“Clothes maketh the man,” is one of those proverbs that turns out to be quite hard to pin down. Shakespeare had Polonius tell Laertes that, “the apparel oft proclaims the man” (Hamlet Act 1, Scene 3, Line 73) but, like so much of his work, it was a phrase borrowed and recast from elsewhere. Tangentally, I’d never before considered what Led Zeppelin (also famous for borrowing and recasting) had in common with the Bard, but I was intending to write about clothes so back to the topic.

Earlier this year, I picked up a fantastic brown velvet jacket but I have only got round to wearing it this weekend. I needed suitable occasions when the weather wasn’t wet or too warm. Saturday’s String Project gig was ideal as was the concert I went to last night at the Sheldonian (a selection from the string section of the City of Oxford Orchestra and the London Chinese Philharmonic Choir – both excellent).

During the interval, the lady I was sitting next to asked if I was an artist. I have to assume that a lot of that is down to the coat. A bit of clothing won’t make up for 10,000 hours of practice but it certainly has a role in making an impression. An excellent bargain for the £3 or so I paid for it!