Can you wear a halter top? And who can actually tie a tie? 

Not many workplaces in Aotearoa still enforce a dress code, and you could wear a hoodie and jandals to many offices around the motu without breaking any rules. Not in parliament though, which has expectations around the appearance of MPs: namely, “appropriate business attire” regardless of gender. Standards are enforced, not by elected fashion police but by speaker Gerry Brownlee, who is promising a crackdown on dress standards after new Te Pāti Māori MP Oriini Kaipara arrived barefoot for her maiden speech last week.

It’s got everyone debating dress codes again, amid suggestions the parliamentary rules need to be stricter to combat the “increasingly casual and political” clothing choices of some members (while others play it painfully safe, saying nothing except “blazer”). 

Even that’s a statement though. Clothes are a visual communication medium. You don’t need to open your mouth or bang out a social media post to get a message across. Many MPs understand this and use it as a tool. Others invest time and money in dressing like they’re up to the task, suggesting propriety and professionalism via their apparel. And with MPs in the public eye more than ever, how they look is part of the job whether they like it or not.

What even is business attire in 2025? And what makes it appropriate? Not all suits are the same (though hemp ones were formally approved in 2000, along with dreadlocks). So, let’s consider some successful fashion policy and areas of opportunity.

Excellence: Top of the class

There’s bipartisan consensus on the calibre of foreign minister Winston Peters’ style – though in 2019 Act suggested he “ditch his personal tailor” – and his choice of tailoring has been consistent throughout his career. The NZ First leader’s ties are high quality (surely silk) and tied with a slim, elegant knot, possibly a four-in-hand or a half Windsor. Young Winnie favoured lighter suits. A grey number he bought in London during the late 1980s made a reappearance at parliament in 2015, and headlines. And he dug another one up in 2021, a bespoke blazer by Taiwan tailors James Lee, which sold for $1,210 at a charity auction.

Those have been largely superseded by pinstripes in recent decades. Few other MPs (excluding Labour’s Ginny Andersen, who wears them too) dare to wear pinstripes, let alone on a double-breasted suit, making that a Peters signature. Fewer still can lay claim to a publicly recognisable look. Outside the house, he’s not keen on adding high-vis vests to it though (unlike Simeon Brown). Perhaps because he knows his colours, something he once said was critical to dressing well. “You’re either a winter, or a spring, or a summer or an autumn. If you know your colours, then you’ll buy much more wisely.”

Shirts and blouses are pretty standard “business attire”, though Green MP Tamatha Paul regularly shows how they can be used to temper more daring garments. She’s probably the only MP to wear a tube top or halter top in parliament, circumventing dress codes by layering these over white button-ups. Paul’s also proved that you can wear a “plain top” without looking underdressed, as was the case with the khaki-green knit with contrasting trim she sported in July (pictured above). The differentiator here is quality and design: her Wynn Hamlyn jumper has flames on the sleeves and no one’s complained yet (it’s actually a rather apt choice for a scene of fiery debates.)

Merit: Shows creative flair

Someone who does know colour is National’s Carl Bates, who has an incredible collection of yellow ties, according to The Spinoff’s political reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith, who finds them “very admirable and cohesive”. Act’s Brooke van Velden is impressively committed to her party’s signature shade of pink, an eye-catching choice amid the parliamentary sea of green leather and honeyed wood. Greens co-leader Marama Davidson shows a similar dedication to green.

Tempted to try something different, test the dress codes? Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi was kicked out for wearing Māori taonga instead of a tie in 2023, but the tie requirement was dropped just days later. Taonga are a common sight now, on MPs like National’s Tama Potaka, who favours a hei tiki, and Act’s Nicole McKee. Green MP Steve Abel wears a pounamu, and his party’s co-leaders Chlöe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson often don carved taonga (and keffiyeh too). All add layers of meaning and personal flair to “business attire” and can be found in many workplaces around the motu.

And then there are the historical references. Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer goes hard for a high neck, puff sleeves and top hat, recontextualising colonial-era fashion.

Achieved: Meets expectations

As far as traditional ties go, many still wear them. National’s Chris Bishop has a pretty good collection – lots of bold diagonal stripes – and knows how to tie one properly.

Labour’s Kieran McAnulty is one of the few men in parliament who’ll step out in a plaid suit – it communicates “countryman” and also confidence – while his party colleague Shanan Halbert seems to have a little thing for striped shirts. Glen Bennett sits behind his party leader Chris Hipkins in a consistent rotation of nice checked shirts and ties.

Is denim allowed? Benjamin Doyle wore some for their farewell speech, a smart striped jacket with a beret. Those are allowed. “There is no rule prohibiting a member wearing a hat,” according to the speaker’s rulings, as long as it’s not advertising anything. Rawiri Waititi’s Akubra makes a case for more people wearing cool hats.

Not Achieved: Must try harder

The glut of navy blue suits has reached an unprecedented level, and alternatives warrant fast-tracking through parliament. Or at the very least the Ministry for Regulation, though David Seymour is a fan. So are all the Chrises: Luxon, Hipkins and Bishop. Where did the trend come from? Well, they’re popular among the international finance and tech sectors (usually with a white shirt and no tie) and politicians and business types around the world appear to have followed suit. The look says “trust me”, smiling at you for a beat too long. Are there alternatives? Non-threatening hues on offer at local suit retailers include “grey”, “charcoal” and “olive”.

Room for opportunity: Student shows promise

More MPs could follow Ginny Andersen’s lead and wear a waistcoat; they look smart, pulled together and work well on literally everyone. [Editor’s note: this is false, I have proved it myself.]

Some loud, fun ties wouldn’t go amiss. And what about other coloured suits? Would something loud and funky by World or Strangely Normal be permissible? It seems that glitter is probably A-OK: Nicola Willis wore Maggie Marilyn’s “Love Will Lead You Home” blazer in sparkly floss pink in November 2023 for the mini-budget announcement. Unfortunately, the brand didn’t release trousers in the same fabric (Willis loves a pantsuit), making this a missed opportunity for head-to-toe sparkle – glittering positivity that could distract from the country’s ongoing economic woes.

Would a tuxedo T-shirt fall within the parliamentary dress code? Tākuta Ferris regularly wears slogan T-shirts underneath his blazers (words are allowed as long as they’re not advertising anything or related to sports teams, though the line can be faint) and is probably the most “casual” of the MPs – though arguably T-shirts are now the norm in most offices, with some even allowing hoodies. Is it worse than a sea of navy suits? Perhaps not.

Which brings us to Chris Hipkins. His viral 2023 Napier appearance wearing a black hoodie and wraparound sunnies earned praise from bogans and Labour’s base. Should this look ever be allowed in the House (it’s probably, definitely not), it may see his preferred-PM rating surge. Or perhaps it would signal the crumbling of parliamentary standards and all social order with it. Who’s to say!