Move over Matt Preston, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is now the man of style on TV

TO many Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, a judge on House Rules, is the must-see on TV right now. He’s daring and dandy. Let’s talk.

Flamboyant, a fashion original, a modern day dandy.

House Rules’ Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has been called it all, over a 20-plus-year career on UK and international television.

Just don’t call the 53-year-old Llewelyn-Bowen “grandpa,” even if he does dote on his daughter’s first born, seven-month-old son, Albion Rex.

“I just didn’t like the sound of grandpa, so he will call me ‘Governor’,” the man now known to Australia by his monogram tells News Corp Australia.

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Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is the flamboyantly dressed judge on House Rules, who also has a good turn of phrase. Picture: Bob Barker

Crafting a name — and look — for himself began long before Albie’s birth, with the British design expert arguing his style instincts were born “in the cradle.”

“My grandmother was an exceptional seamstress and she used to make tiny, miniature little [military] uniforms for me, which I absolutely loved ... if you go on the internet, there are photographs of me dressed as a miniature toy soldier.”

Fast forward to his latest opportunity to dress up — as a judge on Channel 7’s renovation reality series — and Llewelyn-Bowen is as disciplined about his on-air wardrobe as a drill sergeant.

Host Joh Griggs recalls his first day on the job, arriving with “his 20 suits, his 20 clashing shirts, his 20 clashing ties and his three pairs of high heel shoes that he brings long ... apologising that he hadn’t had time to steam it all himself.”

Laurence Llewelyn Bowen is one of the reasons you should give House Rules a go. Picture: Josie Hayden

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While his accent may be more upstairs than downstairs, Llewelyn-Bowen is not above doing his own styling.

“From here I go straight on to Singapore [to film another reality series, The Apartment] and gone are the days where I travel with a valet, a butler and two footmen. This isn’t Downton Abbey anymore and,” he mock gasps, “I have to do my own packing.”

As low maintenance as he may seem, he admits he also likes “being in control of it all as well.”

“I don’t like going into a situation and expecting to be dressed by somebody ... it’s me, it’s my image, it reflects me and I think I do better in a way that expresses me than someone brought in to style me from the outside,” he explains.

Age, as well as experience, has taught him what suits, so now the married father-of-two has most of his wardrobe tailored to fit (right down to his silk pyjamas).

A striking floral suit he wore for publicity this season was LLB’s idea and made from curtain material by a go-to-tailor near his home in The Cotswolds, England.

“I’ve got to the stage now where I like to keep pushing the boundaries a little bit. I like the kinky link between the fact that I’ve got a three-piece suit in a three-piece suite fabric.”

Like MasterChef’s Matt Preston, whose fashion eccentricities have made interesting viewing each season, LLB tweaks his look from one show to the next.

“I don’t want to suddenly change myself for a particular series, but it is an evolution. At the moment it’s Liberty print shirts and ties that I have made. Funnily enough, I found some old photographs of myself at probably the age of six and I was wearing, more or less, the same.”

If he encourages daring designs in the home, he evangelises the same when it comes to fashion.

“Take some risks, have some fun, do your own thing, swing your pants.”

House Rules, Channel 7, Sunday, 7pm, and Monday to Thursday, 7.30pm

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Originally published as Move over Matt Preston, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is now the man of style on TV