It would certainly cut a dash in Kirkcaldy.

Gordon Brown, whose tentative forays out of a suit have so far been limited to knitwear and chinos, now has a daring addition to his wardrobe.

In what some may see as a subtle form of revenge, President Bush presented Mr Brown with a fur-trimmed bomber jacket during his visit to Camp David at the weekend.

The item is garish, camp and seems deliberately unlikely to appeal to the new Prime Minister’s more austere aesthetic.

Its shiny waterproof finish is emblazoned with the Presidential logo and “Camp David” tag on one side and a name badge stitched crudely on the other. Jarringly, this gives his formal Privy Council title, “The Rt Hon Gordon Brown”.

The jacket was presented to the Prime Minister in a garish gold gift box, which itself was covered in the presidential seal.

Mr Brown’s spokesman did not reveal the nature of the gift during the trip. Instead, the box was left, neglected, in one of the empty seats in the economy cabin of the aircraft that flew Mr Brown back to London.

The Prime Minister has already failed the first test with Mr Bush: unlike his predecessor, Mr Brown refused to put it on while with the President, insisting that both he and the Mr Bush dress formally as they whizzed around the mountain retreat on “Golf Cart One”.

When Tony Blair was presented with a similar jacket during his trip to Camp David in 2001, he was pictured in it, clambering into the helicopter that flew him from the mountain-top retreat.

The sartorial saga that surrounded the summit began when Mr Brown ignored a White House suggestion that he “dress down” for the first meeting between the pair. He turned up in a suit, forcing President Bush to find a tie as well.

The gift shows the President’s mischievous side, ordering it in the knowledge that Mr Brown is distancing himself from the intimate, personal relationship that he enjoyed with Mr Blair. Another sign of President Bush’s sense of humour came on Sunday night, when “Brownies” appeared on the menu for their dinner à deux in the Laurel Cabin.

If the Prime Minister is reluctant, his wife may have other ideas for the jacket. She has been trying to reveal his lighter, more approachable image — encouraging him to abandon his traditional dark suits, white shirts and red ties to make way for a more casual look with chinos, open-neck shirts and the occasional pink or purple tie.

The bomber jacket is a presidential favourite. He wore it on trips to Iraq and on the re-election campaign trail in 2004. He also wore it at the 2001 “Colgate” summit with Mr Blair, who wore an ill-advised blue jumper, tight trousers and blue suede shoes.

Mr Brown must pay the equivalent cash value of the jacket if he wants to keep it, but is thought unlikely to do so. Downing Street did not disclose what gift he gave the President in return.

Downing Street has been forced to disclose the gifts bought for foreign leaders after a Freedom of Information campaign by The Times. In July 2001 Mr Blair gave President Bush a coat, and on subsequent occasions gave him a book and golf equipment.

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