U2 draws the crowds for 'iconic' hat and pants show

She was the woman who gave U2 a new look in 1987, with "very straight lines" and a rougher, raunchier attitude.

But the lines were blurred and only the questions were rough at the Circuit Civil Court in Dublin yesterday, when U2 accused their former stylist of stealing a pair of Bono's trousers and an "iconic" stetson hat.

For the fourth time in as many days, the band was packing out a venue in the city. This time it was the cramped environs of court number 28 and only half the group - Bono and Larry Mullen - appeared live. Still, the excitement was undisguised, as even barristers suspended their dignity to queue for autographs.

The rock stars wore suits and ties for the hearing, in which Bono stressed the clear division between U2's personal clothes and "working wardrobe" like the disputed hat and trousers, which he said was owned collectively by the band and archived.

But the stylist Lola claimed there had been no such division during the Joshua Tree world tour, during which the group went from big to huge, and "chaos" was the norm backstage. She claimed she had to "run around like a mummy" after concerts to retrieve stage clothes, or else the band would carry on wearing them.

"They've obviously become very sophisticated now," she added.

Indeed, when they crowded together during a break, the U2 witnesses - including band manager Paul McGuinness and tour manager Dennis Sheehan - looked more like bank directors than a rock group.

After hearing evidence of past disagreements between Ms Cashman and U2's accountants over personal bills, Hugh Hartnett SC lamented: "It doesn't sound like rock and roll."

Arguing that the band didn't have a leg to stand on in their claim to ownership of the trousers and other memorabilia, Mr Hartnett suggested the case was a "stunt" to distract Ms Cashman from a defamation suit she had begun in London.

This followed a letter from U2 to the auctioneers Christies, questioning the stylist's ownership of items being offered for sale, and casting doubt on the authenticity of boots signed by Larry Mullen.

The U2 drummer has since conceded that the boots and signature are his and that he did give them to the stylist. But the band denies that the other items advertised by Christies were gifts to Ms Cashman.

Mr Hartnett put it to Bono that it was only after 1987 the band came to guard their image so jealously. "Oh no!" replied the singer to laughter, "we had delusions of grandeur from a very early age."