I hit a real purple patch in the 1970s

WHO among us has not made the odd fashion blunder? My track record includes massive flared trousers, kipper ties and outrageous shirts with enormous collars. Blame the Seventies. I have always had jobs that required suits or smart jackets and trousers. I once had an electric blue suit made. The sample cloth gave no indication that the finished suit would look so garish! The shocked expressions of people encountering me was very off-putting. Fortunately, I also had a sober navy blue suit. But whenever I went to a supermarket to buy lunch, I was always being asked where items were located on the shelves — navy suit equalled store manager. Around this time, aubergine was the must-have colour. So, of course, I had to have a suit made in that colour. And I have to say, it went well with long sideburns and a droopy moustache. Those who remember Peter Wyngarde’s character, Jason King, in the TV show Department S, will know the look. One morning I was getting out of my car in a market square when a woman approached me. ‘My daughter’s under you!’ she said, then started to discuss her daughter’s problems. I was mortified. ‘Who do you think I am?’ I asked her. ‘You’re my daughter’s doctor.’ ‘Sorry, I’m not a doctor.’ The woman looked me up and down. ‘Well you look just like him. He’s got the same moustache and the same colour suit.’ I reflected later that this doctor had great style.

Don Townshend, Chelmsford, Essex.