Law has lagged behind trends towards casual dressing for too long

But ‘ban on excessive displays of skin’ feels subjective and hats rule is currently unfashionable

• ‘More like Annabel’s’: London law firm seeks to redress dress code

News that the head of law firm Vardags has instructed staff to ditch the suits and channel Annabel’s, the exclusive Mayfair nightclub, when selecting their outfits has raised some eyebrows.

But transferring the dress code of a members club to a workplace has some sense behind it. As with Annabel’s, hotpants or dirty trainers would probably not feature in most people’s idea of a professional outfit, and “smart, elegant attire” – the aim of the dress code for the Mayfair club – works as an overarching rule of thumb for work too.