The battery on my Hamilton Bolton quit yesterday morning so this morning meant a trip to Alexander’s Jewelers for it to be replaced. As it was the first battery to be replaced since I bought the watch there, Alexander’s replaced it for free. After that I went with Robin to The Columbus Guitar Society meeting. Today’s outfit was casual starting with a white shirt with light blue stripes, a blue and red argyle sweater vest, charcoal trousers, black derbies, a vintage red and blue bow tie, a blue light jacket and a dark blue flatcap with light blue pin stripes.

As a I am developing my wardrobe, I purchased a tie bar a few weeks and tried it on for the first time. It added a little subtly to my wardrobe 😀

One of my great frustrations is making a careful pocket square fold and perfecting the presentation, only to have it fall apart before even arriving to the engagement. I recently devised a way to remedy this by use of tie bar. Simply clamp a tie bar across the pocket square to secure your folds. It works with almost fold style, and also adds a bit of ballast weight, helping keep the presentation seated and upright. In the tri-point fold, I leave the bottom point unfolded so that it rests on the bottom of the jacket pocket, stopping slide-downs. I know, it looks funny, and your mind probably thought exactly what my mind thought. Thankfully it stays hidden inside. 😅 Or, of course, you could just buy one of the commercially available pocket square holders. But for me, I have several tie bars at my disposal and don't wear them anyway -- they look stuffy, pull the shirt in a way that stops it from draping naturally, and never stay straight. This is actually the best use for tie bar, in my opinion. 😆

Tonight was Ash Wednesday and I attended evening service and received the Ashes on my forehead. I managed to quickly smear them out of the nice cross shape. My outfit is based on the purple of the liturgical calendar. I have a light purple dressshirt, a purple blazer, purple narrow brim fedora, white pocket square with a purple window pane and a purple and white striped tie. I am also wearing tan trousers and grey and burgundy saddle shoes. I took a picture with my hat tipped back so you can see the ashes in the one picture but then took a headshot when I arrived home sto get a better picture of the ashes