YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED
Q. Unlike some of your correspondents, I cannot stretch to a handmade suit from Savile Row, yet I do like to splash out on wildly expensive ties. I would be interested to hear your advice on how I can best advertise these costly accessories, short of corkscrewing the labels around during con- versation.
A. Why not take your cue from the status- symbol-crazed French? One gimmick, pop- ular with their nouveaux riches, is to have a prominent designer label stitched into the front of the tie's so-called back blade (the narrow bit) rather than into the underside of its blade where subtler tailors like Gieves & Hawkes allow it to double as a loop. In the natural course of manly movement the tie slits apart like scissors to crudely expose the designer label. Such ties can be pur- chased in this country from Hermes in Bond Street.
Q. When having a party for only a limited amount of people how does one deal with uninvited friends, intimate or otherwise, who hear of the party and either insist on being invited or simply place such a heavy moral burden on one's shoulders that one M. S., London, W1
Dear Mary. .
feels one has to invite them? I am a student just starting out on a career of hosting par- ties and I would welcome guidance.
W. B., London SW3 A. There are two methods of dealing with this problem which particularly afflicts stu- dents, most of whom are insatiable as far as parties and `free' drinks are concerned. You can either ask a close friend who is unconnected with your student network to say he or she is giving the party Tor' you and do all the inviting. Or you can play down the significance of the event by mak- ing it seem casual. `Come to supper. Noth- ing special but come dolled up in your glad rags because it's X's birthday and I'm going to wear mine.' You can yawn as you issue the invitation. By the time guests arrive to
find a pullulating pleasuredrome in full swing, it will be too late for them to spread the word and try and get others in their Venn diagrams to come along too.
Q. What are the rules about flicking back through a visitors' book after one has signed one's name or even during one's visit if the book is lying around? I am a pathologically inquisitive person but do not want to commit a social faux pas.
A.B., Malmesbury A. Strictly speaking, it is unethical to open a private book or diary in someone else's house, although one school of thought says that visitors books exist only for the enter- tainment of future guests. If you simply cannot control yourself in front of other people, you can just remark, 'Oh, I must just look up when I last stayed here'. Try to gaze at the pages with a disinterested expression as you let your fingers do the walking.
Mary Killen If you have a problem, write to Mary Killen, clo The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, Lon- don WC1 2LL
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