Add one

Last time, we spoke of making room.  Today, let’s discuss how to handle that new space.

Take careful stock of what now makes up your wardrobe.  When I do this, I try to think in groups;  pants, shorts, long and short sleeve shirts, slacks and coats, suits, outerwear etc.  Rarely do I find myself saying “replace it all!”  Most often I say, “What one item would I like to add to this group?” 

When the openings are less than obvious,  consider banking the money that you might have spent to allow you to make a higher quality purchase (and perhaps higher price purchase) at the next opening.  In this way, both style and substance can be effectively served.

Making room

Whenever the seasons change, two things happen.  First, advertising and promotion begins for the upcoming season.  Second, clothing from the previous season goes on sale.  Between these two movements, this can be the perfect time or sprucing up a wardrobe.

Before taking advantage of the deals and steals available at this time, perhaps the best idea to start with is to make room for your new acquisitions. 

I move un worn items to the back of my wardrobe area; if they stayed at the back since last season, I simply give them away. 

Why didn’t I wear them? The reason doesn’t matter.  What matters at this point is making room.

Next time: evaluating holes

Taking the High Road

Current trends in society could lead us to believe that a cutting and critical wit is a sure sign of intelligence and insight.  The repartee portrayed on stage and screen often shows the jokester as the star. 

While that may work well in scripted television and movies, it often doesn’t work as well in real life.

The man of style and substance is well served to remember that taking the low road often results in being remembered as crass and insensitive to the pain of others as opposed to being witty and inyelligent.  Better always to take the high road, perhaps especially in quick witted exchanges lest all your other efforts are undone by a simple slip of the tongue.