So gents, Ive been having a “discussion” with my wife about Chelsea boots. I have these two pairs currently; the polished dark tan ones are my dressier boots for evenings, dinners and some more formal occasions, often paired with navy or beige chinos and appropriately coloured button down. The darker brown pair in the muted matte finish are my more casual daytime boots for things like casual lunches, or even maybe a weekend shopping trip etc, and I’ll often wear them with indigo jeans or my more rugged olive chinos (my fave combo), a long sleeve Henley, or t-shirt and overshirt, and I absolutely love wearing them. Here’s the thing though; my wife reckons that because they’re boots, both pairs are automatically formal wear, and should only be worn for formal occasions, and consequently I almost feel shamed out of wearing the darker ones for any kind of casual situation. I’d love to hear your thoughts to help clarify the situation in my own mind if nothing else. I have also got a pair of sand coloured desert boots on order for spring/summer casual wear, and I’ll be getting a pair of Thursday boots Captains soon too, for a more rugged look (can you tell I’m starting to really get into boots 😉). Oh, and for context, as I’m in Australia, I’m currently living through the cold Victorian winter.

Did you know that taking your clothes to the dry cleaner is not only expensive but also damaging to your clothes? That's correct. You only get so many cleanings before a garment becomes unwearable. That also means you only get so many wearings before that happens, as well. What if you could wear your dry-clean-only garments more often than you do now, yet take them to the dry cleaners half as often? You only need six things: - Distilled Water - Distilled White Vinegar - Plain Vodka - A Fine-Mist Spray Bottle - A Clothing Steamer - And a little time... Step 1: Prep - Mix one part plain vodka, one part distilled white vinegar, and two parts distilled water. Put that into a spray bottle. - Dedicate a space to work, where the clothing will be in moving air for a few hours. - Dedicate a space to store the clothing for 48-72 hours after cleaning, where the clothing will be in open air and not touching other clothing (so not a closet). - Fill the garment steamer with distilled water. - Brush the clothing thoroughly to remove any dirt and debris that you might not see. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. - Turn the clothing inside out and hang in the work area. - NOTE: It's best for clothing to be unfolded, so you might want to use wide clip hangers or clothes-line hangers for trousers. Step 2: Sanitize, Deodorize, and Disinfect - Spray a fine mist of the vinegar-vodka mixture over the clothing, focusing on high-odor & high-bacteria areas like the neck, underarms, wrists, and crotch. The garment should be lightly damp, slightly more so in the high-odor areas, but it should not be soaked. - Let the garment hang in the moving air for about 15 minutes (anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes should be fine). Step 3: Refresh and Relax - Turn the garment right-side out and give it a thorough, proper steaming. (Google the correct technique for the fabric type.) - Leave it hanging in the work area, under moving air, for at least 120 minutes. - Inspect the high-odor areas of the garment. If you smell anything malodorous - basically anything but the vodka-vinegar mixture - repeat this entire step.

I’ve been getting myself a bit confused lately and it’s causing a bit of an internal identity crisis. The background is this: I’m 47 years old, turning 48 in a couple of months, and also due to finish my first university degree and graduate at the end of this year, and will be starting out fresh in a new career in nursing in 2027. I’ve always felt that I was a bit behind the 8 ball for a lot of things, felt like I wasn’t as mature, or as far along in life as my peers and that I wasn’t always kinda missing something. Anyway, throughout my studies I discovered something about myself, and last year was officially diagnosed with the neurodivergence ADHD. As I have been researching the condition, and relating it to my life and my experiences growing up, I have discovered that one of the traits of neurodivergence is that our emotional maturity develops a lot slower than neuro typical people, about one third slower in fact, which at my age puts my emotional age at around the early 30’s. What does that all have to do with style I hear you ask? Well, from the style research I’ve been doing, reading articles and watching yt vids etc, I’ve been trying to dress more my age, like a mature man pushing 50, but when I do I FEEL like I look like I’m dressing older than I am in my head (even though I’m probably not) and there seems to be a bit of a dissonance going on. Ironically, the clothes I’m wearing are probably equally suitable for a guy in his 30’s as well. If I dress a bit younger however, I feel like I LOOK like a try hard, and a bit like a department store mannequin, and it doesn’t always match the salt and pepper in my beard. So I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. It probably doesn’t help that I’ve yet to really land on my signature style anyway, plus I’ve put on a bit of weight recently from hours stagnating in front of the laptop which has given me a bit more of an unusual body shape. So I guess I’m just looking for a bit of advice from anyone who might understand what I’ve got going on, or if anyone has been through a similar situation.

Wife's feeling better, so we're having breakfast out again. Decided to wear the new linen trousers this morning. Brooks Brothers oatmeal linen shirt with glen-check pattern Tommy Hilfiger rust linen blend trousers and tan Anson belt with silver buckle Sand Cole Haan suede derbies and black, gray and maroon argyle socks Brown straw trilby Baltany Explorer watch Fragrance: Jaguar For Men Ultimate Power

Anyone else find themself looking forward to doing the ironing in there weekly routine. Each week I find myself looking forward to it. And enjoying the activity. I use to be the person that would by the wrinkle free or do it quickly before putting it on.