Shopping
with my husband.
I don’t know
why men don’t like buying clothes. It is an unfathomable issue handed on from
generation to generation.
My mother
had to beg my father to buy new shirts and new trousers because the ones he had
were worn out. When he put on weight and
his old clothes did not fit him anymore he used to blame my mum saying she used
the wrong washing program and his clothes had shrunk.
My husband
doesn’t blame me, but I now have to persuade him to buy something new after I
filled a bag for Cancer Research with his threadbare shirts and shapeless,
faded trousers.
Also my two
boys are reluctant to buy new clothes while my two daughters and I would dive
into any new dresses and accessories.
Last weekend
was the ideal day to go shopping with my husband. The children were all busy with friends and
Valentina was at Respite Care. He had
only one surviving pair of jeans to wear at weekends and on holidays and was
running out of shirts as well.
We had
planned it a week earlier and there we were in a large M&S menswear
department full of the fresh, bright colours of summer time.
I bade him
to choose some shirts or I couldn’t guarantee a clean one every morning he went
to work. Besides, June being so nicely
hot this year he desperately needed short sleeved shirts.
Obedient, he
lazily picked up some shirts. I
suggested four more. He doesn’t like
chequered shirts but there were a few thin striped ones with pink and lilac
shades which suited his complexion. I said nothing, so that I would not seem
pushy or pedantic (as I am sometimes, like all good wives). I waited till he ended his tour among the
shirt shelves.
Then as in a
trance he turned his attention towards the ties section. Ties are the only things he really craves to
buy. I have never given him a tie as a
present because our tastes are completely different. He loves bright, strongly patterned kinds
where I prefer pastel shades and soft motifs.
I ought to choose ones I hated to make a good present. The whole thing must mean something deep
about our secret trends and unconscious desires.
There was a
vast choice of ties at M&S. From the
Luxury Woven and Made in Italy to the Collezione
inspired by Italy. But they were too
expensive, even though the label was made with recycled paper.
He
reluctantly moved to the machine washable ones, 7 pairs for £5 or a 2-pack for
£ 9.50. He chose an electric blue
striped one, a pink one, a purple-red-violet one, and finally a green and
yellow diamond-patterned one. It was a
hard choice because he liked many more.
We moved to
the jeans and polo shirts area. After a
few visits to the fitting rooms he found the right pair of jeans and the right
size polo shirt.
It was time
to go, to have a bit of fresh air and walk in the sun. There was still time for the last pleasure:
two Ultimate Woven silk ties with the stain guard finish, which he had spotted
since we had arrived. They were a bit
more expensive than the previous ones but they were worth it: a pink and purple
one with patterns of flowers and another pink one with relief green and purple
dots. Pink in all its shades was the colour of the day.
We paid and
walked out of the store hand in hand.
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