What to Acquire & What to Retire

Acquire: Slim, pointed leather dress shoes. Whether cap-toe or wing tip, slim shoes complete the trim, contemporary cuts of you shirt and pants.



Retire: Square-toed dress shoes. The paddle foot look is (thankfully) over.



Acquire: Money clip – A good way of helping you bring only the cash you really need and making sure your pants don’t lose their form.

Retire: Thick, bulky wallets - Apart from causing butt shiners on your pants, they’re not good for the lower back if you habitually place them in your back pocket.


Acquire: Checkered and pencil-striped polo shirts – 2008 celebrates European style. Checks and pencil-stripes are in the boardrooms of Milan, London and Paris.

Retire: Diagonal-striped polo shirts – They never really looked good anyway.



Acquire: Low-waist straight cut jeans – Jeans are supposed to be comfortable and to allow you to move more freely. This cut also never goes out of style.

Retire: Skinny jeans – There can only be one Gino Padilla. Plus, you can’t wear them with boxers.



Acquire: Tailored, flat front pants – The overall objective is to look trim. And, since we come in all shapes and sizes, your tailor will give your pants the nips and tucks it needs.

Retire: Loose, pleated pants – Do you really need me to explain? Okay, one word – Daddy.




Acquire: Sneakers & Loafers – The right way to be (or look) sockless. In case you haven’t noticed yet, yes, preppy is back.
Retire: Flip-flops – A good percentage of male feet look just plain nasty! This was a painful realization after 2006 started the pambahay look. Thankfully, people are coming back to their senses.



Acquire: A leather briefcase – This is the only acceptable “man bag” as far as I’m concerned. This fits your work stuff and basic toiletry kit (see November’s issue for what this should minimally contain).

Retire: Clutch bags – Three letters – D.O.M. Okay, so you have a gun, but honestly, do you really think you can open your precious clutch bag and get your gun out in time when you’re under attack?



Acquire: A kick-ass dress watch – When choosing a dress watch look for elegance and style; not too flashy and sparkly. I know big, chunky watches are what’s happening right now, but since this will be an investment, choose something more classic and timeless (no pun there).

Retire: All other jewelry – Unless you’re a hip hop singer/rapper, then maybe. Remember, all that glitters is for your girlfriend.



Acquire: A leather planner – I don’t know about you, but the conventional planner still works best for me in organizing my schedule and for taking notes in meetings. Plus, you can’t stuff business cards and receipts in your PDA, can you?

Retire: PDAs – How many guys who have PDAs actually use them as planners? Most PDAs end up as glorified calculators. To those that do use them as organizers, then good for you. But to the majority that don’t, trade your PDA for a slim cellphone that can do e-mail and has a decent camera and you’re pretty much set.

Acquire: A Facebook Account – Developed by Harvard Alumni, this relatively new social networking site is loads better than its predecessors. Aside from a better layout, it has cool applications that can get addicting. The other nice thing about Facebook is that every update is relatively transparent to everyone, so there’s not a lot of crap going around.

Retire: Your Friendster Account – Friendster is what ICQ was for instant messaging. Leave this to the kids.