`Hey, it's Batman'

ANYONE who remembers Pim's drapers and outfitters on Dublin's George's Street will remember the sartorial splendour of its commissionaire. With his military style epaulettes, a peaked cap and enough gold braid to kit out a brass band, he was rumoured to be more than a little discriminatory in his approach to the job.

Arrive in a Rolls Royce and the door would be flung open in welcome arrive on a bicycle and you'd have to limbo through the tiny crack grudgingly provided.

In the 1970s, with liveried doormen a thing of the past, the height of shop door sophistication was the anonymous but permanently warmer reception of a blast of hot air from blow heaters set in the ceiling inside the swing door.

In the past year, at least two new liveried doormen have appeared on the streets of the capital one at the Bank of Ireland, the other at Brown Thomas so is the tradition of having a "meet and greet" person on the door on the way back?

Gerard Kelly (21) is the commissionaire at Brown Thomas. His uniform consists of a long black coat over black trousers, a white shirt, red waistcoat and tie. In winter he adds a red scarf to the outfit but it is his top hat that makes him really stand out from the crowd.

His job is to open and close the main door, greet customers and generally be the first friendly face the customer sees. His training for the job involved a detailed tour of the store and a day with a person from Bord Failte so that he would be able to answer the tourist type questions he gets bombarded with every day.

"I started a year ago at Christmas time and I think most people thought it was just a Christmas thing," says Gerard "But now that I've been here a year, I'm like a permanent fixture on the street."

The public reaction has been positive, with comments along the lines that it's lovely to see a bit of tradition coming back, and that it adds a touch of class. "You have to be nice to absolutely everybody and that's usually fairly easy but there are some days that you'd feel like a Prozac in the morning and valium in the evening," he jokes.

Anyone indulging in the classic shopping fantasy of tottering down Grafton Street in high heels and a little suit followed by a handsome flunky laden down with glamorous looking, just purchased boxes and bags, can forget it.

Gerard isn't supposed to leaves his post, as he has had to explain more than once to customers with an exaggerated idea of his job description. "But really the bottom line is that my job is all about service. No matter what the customer wants, I'm here to help."

Just down the road is another young man in a top hat and with an even more impressive work uniform. At the Bank of Ireland on College Green, Vincent Lang (24) does his job dressed in a top hat, black bow tie, red waistcoat and navy coat tails complete with shiny brass buttons. On cold day she wears a navy gabardine topcoat. Despite the "olde worlde" rig out he is part of the bank's very modern security team. His job is to be generally vigilant and to look after the forecourt parking area.

What makes it slightly different from most security jobs is that the number one priority says Vincent, is looking after customers. He's been there a year but the style of the uniform is as old as the bank.

"It was worn right up to the early 1980s, and when they decided to bring it back last year, I had to go to Lords tailors on Parliament Street who had been making it for generations, says Vincent. "Since leaving school I've worked in catering and security, and in every job I've had to wear some sort of uniform, and so I just look at this as just another part of the job," he says pragmatically before admitting that having to wear a wool felt top hat every day during our sweltering summer wasn't great.

"I did come in for a bit of slagging in the beginning, especially because of the top hat, but the customers really like the uniform and I hear of reminiscences, especially from older customers who remember it from years ago," he says. Among countless compliments for bringing back the uniform the bank has only had two complaints. Both berated the management for what was perceived as an attempt to revive an English style of dress but the bank was able to point out that the uniform was designed when the bank was established by its very anti English French Huguenot founder.

HOTEL commissionaires have always been decked out in either military style uniforms or in more sedate establishments, morning suits. Christy Barrett opens doors and parks cars at the Conrad Hotel in Dublin and before that he did a similar job in the Berkeley Court Hotel.

More than one passing gurrier has remarked "jaysus, it's Batman upon seeing his uniform which includes a short maroon cape.

Underneath that, Christy wears a grey topcoat with gold trimming and a gold trimmed maroon peaked cap.

He likes the uniform for its style and visibility and feels as much a part of the street as the hotel. "Standing out here you get to know all the faces from the offices and the Concert Hall. The hotel has very regular customers and over the years I've gotten to know them too," says the 60 year old Dubliner.

The uniform, which wouldn't be out of place in a glizty production of A Christmas Carol, has changed slightly over the years.

Originally, Christy had to wear a top hat until he pointed out to management the difficulty of hopping in and out of your average family saloon wearing headgear designed for a more gracious age.