When the time comes, do you lock yourself in the house or head out for an adventure? We are not talking about the movies. We are talking about your closet. Recently, I switched professions. At my old job, I wore a uniform, a navy polo with the company logo. Because I wore a polo to work, I tended to wear t-shirts on days off. Now I'm working a job where I get covered in oil and grease and don't wear a uniform. All my t-shirts got reassigned to work wear along with all my jeans. The uniform shirts went to a thrift store, leaving me with one threadbear polo, a pair of dockers, 2 suits and some dress shirts. The suits don't fit anymore. That leaves me with a few dress shirts and s pair of dockers to wear when I'm not at work. Not your traditional closet purge, but the end result is the same. I'm rebuilding my wardrobe from scratch 🤪 I'm of two minds about this. First of all, I'm excited at the idea of starting over. Each time I do, my wardrobe gets better in quality, versatility and personal image. On the other hand, this is where impulse buying, bad decisions and a fast draining wallet happen. What are some of your experiences with extreme closet purges? Do you love them, hate them? What is your overall strategy? I still have a full range of shoes, outerwear and accessories so it's not completely starting from scratch..

I have mentioned these boots a few times in this forum. I ordered them in November from the retailer Arterton from Yearn Shoemaker. They finally arrived. I knew they would be beautiful, but I dreaded that the fit may be off or they were simply not comfortable. All fears are obliterated. What are they? Balmoral dress boots. Specifically, this is Yearn’s BTS.226 model in the Y02 last. Yearn has a MTO artisan option to make lots of upgrades so I went for their museum calf with a great patina on their oxblood color. I added brass toe taps and a fiddleback waste. I also asked for a non-offered option: no broguing. They agreed. I also opted for the lasted shoe trees, which I always recommend if buying new shoes and lasted shoe trees are available (regular shoe trees from the manufacturer are usually a rip off). These are my nicest shoes (used generically to cover boots at well) by a mile. They are also about the best fit I have (which I just said of my Cobbler Union shoes) and they feel great! I was worried they would be a pain to put on without lace hooks at the top, but with a long shoe horn it took no longer to put these on and tie them up then regular oxfords. Big props to Arterton to not just ensuring Yearn knew they dropped the ball on timing and really hand held them until these were delivered. They also provided me some additional customized items in order to take accountability, which goes above and beyond what was expected.

Today is usually the day I spend in the office, however with my wife out of town with work and my eldest having a Pupil Free day at school, it means I am WFH. As with the other day when my youngest shoes my outfit, today’s outfit is chosen by my eldest. She chose everything down to the watch, I again selected the Cap and Overcoat. You can see a little difference in thier styles, Poppy (12) has a more restrained style compared to Jade (almost 9). Both do have a good grasp on colour complimenting and coordination. A good thing about letting them chose and build an outfit, besides learning about colour, is that I get to wear peices I dont usually choose, the Pocket Sqaure in this outfit is one I like but I keep deferring back to the woolen squares I have. With Jade it was the Yiume shirt as a piece of business wear. Anyway to days outfit consists of; Country Road Double Breasted Herringbone 100% Fine Wool Overcoat in Graphite Amazon Purchased Ivy Flat Cap in Grey with Maroon Strip M.J. Bale Lodato Suit in Burgundy Woven in a 73% Wool 27% Cotton melange yarn with a Prince of Wales check Charles Tyrwhitt Cutaway Collar Stretch Kensington Weave Shirt in Stone OTAA Sheffield Burgundy Line Tie OTAA Shining Silver Tie Clip Wife Gifted Navy, Green, Burgundy lined Pocket Square OTAA Wine Burgundy Textured Socks CNES MTO Oxford with Goodyear welted construction and crafted from Italian crust leather SOTD - Viktor and Rolf Spicebomb Nightvision WOTD - Tudor Royal 41 Silver dial