Uniform

Christmas quiz; what links Charles Saatchi, guest blogger Ned York and me? Here’s a picture clue.

We are mono-shirtists. Charles Saatchi wears the same white Turnbull & Asser shirt. Ned wears a blue and white, button-down collar, washed Oxford, Bengal stripe shirt made by Charles Tyrwhitt. There the resemblance ends. Ned has never been photographed assaulting his wife and has a much better haircut that the Satch, who favours the bog-brush look, making him look like Corky in The Night Manager.

I’m part of their sartorial circle. I have been wearing Uniqlo, button-down collar, Oxford shirts for seven or eight years but in different colours in case people think I don’t change my shirt. May I digress, while I make time to brush and floss in the dental department, I don’t have time now to button-down collars. I will continue to wear them when the weather is warmer but I will be a Ned-look-a-like for the next few months in his Charles Tyrwhitt striped Oxford shirts. They cost £32.25 after a discount for bulk buying; slightly more than Uniqlo and very substantially cheaper than T & A shirts. It’s curious that I am a substantial net buyer of shirts but, unlike books, my stock never increases. I have a theory that shirts are migratory and move to Robert’s wardrobe.

I wonder if you read Hark the Herald at the end of last month? On the advice of a wise friend in the West Country I bought shares in the Herald investment trust. It has had a good run so far – up more than 18% – so that’s Bertie’s bills sorted. The only blots on my investment escutcheon are Marks and Spencer and Glaxo. M&S shows signs of improvement and Glaxo pays out almost 6% in dividends which goes some way to make up for a deficiency in the capital growth department as I re-invest the divvies. Emerging markets have been disappointing although recently Vietnam has perked up. Still, I’m a believer.