‘Every Little Helps’

It is my boyfriend’s birthday later this month. Men are always very difficult to buy for. It is either something technical, in which case I buy the wrong technical thing. Failing which good old socks, shirts or aftershave.

Well, I bought him aftershave and socks for Christmas so it is back to the search for a nice shirt for him. Where do you start when you want to buy a nice shirt for your other half. Most men will not allow much free rein when it comes to choosing the colour of a shirt, they will only wear conservative colours. It is as if they fear they will be sending out the wrong message if they dress in anything more daring than blue, black, green or grey.

So I’m half way to choosing the shirt, but which end of the shirt market do I browse. I thought I’d have a look on the internet to see if there is anything new in men’s shirts. Shirts are so dreadfully dull and functional that I wasn’t holding my breath in the hope of finding anything special on offer. Whilst as far as I could see, all shirts just looked the same, I was dumbfounded to see the price of shirts at the top end of the market.

For instance a casual shirt long sleeved shirt from Thomas Pink costs in the region of £80 – £90. In fact if you really want to splash out on your partner you can buy a Personally Pink gift voucher starting at a price of £135. For this amount, they will give you brass collar-bones with your own personal message and a voucher for your man to go along and get fitted for a Thomas Pink shirt.

Well, the Thomas Pink web-site is very inviting and I’m sure their shirts are well made and of good quality. However, for that amount of money you would expect there to be a large logo showing how much you have spoiled your beloved. As far as I can see the only distinguishing feature is the Thomas Pink name on the label. This is not seen by anyone except the wearer and ironer of the shirt. To show everyone how much you had spent on your man, you would have to strip his shirt off him and parade him about topless, with his shirt hung over his shoulder displaying the label. Taking into consideration the price, I have decided to purchase a Tesco casual shirt. For under £20 I can purchase a lovely conservative grey shirt.

Of course, style gurus may chastise me for making this purchase. I’m sure I have made a wise choice as there will be enough money left over to take him out for a special birthday meal; and I won’t have to strip him off to show off his shirt label. On the practical side, what happens in the life of a shirt? Firstly they get worn around the collars and cuffs, whiffy around the underarms and pen stains in the pockets. It doesn’t make any difference the pedigree of the shirt, it will befall the same fate. That is why I am sticking with my ‘Every little helps’ Tesco casual shirt as opposed to my Personally Pink Thomas Pink shirt.