If the cup fits

My inability to remember which Seventies sitcom character referred to somebody’s knickers as ‘harvest festivals’ (because ‘all is safely gathered in’) has long troubled me, but the matter is now resolved. Ronnie Barker’s Fletch had seemed the most likely candidate, or possibly Sid James in something or other with Frankie Howerd, just a shot in the dark. The navy-blue knee-length knickers issued to recruits in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force during the second world war earned the nickname. They they were also known as ‘blackouts’, which may be even better.

In the tireless service of any of our male readers toying with the idea of purchasing something a little more alluring by way of lingerie — for a wife, a girlfriend, a mistress or even (whisper it) themselves — I have equipped myself to offer a few pointers.