Jos. A. Banks

Today, I freshened up my wardrobe for work. Jos. A. Banks is sort of like the Art Van of men's clothing: there is always a sale. A little more than two years ago, just before I started my civilian career, I went to Jos. A Banks to get a new uniform: business casual. With Deirdre's help, I purchased dress dress shirts, pants, socks, and shoes, so I would fit into my new work environment. Since then. I have picked up a few new dress shirts and pants along the way, but I had not purchased any short sleeve sport shirts. Well, I was a sucker for a mailer I received a few days ago, which offered 40-60% off sport shirts. I went to the nearby Jos. A. Banks to look at the sport shirts. As luck would have it, shoes were 25% off as well. After looking at a couple of shirts, I purchased five short sleeve shirts, a pair of Johnston Murphy shoes and a pair of Cole Haan shoes.

I am a little funny about shoes. One of the pairs I wear to work were the shoes I wore when I graduated from high school. They are brown Sebago loafers, and they have been resoled more times than I can remember. However, the leather is still good (probably because I polish them often) and if I did not tell you that they were 30 years old you would never know. I also sometimes wear a pair of 20 year old black Bates dress shoes. These black shoes have also been resoled more times than I can remember, but they are aging well. I have added two new pairs of shoes to my collection and I am ready to start breaking them in as the summer progresses.