Public figures and their clothes have been totally in the spotlight this week. Piers Morgan has admitted that he’s become ‘much more conscious’ of his appearance since he took on his CNN show, which is suffering poor ratings. The former newspaper editor claims that it doesn’t matter how well the interviews on his show go, people ‘come up afterwards and say, ‘What was going on with your hair?’’

It’s probably time for him to look at his fitted suits and formal shirts and consider a more relaxed look of crisp chinos and a polo-shirt as Americans seem to find him ‘stuffy’.

Kate and Wills showed us that they can do the formal look as well as their more relaxed casual appearance with baseball hats and sweatshirts. Pippa Middleton’s bridesmaid dress wowed the crowds, but it wasn’t a new look – Cameron Diaz wore the same Alexander McQueen gown in public in 2009, except in red.  And Pippa’s  casual capris and soft shirt outfit, photographed on leaving the hotel the day after the ceremony have already sparked a run on the shops …

Casual royals courtesy of nothingtoomuch1

In August, Dennis the Menace, beloved of generations of children and a nightmare to teachers and parents nearly ended up in hoodie.  There was a cunning plan to dress him as a graffiti artist complete with spray can and hoodie as part of the Beano makeover and for his appearances as a BBC cartoon.  The design agency makeovers didn’t quite get their way. The new Dennis will still have his stripey top and shorts, but a more up-to-date hairstyle. No hoodie, sadly.

And David Cameron seems to have lived down his hug-a-hoodie speech in which he infamously suggested that young criminals needed love rather than punishment.

New Hoody popularity

What’s brought about the rehabilitation of the hoodie? Partly, it’s a gender thing. More women are now wearing hoodys than ever before, and they are being seen on some top girls, like Kate Moss and Prince William’s girlfriend Kate Middleton who wears them to polo-matches. Partly it’s new styling that has made this year’s hoodies tighter and sleeker, less like crime-hoods and more like the sportswear they actually are. And partly it’s colour. Hoodies used to be grey, black and navy, but now they turn up in pink, yellow and this year’s top shade: chocolate brown, and that makes them look like a completely different garment.

How to wear a hoodie

To wear a hoody proudly, make sure that what you have on under it is not too bulky, as that spoils the new clear line of the tighter hoodies, and try to have a contrasting garment so you get two colours where the hoodie neck meets the T-shirt or vest underneath it. That adds interest to the ensemble and makes it clear you’re not wearing a hoodie as camouflage trying to avoid getting caught on CCTV.