Poor old David Cameron. This time last year, he was hitting the headlines with his “hug a hoodie” campaign. Now he’s going to have to learn to hug cardies instead. The youth style mag iD reports that the UK’s fiercest grime MCs are dumping their trusty zip-up tops in favour of oversized, cosy knits with buttons and little pockets just like grandpa wears. According to Wretch, a member of the north London crew the Movement: “It’s a bit smarter, a bit different, isn’t it?”

You bet it is. Somewhere between sports jacket and novelty jumper, the cardie is the casual-wear hoodie replacement we’ve all been looking for. Who, after all, would you rather encounter down an alley on a dark night: a boy with his face hidden in the shadows of a Nike hood, or a boy in a Prince of Wales check lamb’s-wool cardigan?

To be fair, the fashion industry has had the cardie pegged as a must-have item for a few seasons now, but, as we know, it takes boys far longer to catch on to hot trends than girls. This winter, the industry perseveres, with everyone from Prada to Uniqlo doing them, and in sensible colours, too.

The big question, of course, is whether men will actually wear them. Sure, Preston off Big Brother does. As do indie kids, who arrange fitted fine knits over their skinny shoulders in order to look more emotionally fragile. And Justin Timberlake (below), who featured them heavily in his new fashion line, WilliamRast (named, not so coincidentally, after his and his best mate’s grandfathers). But the average bloke? Surely not?

Most men are hard-wired not to unveil their love of cardies until they are at least 70. It’s a man’s shameful secret: not cool, he thinks, not butch and, if truth be told, a tiny bit pathetic. But many a geezer has a covert comfort cardie stuffed in a drawer somewhere – rarely worn, yet notably not thrown away. He knows his cardie represents aspects of himself he would rather nobody, except his mother (who probably gave it to him), knew about – his deep and furtive need to sit on the sofa and be stroked on the head, for example.

All of which presents women with a quandary. We want to see men stylishly attired, but do they look sexy in cardies? Those grime boys clearly think so. Worn with the right accessories (defined by Wretch as: “Trainers, tracksuit bottoms and hats”), chunky, button-fronted knitwear is voluminous enough to make a man look big, yet infinitely less likely to scare the horses than a hoodie. It bravely declares that its wearer has the class to be cool with both his male and female sides; that he is strong, but soft; a man with the child in his eyes. And we girls like that in a fella – yes, we like it a lot.

Times recommends

• How I lost the gift of joy for a while
• How to get Coleen Rooney's post-baby body
• The A-Z of winter style rules