What do you wear on a chilly fall day at home?

Perfect for a chilly Saturday in October.  Allen Edmonds 'Catskill" loafers in chocolatey brown suede, Land's End corduroy jeans, and an almost worn out but extremely soft blue and white 'university stripe' cotton Land's End oxford cloth button-down collar shirt on top.  Oh, and a comfy old 'oxblood' colored leather belt to keep the pants up.

As I've written before, or at least strongly suggested (I think in a February 2013 post), it is entirely possible to dress very comfortably during evenings and weekends at home, yet you can still look more than half-way decent if you need to answer the front door.  Or you've got to make that all-important milk run down the street and around the corner to your local convenience store or super market.

Listen, I enjoy snuggling up in a pair of flannel pajamas, or my University of Wisconsin sweatshirt and sweatpants, as much as the next guy on a chilly autumn or winter's evening.  But I don't want to live my every waking hour at home in garments like that either.  I enjoy being an adult and dressing like one.  And while I'll always have a soft spot for my Levi's 501 button-fly jeans and Dan Post cowboy boots (it's perfectly true as Hans Christian Andersen wrote), I'm not riding the range. . .  or revisiting my local honky-tonk with a filthy concrete floor somewhere off Highway 61 in the arrowhead on Minnesota either.

Nope.  For a relaxing weekend or holiday at home, why not dress a tiny bit better than that?  Ditch the perpetually worn (in at least two senses) sweat pants, and get yourself some comfortable casual wear for your evenings and weekends at home.  It's not hard, or expensive, if you watch for sales on items from companies like L.L. Bean, Land's End, Brooks Brothers, J. Crew, or Eddie Bauer for example.  And while arguably those companies might not be quite what they once were, given their recent attempts to cater to the broad masses, you can still turn up decent looking, good quality items at reasonable prices if you keep an eye on their websites and paper catalogs.

And hey, even if you don't care yourself about dressing a bit better during your downtime, do it for the people in your life who share a dwelling with you.  The chances are awfully good that they'll appreciate you not looking like an habitual (and inconsiderate) slob.  No one is suggesting you've got to get up at the crack of dawn to shower and shave on a Saturday or Sunday morning, but it would be nice for those around you if, barring silk pajamas and robe, you appeared at the breakfast table with your face washed, hair brushed, and wearing somewhat more presentable clothes than yesterday's smelly t-shirt and those ratty old sleep boxers with worn out elastic from your college days.  Not even your spouse should have to witness that pleasant sight.  Know what I mean, Biff?  

I'll be so bold as to suggest that it is our duty, as adult men, to continue making the effort to remain attractive and pleasant to be with as far as our spouses/partners/significant others are concerned. . .  even long after wedding vows have been exchanged (or renewed).  Looking pulled together at home, and keeping your personal habits in check for that matter, are two easy ways to accomplish that particular aim.

-- Heinz-Ulrich