They expected to raise an eyebrow, maybe a smile with their tweedy attire... hardly interest from the fashion brigade.

Tweed waistcoats, flat caps and shooting breeches were the last thing Sheffield's likeliest lads would normally wear.

But leaning manfully on their canes, shooting sticks tucked casually under one arm, they looked every inch the landed gentry. And, er, quite sexy, actually. A sight more hunky than their 2007 Wizard of Oz outfits, at any rate.

Maybe it was the way those plus-twos clung to the thighs. Or the way those long socks so clearly defined their well-turned calves.

But suddenly, old fogey is a key look. It's hip to look like your grandad did when he were nowt but a lad.

Leading fashion houses have revisited the English landowner look for inspiration on many an occasion. But, undoubtedly, the Arctics made it cool for 2008.

What do you think? Post your comments below.

Handsome young chaps might not be tally-ho-ing as far as the breeches, but they are snapping up old waistcoats, flat caps and jackets.

"We can barely keep up with demand," says Jane Nash, of Sharrowvale Road vintage clothing specialist shop The Front Parlour, one of few to stock such menswear.

"The Arctic Monkeys were probably only having a bit of a laugh when they turned up for their award in their old-fashioned outfits, but they looked great and set an example on dressing with individuality.

"The tweedy country look is really popular now. Lads love the old names – Harris tweed, Tootal and Duggie scarves.

There's also huge demand for old evening suits, morning coats and white silk scarves from young men wanting to cut a dash at the prom."

The hardest task for Jane and her mum Betty, who set up the business 29 years ago, is finding things to sell.

The male hoarding instinct, coupled with the old adage of make-do and mend, makes menswear from past eras very scarce.

"Most men keep things for years, even if they don't wear them," explains Jane. "After a bereavement, families find shirts still in their wrappers, boxes of braces and bow-ties that are as good as the day they were stored away, and jackets dating back 50 years.

"And then there are the men who wear things until they literally fall to bits. They end up doing the gardening in what were once their best suit trousers.

"Little do they realise they are depriving today's young men out of well-cut, quality clothes. The old stuff is so much better quality than the things they can buy today.

"Young lads have cottoned on to that. As well as it being cool to wear quirky, old-fashioned pieces, they love the quality, the pure cottons, the worsted wools and tweeds."

They love the price, too...
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