Mansel Fletcher On Shopping Habits And Marriage

Everyone knows that women frequently hide their clothing purchases from their husbands, but we men are guilty of the same. Last month I mentioned to the menswear writer G. Bruce Boyer how, that morning, a rather frosty atmosphere had settled over my breakfast table after my wife inadvertently discovered that, later in the day, I was to be fitted for a new Shetland jacket by my tailor. Mr Boyer wrote back to me, “I’m sorry to hear about your Shetland. Every time my wife asks me if I’m wearing a new jacket I brush it aside with, ‘You mean this old thing? God, I’ve had it forever. I’m surprised you never noticed it before.’” He then reassured me by saying, “It’s a relatively harmless obsession, as far as obsessions go, isn’t it?”