Skip to main content

"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.

Comments

Popular Posts

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

The Power of Ideas. . .

  T he end is nigh!  The autumn semester/term approaches.  And while we still have almost two months of summer left according to the calendar, "Summer is over and gone," as the crickets sang in Charlotte's Web .  At least for those of us who head back to the classroom in less than a month.   In advance of a meeting with my program director late Monday morning, I spent about 40 minutes total during the weekend to jot down several ideas about planned workshops and related activities for the coming 2024-2025 academic year.  At an opportune moment, I mentioned "I have a few ideas," and opened my leather portfolio.   My director was highly receptive to almost everything I suggested, and we had a very productive planning session for just over 90 minutes.  Just about everything I sketched out on Sunday aligns with his own ideas.  It's nice when meetings go that well, and two related things occur to me in hindsight. One, it pays to exercise...

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 19...