Pulp: Is Sheffield's Jarvis Cocker still one of the 'Common People'?

Jarvis Cocker's early career wasn't exactly based on his sartorial elegance.

The leader of the Brit-pop era had a reputation for wearing hand-me-down clothes that looked like they had come straight from a charity shop - and in many instances they had.

It wasn't unusual to see his geeky, wide-framed glasses secured to his head courtesy of a rubber band just visible through his unruly hair.

Duffle coats and a dumbed-down version of his school uniform were the norm.

But these days, the singer whose top song included the line 'I wanna live like common people' cuts quite the dashing image.

GQ magazine says he has cornered the market on "the disheveled dandy" look.

Girlfriend calls Jarvis Cocker her 'style icon'

And his on-trend, creative consultant girlfriend Kim Sion now regards him as her "style icon."

The London-based couple have been an item for 14 years and Kim, who has rubbed shoulders with fashion luvvies like Kate Moss and the late Vivienne Westwood, says Jarvis now possesses "impeccable style", addding: "He really teaches me. He’s such an inspiration."

In a recent feature in the Financial Times, Kim went even further. "My style icons are my boyfriend Jarvis Cocker and Yves Saint Laurent," she said, adding: "I think you’ll agree that they’re both quite similar."

Sheffield-born Jarvis, who turned 60 in September and somehow always looks good in a burgundy velvet suit, corduroy, or tweed, wasn't always the man-about-town in appearances.

In a podcast, he explained that he had left school in the early 1980s and had to go on the dole, so had little money for the best apparel.

"Through necessity, I had to live on people's throwaways," he said.

"It was thrifty of me to buy from jumble sales and charity shops. I could get more from my meagre supplementary benefit allowance by doing that."

Not surprisingly, he says he doesn't get his clothes from a jumble sale any more.

In fact, during his podcast interview, he pointed out he was sporting a jacket made by a tailor called Edward Sexton, "who used to be the cutter for a guy called Tommy Nutter who was credited with revolutionising men's tailoring at the end of the Sixites."

Jarvis and partner love walks in Hope Valley with dog

His work included suits worn by three of the Beatles on the front cover of their album Abbey Road, said Jarvis a former City School pupil.

The singer enjoys a hint of irony in his dress sense, saying: “I've never really had a proper job in my life. So the idea of me wearing a suit is kind of a joke, really.”

It's not known what he wears when he takes his partner out on the Derbyshire hills, along with long-haired chihuahua Tony named after the lead character in Sopranos.

Kim says: "My favourite location is Hope Valley in the Peak District. Everything about this part of England astounds me: the nature, the rolling hills, the shadows of the clouds on the landscape… the cheese toasties. It’s my heaven."