The siren suit: Why Churchill didn't dress to impress on his visit to the White House
After Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the White House last week many people on social media started posting an iconic image of Winston Churchill during the Second World War, but why did they do this?
A reporter asked the Ukrainian President why he wasn't wearing a suit and tie during his meeting in the Oval Office with US President Donald Trump.
But Mr Zelensky is not the first wartime leader to wear less formal clothing during official meetings.
Known for his no-nonsense bulldog scowl, smoking a cigar and wearing a black Homburg hat, Prime Minister Winston Churchill also famously wore what he called a romper suit.
His all-in-one redesign of the boiler suit, which people might associate today with the ever-popular onesies, was a practical item of clothing worn by Churchill before, during and after the Second World War.
Said to be inspired by the practical suits worn by bricklayers – building walls was a well-known hobby of Churchill's – the outfit, tailor-made by London-based shirtmaker Turnbull & Asser, became known as the siren suit because he could swiftly put one on during air raids and crack on with his work.
But Michael Paterson, a historian and author of Winston Churchill: Personal Accounts of the Great Leader of War, believes the Prime Minister's siren suit was more than just a practical item of clothing.
He said: "The no-nonsense, workmanlike appearance of the siren suit caught another national mood – the desire to grapple with the job in hand and see it through – that was simultaneously the basis of his leadership."
The Prime Minister would wear his siren suits at Chartwell, the family's home in Kent, at 10 Downing Street and during official visits to meet leaders of Allied countries.
The wartime leader wore one during the Battle of Britain, while meeting with President Franklin D Roosevelt in Washington, planning D-Day with Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and the then General Dwight D Eisenhower and at the Yalta Conference with Roosevelt and Premier of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin.
There were even black velvet and pin-striped siren suits designed for formal dinners.
On 6 January 1942, the New York Times reported that First Lady Eleanour Roosevelt was so impressed by Churchill's practical suit she was planning to have one made for her husband if the materials could be spared during rationing.
From boiler rooms to shelters
What began as a simple boiler suit gained popularity thanks to Britain's greatest wartime leader, eventually making its way into the homes of the British public when they saw how useful they might be during air raids.
In 2005, the BBC published a letter by Julie Allen who recalled the siren suit she wore as a child during the Second World War, saying: "I fondly remember these warm all in one suits that were sold to keep children warm at night when they were woken up when the air raid siren sounded and parents took the children into the shelters or cellars etc.
"I remember my mum buying mine, which was a bright royal blue, from the department store in Croydon called Kennards, which is now Debenhams.
"It was always ready for me to quickly slip on over my pyjamas so that we could get down to the shelter as quickly as possible."
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