I arrived with only a few minutes to spare to see a production of Candide at the ENO recently and, aware that the show would last more than three hours, dashed to the Gents. As the final bell rang from above, I struggled clumsily with the button-fly on my trousers, dashed up the stairs and flopped into my seat with only a second to spare. Moments later, my companion, not entirely impressed, pointed out that two of the buttons were still undone. This wasn’t a good look.

I have never understood the point of a button-fly: they are always fiddly, the buttons are prone to fall off, and they are just an added complication that entails having to spend longer at the urinal than you would perhaps prefer. And, with navy cotton trousers in particular, the fly area can be prone to unsightly stains caused by hands trying to do up buttons while tainted with sweat, unguent or newsprint.