Maybe it’s time to let a man just be a man.

 A friend told me the other day that she’d met her almost-ideal man. He ticked all her boxes except one; the only thing she had to work on was his dress sense. Men may be disappointed to hear that women see them as potential design projects but, unfortunately, this is often the case.

 It’s an unspoken understanding among women that if your man has the underpinnings to sustain a loving relationship – honesty, fidelity, kindness, thoughtfulness – the superficial shortcomings are acceptable because they’re easy to correct. It may be as simple as pointing out to your man that Johnny Depp’s sunglasses would look good on him, or bombarding him with new T-shirts and jeans on his birthday. But, sometimes, a more severe intervention is required.

 Some women don’t tiptoe around, once their claws are in, they take over their partner’s wardrobe to the point of laying out what clothes he should wear the next day. The irony is, should a man suggest he’d like to see his lady in short skirts or low-cut tops, he’d be kicked to the kerb with a copy of Germaine Greer’s “The Female Eunuch” wedged in his pocket.

 Still, I know plenty of men who welcome being styled by their partner, primarily because they have no idea how masculinity is being fashioned at any particular time. One minute, we’re into metrosexuals – men who exfoliate, carry man-bags, and wear tight designer jeans. The next, we swing back to the retrosexual; think Indiana Jones – a man who balks at hair gel and doesn’t know the difference between fuchsia and magenta. Then, when we can’t make up our minds, we yearn for the neosexual, which is a bit of both. He’s rugged and not too obsessed with his appearance, but still has the style and sophistication of James bond.

 It seems women don’t really know what they want, so who could blame a man if he went around in a flannelette shirt and acid-wash jeans, sipping martinis while enjoying a pedicure?

 Maybe it’s time to let men be men. Let’s face it ladies, David Beckham is the only heterosexual man who can carry off blonde tips and a tartan sarong. We should just be glad if our man showers daily, embraces deodorant and occasionally washes his jeans.