SHULMAN I’m not over the top in my search for an ideal T-shirt

Now, as spring is springing, thoughts inevitably return to the challenge of finding the perfect T-shirt. Already the owner of 37 T-shirts, this might be considered ridiculous but included in that number are only three I consider perfect. The rest are trial fodder or those that I am grateful are in my life but their days of perfection are long gone.

Perfection in any area is hard to come by but there’s something about the universality of this item of clothing that makes the search so compelling.

Once found, this is a small but vital problem solved – that is until next year when wherever you’ve found your solution will have changed the shape of their tops. A perfect T-shirt is a wondrous thing but oh so rare, and, unlike achieving the perfect macaroni cheese, there is unfortunately no recipe. The neckline has to be just so – for some not loose, for others not tight.

The correct, all-important sleeve length is entirely dependent on the shape of the wearer’s arms and, ditto, hip length. And the fabric must not make the fatal error of exposing the lines of the under-pinnings beneath.

Lord Snowdon, the photographer and ex-husband of Princess Margaret, once complained to me that seeing the back bulge from a woman’s bra under her T-shirt made him feel ill, and somehow I’ve never been able to feel quite the same about it.

My own T-shirt success stories, though rare, have come from Cos, James Perse, Velvet and, once upon a time, Gap.

It’s a personal thing, this perfect T-shirt. One thing, though, is for sure. Recommendations are a thankless task as they are in so many areas – read on below. recommended them to.

Alternatively, they are not happy with the handyman and you are blamed.

From hair colourists to decorators, these relationships are very particular. You can’t just type in a job spec and, hey presto, the perfect person comes up – indeed, it’s a bit like those perfect T-shirts.

During the spring cleaning binge, the canny person keeps their handyman’s phone number to themselves. Passing it on will come to no good.