How I failed to earn my fashion stripes

ON A visit to a local clothing store to look for a summer skirt, I soon found my perfect choice. When looking at the attached ticket, it said, alongside the price, that it was ‘chevronlined’. I assumed it was a new type of material the manufacturer used for the lining. Alas, there was no lining, so I took it to an assistant, who then went to show her superior. She, too, had no answer, so she picked up the phone and contacted the firm’s admin department upstairs, who also had no explanation. But as I liked the skirt, I decided to buy it anyway, without a lining, at the ticket price, and went home. On showing the purchase to my husband, I told him the story of the missing lining and how the staff members had tried to be helpful, but were unable to answer my query. He looked pityingly over his specs at me and quietly said: ‘Chevron-lined is the description of the zig-zag lined print on the skirt — as in chevron lines on roads!’ I was humbled by my ignorance and horrified at the fuss I had caused in the store. I hope I am not recognised on my next visit there!

Sylvia Smith, Walsall, W. Mids.