It was only a matter of time before some smart-arse came along and pointed out that, as the word “Wednesday” derives from the Old English Wēdnes dæg (Woden’s Day), then the most authentic Elegantly Dressed Wednesday would be a picture of the snappily-dressed Germanic god himself .

So, to save everyone else the embarrassment, I’ve done it myself. Here’s a picture of Woden (or, if you prefer the Norse name and tradition, “Odin”) as depicted in an 18th century Icelandic manuscript (SÁM 66) in the care of the Árni Magnússon Institute in Iceland.

As you can see, our one-eyed deity is here depicted with his pets and his weapons, and is dressed in rather a fetching red and white robe, topped with the all-important crown. As such, this picture belongs to Woden’s “blameless” period, the era before he found himself at least partly responsible (as Wotan) for Wagner’s Ring and, much more irritatingly, for lonely boys’ obsession with games such as Final Fantasy.

One note of caution to those same boys: whilst Woden takes the laurels in this week’s Elegantly Dressed Wednesday, you will not be imbued with the same panache if you dress up as him and leap out of hedges wearing cotton-wool beards and wielding rubber swords at similarly lonely people who are dressed up as dwarves. In fact, you’ll just look sad. Buy a suit instead.

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