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I was surprised to read that the lady wife of the vice-chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University considers that tucking a napkin into the shirt is the height of vulgarity ("To get ahead, watch brows and britches", 6 November).

Is she not aware that the purpose of tucking the napkin into the shirt is that, should the napkin slip, it will fall into the gentleman's lap whence it might be easily retrieved without the gentleman embarrassing the ladies by catching sight of their ankles while retrieving the linen from under the table?

Mike Lewis, Goring-on-Thames.