Eureka Moment

My family and I escaped to the Lake of the Ozarks for the weekend.  While there, we spent a a couple of hours at the local outlet mall.  As we strolled through stores like Banana Republic Outlet, Brooks Brothers Outlet, Eddie Bauer Outlet (one of my favorites), GAP Outlet,  and the Nautica Outlet; I couldn't help couldn't help but think to myself, "Man, I used to dress that good.  I used to take a lot of pride in my appearance.  Now I'm a guy with a beer-belly and a couple of man-boobs.  What happened?"

Then, as my son tugged at my arm, it hit me like a freight train, "Oh yeah, I'm a dad.  I'm supposed to be a dork.  Plus, I can't afford these nice clothes anymore".  Regardless, I found a couple of great deals on a couple of shirts and a pair of chinos (one shirt and chinos from the Eddie Bauer Outlet, and a shirt from the Banana Republic Outlet).  They're not exactly high-fashion, but they are professional, yet fashionable.

Later that evening, my wife was perusing through the magazines in the condo (no, we don't own the condo, in fact, we're still paying for the used minivan we drove to it in) and found Best Life by Men's Health.  She looked through it while I played prison warden to our six and three year old.  As she finished reading the magazine, she said to me, "You should read this, I think you'd like it".  So, I did look through it, and I also liked it.

But, as I flipped through the pages, I couldn't help thinking to myself, "I'd love to dress like that again.  But look at those brands!  I know those prices, and we'd have to win the lottery before I could afford them!".  As that was going through my head, my lovely wife made the remark that maybe we should get a subscription.  I retorted, "Why!?  We couldn't afford anything in here anyway.".

Then it hit me, why not start a blog about mens fashion, dad fashion; and other things all "real guy", not "super rich magazine guy"?  So, I intend to include articles on fitness (or lack there of), social stuff (i.e. getting out of the house without the kids, and maybe the wife too), and any other topics for dads on a budget.

So, here we are, "Debonair Dad".  I'm sure that I'm not the only guy in this, so, lets pool our ideas.  I invite guest articles!  After all, we're all in this together.