Warning- This might be an uncomfortable post for some. I’ve been pondering this question, after an especially good sermon about pride today: For a man of faith, who also desires to look his best and feel good about himself, where does the line of pride get crossed according to the Bible and Christian teachings? Here is an AI (Grok) answer: The line of pride is crossed when outward appearance becomes the primary focus, source of identity, or means of seeking validation, superiority, or worldly approval—rather than stewarding the body God gave you with humility, gratitude, and a focus on inner character. I do feel the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and as such, should be well groomed and properly “adorned”, and every effort given to keep it healthy. I’m tired of wasting money on cheap clothing that ends up getting donated to charity, yet I’m conflicted about spending hundreds on some of the finer quality items. I’m currently not really in the buying stage as I’ve got a few lbs left to lose. I welcome your input.

Hey hey! I'm down 100lbs, in a new state (NY), and I just ran my first 5k in about a half hour. Old profile pic (from Oct) in the flannel. New one (today), in the gilet. 320 to 220 in 8 months. The beard will grow back soon.

What to say in your intro? Share where you're from, your reason for joining, perhaps your favorite fragrance, watch or a picture of you dressed sharp! It's a small action, but a HUGE step in you getting value from this community becasue you go from being a lurker to an ACTIVE member. In fact men that introduce themselves are 10X more likely to the actions to becoming their best selves. Bonus Point - By introducing yourself you're guaranteed to level-up. Seriously, you'll get at least 5-20 likes/points (oftentimes more) which will move you to level 2 and possibly level 3. And just like that you have access to more of this community!

Today ended a chapter of my life i started 6 years ago when I signed up to take the LSAT. (It ended up bring the first ever LSAT to be administered remotely due to COVID restrictions). Yesterday I was hooded by one of my favorite professors and today I officially graduated with a Juris Doctorate from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law. While it may not have been fully proper, I left the top few inches of my regalia open showing my tie. The burgundy Oscar de la Renta tie belonged to my father who passed away from lung cancer in Oct 2016. Wearing it through graduation I felt honored his memory and that he would have been proud. I am thus far the first member of my immediate family with a bachelor's degree, and now the first with a professional degree. I was thankful to have the support of my loving wife, two daughters and In-laws throughout this journey who have been motivation and inspiration for one of the longest-path goals of my life. In 87 days, I will take the Texas Bar exam and start the next phase of my life.

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