I learned the importance of doing things properly through the shirts my father ironed

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When I was growing up, my father didn’t do many chores at home but ironing his button-up shirts was something he was quite particular about.

He started with the collar, then one sleeve at a time, ensuring there was a single crease, then the back was done carefully with the pleat in the middle, then one front at a time on top until the shirt looked crisply ironed. His meticulousness with the crease on trousers was similar. A sharp crease was important, he told me.

The ironing wasn’t done on a fancy ironing board; we didn’t have those until later. It used to be a hard surface, either a few bed sheets folded on the dining table or on top of th