I’ve more or less given up on the charity shops around our way from the point of view of clothing. All I ever seem to find is M&S stripey polo shirts, Next and occasionally Canda (C&A) in the casual clothes, all pensioner gear. Business clothes are usually T.M. Lewin or Charles Tyrwhitt.

I’m more likely to be looking at the books and CDs.

If I’m in a posh London suburb like Kensington the chazzas can be worth a spin, as are the ones in the well to do towns out in Sussex where you might turn up the odd good quality coat. I found a pair of unworn Sanders playboys in my size in a place in Barnes for £25, but they were an insipid fawn colour so I walked away from them. I suppose I could have bought them and put them on ebay with a chance of turning a few quid, but it seemed somehow immoral to do so, either that or I couldn’t be fagged.

I saw more Lewin yesterday than I could shake a stick at.  Depressing.  My daughter got the best deal, with her wool and cashmere Lacoste jumper.  She's more interested in clothing than her elder sister (who has become a bit of a yummy-mummy, her photograph decorating every English newspaper from 'The Sun' to 'The Independent').  Young 'un went through a Mary Quant phase and is now looking at classic English clothing.  No artistically torn jeans for her.

The wedding photographs are now available on YouTube!  Isn't the internet wonderful?  Somewhere, off-camera, is a fat slob wearing Mercer and Florsheims.

Mm, visiting charity shops in our would-be trendy, actually rather dismal, high street is an education in itself.  Every item of male clothing seems to be either the colour of a handful of mud scooped up at low tide or in colour ways even the most insensitive American prepster might consider.  F&F, Tu and Blue Harbour (I think that's what it's called) seem to rule every roost.  As if that isn't bad enough, take a look at shoes - bad enough to give that chap Shooman apoplexy.  Nothing even halfway decent. 
What are men spending their money on?  Cars?  Holidays?  A new giant vibrator for the wife?  (I mean the K word, but 'Talk Ivy' can be eccentric in its 'corrections').  And they look like shit.  The puddle around the ankles.  The nylon football shirt straining over the beer belly.  The trainer socks and muddy Matalan t-shirts.  Are the Italians like this?  The French?  Catalans?  The Spanish?  Portugese?

Odd pairs of shorts are still to be seen everywhere.  In mid-November.  Even the postman wears them.  Just seen an elderly dog-walker.  What gives?  The three-quarter length/cargo pants thing is even worse.

That 3/4 length thing baffles me. Who decides that it’s not warm enough for shorts, but not so cold that they need full length trousers?
I’ve got a pair of those fatigue style trousers that were around a few years ago. Again, for outdoor jobs

Agree to almost all of the above. For what it's worth though, when I visited Tuscany a few years back I had high hopes of getting some inspiration from the Italian males, but almost all of them were dressed in the most appalling, gaudy Armani crap. I'm talking snow washed multi-ripped denim, leather and PVC trousers and lots of oversized silver plate. By comparison, the Brits in their Panamas looked positively stately.

Clown shoes are country-Ivy, where they are called "Munson Last" shoes.

In which decade did the wearing of cheap, mass-produced clothing begin?  The 1960s?