s, once the chicest nightclub in London.

And yet, under plans being mooted by the owner, that is what we could soon be faced with. As part of a £55 million renovation of the Berkeley Square boîte, Richard Caring is toying with scrapping the ban on men wearing polo shirts, stonewash denim and even – splutter it – leggings. Trainers may also be allowed, but we’ll return to them in a moment.

You might say it is for men to argue about what they should or shouldn’t be allowed to wear. But it is we women who will suffer. If I go somewhere like Annabel’s, I’m going to make an effort – the last time I was there I wore my canary-yellow vintage Ossie Clark with a pair of bespoke Louboutins. Needless to say, I expect the men to dress accordingly. I don’t want to feel like I’m surrounded by a load of blokes in the pub.

The point about a club like Annabel’s is its otherness. It is not just any old fleapit, but a magical place where the people should match the wonderful interiors and Roaring Twenties artworks by Paul Colin. Its founder, Mark Birley, had an innate and impeccable sense of style, which elevated Annabel’s to a level of glamour that remained unrivalled for 50 years.

That may have changed in recent times, especially since the creation five years ago of 5 Hertford Street by Mark’s son, Robin Birley. But if Annabel’s is to have any hope of retaining its original glamour, it needs to think carefully about the look not just of its interiors, but of its clientele too.

So if anything, I would propose a stricter dress code, not least for the women. No knee-high leather boots or dresses that stop just above the bottom. Men, meanwhile, mustn’t be allowed to feel that any old jogging bottoms will do. Which brings me to trainers. Fashion has moved on since the days when sneakers were just for sport. Now, if clean and smart, they can complement an outfit as well as any brogue or loafer. They are worn by some of the most stylish men around, like Jasper Conran and Tom Ford, who should never be excluded from anywhere. So trainers, if worn correctly, should be allowed.

For the purpose of a dress code is not to exclude, or to make people uncomfortable. Rather, it is the opposite – to make sure no one feels out of place. If I’m in Balenciaga and the man next to me is in cargo shorts, nobody wins. Dress codes actually help to create unity, not divisions.

Which is why it was wrong of John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, to announce yesterday that male MPS would henceforth be allowed to address the chamber without a tie. The erosion of the Commons dress code will mean that MPS spend more time worrying about what they wear, and less time considering parliamentary business; more time thinking about themselves, and less about the institution.

The subtlety of a dress code is too often misunderstood – they are casually denigrated as the hidebound ruling of some anachronistic society. Nothing could be further from the truth. What they actually represent is democratisation. We should celebrate and preserve them in all our institutions, be that Annabel’s or

read more at telegraph.co.uk/opinion