MY wife claims that I am no Gok Wan when it comes to consulting about fashion. More of a Wok Pan. Indeed she still harps on about how, after she met me, she saved me from a lifetime of being mocked for wearing shapeless jumpers by introducing my favourite mohair to the bin.

But I like to think I made my name as a style guru when I ventured an opinion that men over 40 shouldn’t wear jeans. It resulted in a volley of criticism usually reserved for owners of pit bull terriers, gas-guzzling drivers and Piers Morgan. Along the lines of, “Perkins, you are an ass.”

So I feel confident, particularly with Her Majesty out of the country, in pointing out that while there may be big constitutional questions about the future of Australia and the monarchy yet to be discussed, the Queen and the stereotypical Australian male have one thing in common.

A lamentable dress sense.

Your average Aussie bloke, my past research (watching TV of England cricket tours) suggests, may no longer favour the cork as a headwear accessory but his sartorial statement is clearly inspired by his English origins. Only lacking the interesting eccentricity so nobly displayed during Ashes Series by his Barmy Army equivalent.

The Queen, too, seems to always wear a classic retro look that she carved for herself in the 1950s.

The difference is that on our Sovereign it looks a timeless classic. On your Average Aussie Cobber it doesn’t.

You have to look hard, for example, to find an Australian sporting a trendy man bag.

The Queen saw rare examples of that uncharacteristically fashionable Aussie look only yesterday.

On the front of male kangaroos.