The British Dad uniform is always changing.

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When I was a boy in the noughties, any Christmas party or family barbecue saw a nauseating array of boldly patterned shirts in gaudy colours, often depicting favourite hobbies or pets. Over the top went a suit jacket, blazer or sports coat, with lapels and square shoulders. It was every dad’s party uniform in the noughties. It told everyone in attendance, ‘I tried’.

We hated them for it. The bold shirts were hideous, and they clashed terribly with the formal jackets. It was James May. It was Richard Hammond. No, worse: it was Jeremy Vine.

But we would have savoured those novelty patterns, tweed blazers and tan leather brogues had we known what dire choices the next generation of dads would make. Look at men in their forties today and the sports coats are gone. The shirts are gone. In their place is the most catastrophically boring combo known to man: shackets and white t-shirts. The shacket has taken over, and it is a disaster.

What is a shacket? At its simplest, it’s a long-sleeved, button-down shirt worn over a T-shirt. But having spawned into a clothing category of its own, shackets have strayed a little from their roots. Now cut from heavier fabrics, they often feature poppers, zips and pockets. They still nod to a traditional shirt, with cuffs, buttons and collars, but are different enough to be their own thing.

Once upon a time, shackets were exclusively reserved for the most fashion-blind and insecure men of the millennial generation. Men who, like their fathers, wanted........

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