"Isn't kicking up my personal style a notch or three going to cost a lot?"

Short answer, no. It does not necessarily have to cost you an arm and a leg to begin dressing like an adult in possession of some education, grooming, sophistication, and (good) taste. As I've mentioned here in recent posts, physical and online sales, thrift, and consignment shops are a great way to start revamping your wardrobe in the move away from over-sized t-shirts, grubby sweats, and cargo pants without breaking the bank or maxing out your credit card.

With time, practice, and a plan, you can assemble a fantastic and unique wardrobe of shoes, odd pants and jackets, shirts, neckties, and a suit or two that will serve you well for a long, long time with proper care and maintenance.

But here's one important suggestion that won't cost you anything. Zilch. Nil. Nada. Nothing. And it contributes immeasurably to kicking up your personal style a notch or three. Ready? Here ya go.

Unearth those dormant manners, table and otherwise, that your mother and father hopefully instilled in you and start practicing them. All the time. Even when it's just you by yourself. If you make pleasant manners a habit, it's much easier than if you only practice them in social settings.

And if you need to brush up, go to Amazon.com and look for any one of several titles by Peter Post, many of which are geared especially toward guys who want or need to brush up on polite conventions. It's just one important part of kicking up your personal style. Don't ignore it. Remember, it's not all about the clothes and shoes.

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Up North Style. . .

Bad Dad makes a friend. YMP and Bad Dad on the shores of Lake Michigan. Or was that Crystal Lake? The Grand Duchess takes a selfie in her kayak. How NOT to impress the girls sunning themselves along the river. YMP and Bad Dad kayaking on the Platte River headed toward Loon Lake. J ust back from a week in Northern Michigan in a charming and spacious house on the banks of the Betsie River outside of Thompsonville. A largely pleasant seven days despite some challenging episodes with the Young Master, who has picked up some very questionable habits and language from his friends in the 8th Grade during the school year just ended. But otherwise, we enjoyed ourselves and contemplated remaining for a few days longer since the house was available. In the end, we decided to return home as planned originally since neither my wife, nor I wanted to spend the remaining days chained to our computers in Zoom meetings from our vacation destination. I actually managed to leave the laptop and ip

Mid-June Thursday Style. . .

A nother pretty typical variation on the theme for late spring, summer, and very early fall. I'm a huge fan of Madras and have several such shirts in the seasonal rotation. Lightweight, exceedingly comfortable, and even dressy when pressed and tucked in, which is the usual way of things here at Totleigh in the Wold. Now, if I had my druthers, I'd still rather be skiing the trails in the upper half of "The Mitten" (of Michigan), in the Upper Peninsula, or Ontario. But summers ain't so bad either, and I'd look pretty funny walking around in cross-country ski attire during June. -- Heinz-Ulrich

A Lazy Saturday at the End of June. . .

A sleepy first half of the weekend here at Totleigh. Warmer and quite humid ahead of an approaching cool front here in Mid-Michigan. Perfect for yet another pair of chino shorts an a seersucker shirt -- tucked in of course -- with the usual leather deck shoes and ribbon belt. Otherwise, not much accomplished beyond a page or so of writing and monkeying around with audio settings for an upcoming podcast episode. However, I was not completely useless yesterday! I made a huge fruit salad for dinner, which the Grand Duchess and I enjoyed a short while later at the table on the back porch. The Young Master, as is his wont on Saturday evenings, took his dinner on a tray in the TV room upstairs where he whiled away a couple of hours on Flight Simulator, flying some sort of commercial airliner to some destination across the Atlantic or Pacific. I would have loved that sort of technology at about nine or 10 way back during the late 1970s, aka The Stone Age. As it is, my sister and

Classic Style

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