Yesterday's election of Dmitri Medvedev as Russia's new president has raised many important questions. Was the ballot truly democratic? What will it mean for Moscow's relationship with the West? And what on earth were Putin and his successor wearing?

It was strange enough that the duo - not known for their carefree, laugh-a-minute personas - felt that a Red Square rock concert was the place to unveil Sunday's particularly unsurprising result.

Odder still that they decided to attend in fancy dress as a sinister version of the Pet Shop Boys.

It was all a bit Go East, rather than Go West, as they took to the stage, cracking what must pass for smiles in the world of Russian politics. Wearing matching black coats - although Medvedev's was a tough-guy leather number while Putin's looked a bit like the top half of a ski suit - they stood before a pair of microphones.

But there was to be no singing from the stern-faced double act.

Instead, flashing glimpses of their coordinated polo necks (Putin's light grey, Medvedev's black), they waved in unison. Russia's new head of state managed not to look too irritated as the crowd chanted the other man's name, but presidential? More like a scary 1990s dentist.

Medvedev did marginally better earlier on election day, said The Times fashion writer Nicola Copping. At lunch, while Putin looked "like he's just played tennis/cricket/skied down a mountain", his master's voice at least pulled off "Italian Riviera playboy, all navy sports jacket and unbuttoned white shirt. It says I do smart even in a restaurant with wooden benches".

When he went to vote (presumably for himself) in Moscow, accompanied by wife Svetlana, it was more pallbearer chic. Nicola was undecided. "Have they just been to a funeral?"

Svetlana's haircut was suitably "first lady, all bouffant and blonde. But she's a far cry from Laura Bush with that swath of fur around her neck. You can take the woman out of Russia..."

Meanwhile, her husband "seems to do tailoring well, everything looks like it's had a good dose of starch, but so much so that the stiff collar might actually prevent him from breathing".

That oh-so crisp white shirt has been seen before, and may soon become something of a Medvedev trademark.

It was in evidence during a snowy winter walk with the outgoing president last December, when the pair again demonstrated their habit of mirror-dressing, thanks to matching dark duffel-jackets.

But until now it has been Putin who has held all the power, and who has therefore set the stylistic pace. The world can only wait with baited breath to see whether Russia's new leader is a dedicated follower of his predecessor's fashion sense as well as his policies.

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