SIR - Once poverty meant not having a roof over your head; sharing a toilet block half way down the street with four other families; not having enough to eat; having your backside hanging out of your trousers, holes in your socks and being ridiculed by others at school for it; not, as today, having to watch the latest dullards’ T.V. schedules on a set under 65 inches, wearing trainers that aren’t “designer” or not possessing the latest smartphone to tap and stare at 24/7 whilst walking into street furniture.

As one who thought Gok Wan was a Chinese dish to be eaten with noodles, seeing a group of people lately embracing the latest fashion “craze” that is ripped denim jeans, where the leg fronts sport rips, tears and holes the size of Lichtenstein revealing bare knees and thighs, some with fish net stockings underneath (and that was just the lads!), had me chuckling and feeling a little sorry for them. But no!

My pity should be for those poor souls who can’t afford clothes with slashes or slits and have to wear smart/casual attire or worse still, shirt, tie and business suit. Now, that’s real poverty!

AWaterhouse, Barmby Road, Bradford