I’m curious how others plan their clothing expenditure. Is it an annual percentage of your house hold income? A monthly amount? A seasonal amount? A spur of the moment thing (when I see what I like- I just buy it)? A wad of cash to the thrift store or mall (when it’s gone I’m done buying)? What’s your approach? I would like to tell you that as a financial advisor I have a well documented system but that simply isn’t true. Fortunately I worked in quality mens stores when I was 15-24 so I developed a sense of buying long lasting quality both in style and material yet my method is less systematic. Since joining this community I have attacked the economics of my wardrobe and thought I might share my journey to trigger discussions about your own: A year ago I went through my closet with a pen and pad and estimated that if I replaced everything of mine in there at today’s prices it would cost $40k. Some items are 30 yrs old. I even have a few 40 yr old items. So if I were to average 40k by say 25 years average life of each garment, thats $1600 per year or $133 per month. Full disclosure, I didn’t spend that much. I look for sales, some are gifts, and for the really old items I got the store discount. Furthermore all these numbers are extrapolated up to today’s price for example the shoes I wore yesterday are over 42 yrs old- today they would cost $850. They were $200 in the early 80s when I got a 40% discount so about $140: still a lot of money for a poor college student but clearly I’ve gotten my money’s worth. Also my career over 40 plus years has had big swings in income. It has been a long road of big feast followed by shallow famine. So I buy when I’m flush. Lastly I like to travel and buying things on trips helps me remember the trip every time I wear them. Recently I’ve been “blessing others” with poor fitting items. The most expensive clothes are those I won’t wear. So thats my journey. Basically when spending -what to me are bigger amounts (custom suits, quality shoes) I try to be ruthlessly timeless to exacerbate their value. My goal is to keep my outfit below a $6.00 per day average wearing costs by buying quality timeless style. The pics are the 1982 shoes and 1982 green tie I wore yesterday and the silver tie I wore in my wedding in 1985 that has been in one of my OOTDs

Friday’s is Daddy and Daughter coffee morning before school. Jade is always happy to go for a Lactose Free Hot Chocolate and her Croissant, and I get my Caramel Cappuccino. Went with a Staple Charcaol Grey Suit today and grabbed a nice newsboy cap to keep the sun from the eyes on the walk to the cafe and school. Early start for ANZAC day dawn services tomorrow, but I have my outfit all ready to go. Nicole (my wife) is reading the ode at the dawn service here in our local community, so that will be amazing to witness. I will try get a photo of us together she will be in her Dress uniform. Todays outfit consists of; M.J. Bale Ashford Suit in Charcaol Grey, The M.J. Bale Ashford Suit is crafted from 100% New England Merino wool. It is a part of the M.J. Bale Classics range, often designed for versatility and comfort Charles Tyrwhitt Semi-Cutaway Collar Egyptian Cotton Prince Of Wales Check Shirt in Lilac Purple Anson Black Leather Strap on a Traditional Bucklet in Gunmetal OTAA Pocket Square Grey with a rolled white edge OTAA Purple Octopus Tie OTAA Shining Silver Tie Clip Amazon Purchased Grey Herringbone Newsboy Cap Ecco Vitrus Penny Loafer (Corrected from the site calling them a Saddle Loafer @Brian McGuire) Dune London Striped Socks SOTD - Montale Intense Cafe WOTD - Praesidus Victory Sands Cream on a Strap Habit Biege Sailcloth Strap I hope everyone has a great day