Nick Clegg has mocked the Daily Mail's dissection of what the new Conservative female cabinet ministers are wearing by tweeting a picture of his outfit.

The deputy prime minister responded to the sexism row by posing for a picture on what the newspaper called the "Downing Street catwalk", adding that he hoped he did not look too much like a 1980s cabin attendant.

MPs from all parties have now raised questions about the Mail's decision to examine the dresses, hair, bag, legs, shoes and make-up of nine ministers, while describing senior Tory Esther McVey as "thigh-flashing Esther".

"What I wore to the office today. Fingers crossed the Mail approves. Hope I don't look too '80s cabin attendant'," Clegg wrote.

McVey, an employment minister who will now be allowed to attend cabinet, brushed off complaints about the press coverage, saying she was "delighted" that powerful women are being depicted on the front pages, after the newspaper described her as "Queen of the Downing Street catwalk".

As well as featuring a prominent picture, the Mail article described her appearance in detail, , saying her dress "cinched in her waist and emphasised her bust". An article accompanying the pictures described her as "sashaying" into Downing Street "offering a glimpse of thigh-high slit skirt".

However, McVey suggested she was not offended, saying: "I'm delighted to be in what must be one of the most important jobs, that's getting people into a job. The other key thing – well for me it is anyway – I wanted a voice from Merseyside, a voice from Wirral, at the top table making decisions there, so I'm delighted to have that, to really have a big say for the north-west … I'm going to use a north-west phrase – I'm chuffed at being at that cabinet table.

"All I can say is it's fantastic having women in powerful positions in the newspapers, and if that meant that we were walking – you might call it, or the papers might have called it, the catwalk – we were walking into Number 10 Downing Street there."

However, the coverage was condemned as appalling by one former Conservative cabinet minister, Cheryl Gillan, speaking on the BBC's Woman's Hour.

Becky Barrow, a business correspondent at the Daily Mail, who is leaving for the Sunday Times, also criticised her own paper, tweeting: "One thing that I will not miss about working for the Mail: unspeakably awful and demeaning spreads about women."

Meanwhile, Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, accused the Daily Mail of "sinking to an all-time low", while Labour MP Anne McGuire said it made the "Blair's Babes headline look positively PC".

"These women are not on a 'catwalk'. They are government ministers," she said.

Asked about the coverage, the prime minister's spokesman said it was not his job to tell newspapers what to print.