New clothes, no jobs and a miserable old man

How many jobs have I applied for this week: 9
How many responses have I received: 0

How do I judge whether a new item of clothing is stylish? Do I ask the opinions of my friends? Do I wait for compliments from colleagues? Or is it the amount of admiring glances from strangers? No, it's none of these things.

For me, the cast iron guarantee of the decency of a new garment is the level of negativity it provokes from a family member. You see, we come from a small town and small town folk have small minds and don't understand 'the ways' of people who work, live or socialise in London. If you wear anything that hasn't been bought in Next or North Weald market, they start to panic.

Sadly, I'm not living in London at the moment (money/career/debt: the usual story), so I'm currently lodging* with my dad - also known as Grisly, The Bear and Ole Misery Guts - in the 'burbs. Living with him has many drawbacks: hearing him piss when he leaves the bathroom door open at night is one; as is the constant questioning about what I bought from the supermarket/what I'm having for dinner/where I'm going/how many days holiday I've got left etc. But the best part about kipping in his spare room is that he has ample opportunity to poke fun at my clobber.

On Saturday, I came down the stairs on my way out to shop till I dropped in Covent Garden. I wore my new vintage Admiral's jacket and I felt great. It's fitted, shows great tailoring and has bright silver buttons. As I walked into the lounge to interrupt his viewing of Channel 4 racing to say goodbye, he said, "What's that, a copper's jacket? You joined the police force, or something?"

It can get tiring constantly justifying my purchases, but I knew that if he didn't like it, I'd made the right choice. I didn't really need the approval, but when I later met up with Snow, she declared her love for it and when we popped into Starbucks for a gingerbread latte, the cute guy behind the counter also gushed about it.

The day my family stops laughing at my style is the day I call Trinny and Susannah.


* Lodging= I say 'lodging', but I have been there for over 3 years and now the redundancy situation has reared its ugly head, my escape looks even more unlikely. When exacly does 'lodging' become 'living with'?