Suit you sir....

Today I am going to buy a suit. The wedding suit.

My parents have generously given me some money towards it (my Dad calmly took out his wallet and peeled out some fifties.... hmmm something tells me they'd planned this) and Kate's friend Pete is kindly coming with me to help me choose. Apparently he has an eye for this sort of thing, which is just as well as I haven't got a clue. I hate shopping for clothes. I dislike spending money on something I perceive as purely functional and find clothes shops intimidating and off putting places, either full of drab, dull, uninspiring clothes or filled with loud, pumping music and hideously fashionable attendants. In either case they never have anything you want, and thus I always end up leaving with a pair of jeans that vaguely fit but aren't quite comfortable and are bound to tear at a seam within 3 months, but after putting myself through the horror of
shopping I'm damned well going to leave with something. As a result I love Christmas, as it gives people with far better taste than me (i.e. my sister, my girlfriend, my ex-girlfriend even) an opportunity to give me clothes that will allow me to be seen in public with them. I am currently wearing a shirt from my mother, a jumper from my sister, underwear from Kate, and some trousers I bought from a charity shop 10 years ago.

Still the plan is to buy a suit that looks great for the BIG DAY but will be fully suitable for formal occasions in years to come. Which is just as well as I tore the knee of my Dinner Suit (purchased by my mother 9 years ago) doing a commando roll in the middle of the road after Jenny's wedding, so I do need another. I just hope Pete knows what he's doing as I am clueless - the last suit I bought was from the school second-hand uniform store and it was about 3 sizes too big and only stayed up after I cut another hole in my belt.

Still, the signs are good. Pete and I have arranged to meet in the York Cafe for a fry-up and finish up with a boozy lunch on Park Street, so he is clearly the man with the plan. I may just survive this. I've raided Kate's airplane-Valium supply just in case things get really dark....