After a wonderful weekend and seeing the weather get warmer today is a spectacular day! The sun is out, it's going to be 75-80 degrees and it's MONDAY!! I feel like I hit the trifecta of good vibes!! OOTD: White/Tan/Blue Tattersall Light tan Dress Trousers Olive green OTC dress socks with shadow stripe Dark Brown Suede Derby's Here's to a fantastic Monday everyone!!

Back in the office today. Last week's trip was invigorating and this week will be hectic. BIG client deliverable due at the end of the week... and we just received the details this morning. Myself and one of my more senior consultants are on this one. We also have meetings with likely new clients (it's great when a favorite individual at a client moves to another client and bring their business needs right back to you - a good sign of trust). A bit more of a relaxed day, so I like the outfit selection from my AI app. I know a Winchester isn't exactly relaxed (isn't that right, Gordon Gecko?), but I just love French cuffs. • Shirt — DS‑025 (Charles Tyrwhitt): A sky blue Winchester poplin stripe dress shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt with slim cut and French cuffs. The spread collar (5.66" spread) demands cufflinks and projects business-forward polish while maintaining spring-appropriate freshness. Light-to-moderate drape with white plastic buttons—paired with 2.5" collar stays for optimal collar presentation . • Undershirt — US‑009 (Pro Club): A heavyweight mid-blue cotton crew neck undershirt from Pro Club in XL. The color-matched blue base disappears beneath the sky blue poplin while providing reliable all-day comfort for a full schedule of meetings and VCs. • Trousers — SL‑012 (Peter Millar): Peter Millar Italian Blue wool slacks with light-but-excellent drape and medium break. Tailored twice for an excellent fit, these flat-front trousers anchor the blue-on-blue foundation while offering superior mobility for moving between meetings. Belt-loop anchored and unpleated for a clean modern silhouette. • Vest — VWC‑003 (Hisdern): A khaki cotton vest from Hisdern with 5 khaki buttons and silver dual-direction rear buckle. No lapels, slot hip pockets, and a small left chest pocket. The neutral khaki introduces warm contrast against the blue shirt and trousers—a spring-appropriate layering piece that adds visual depth without autumnal heaviness. • Tie — NT‑024 (Fort Belvedere): A Fort Belvedere crunchy Swiss Cri de la Soie mottled silk knit tie in light blue, dark blue, and white. The square blade (56" × 2.5") with 2-fold construction creates texture and visual interest that plays beautifully against the poplin stripe shirt. An ideal knot profile for the spread collar—sophisticated without competing with the vest's warm tones.

Yesterday I spoke about the esoteric aspects of fabric. Today I thought I might briefly tackle the FUNCTION piece of Antonio’s STYLE pyramid. Function is of course what to wear when and why. Before the decimation of menstores and the devolvement into the abyss of senseless non-style over the past 15 -20 years either guys simply got this in part from their surroundings and/or had a trusted clothier at a local specialized men’s store to assist them. In my eyes, function is a large part like any other skill. Practice creates confidence and confidence produces comfort. While it’s wise for guys starting out on their personal style upgrade to shun graphic T’s and follow some of the basic rules like tucking in shirts and being very deliberate about what is worn outside the house-wearing the right thing to the right place can eventually become an issue of consistency. In other words how does one dress the majority of the time. 90% of the time people see me in tailored clothing. So for me to wear a graphic T and shorts to the gym is simply no big deal. In fact more than half the time I am dressed like this all day Monday as I work out in the morning and again in the afternoon and in between, I work from home on research and catch up that day. Rather than describe my outfits let me shout out to our own @Alex Kilpatrick on his recent Charleston trip. His travel outfit displays perfectly a practiced confident and comfortably dressed gentleman on a vacation. Likewise I have posted before the perfection of these 1960’s style icons by a pool between shooting scenes of the Magnificent Seven (McQueen, Brenner, Bronson). My advice to attack this art of Function is to 1) go to a quality men’sstore or at least their websites (watch out for this one- ad agencies can get whacky note the absurd ads in JPress versus the old lookbooks they used to have. Ben Silver still has some good ads on line). Then 2) either thrift or spend time trying to economically emulate these looks if these quality stores represent budgetary challenges (I do this all the time). These pics all represent various stages of “casual” dress. If one is early in the style upgrade-avoid the graphic T even at the gym rather than use this as an excuse to slip back into old poor habits. (Just wear a solid T shirt instead).