Since the start of the year, I have made several purchases to replace parts of my work wardrobe that has worn out in recent years. To start out the year, I bought a blazer, to replace my very threadbare blazer. I first looked at Salvation Army, as you can get some very good deals there on minimally used clothes. For the first seven years as a professional after college, I used nothing but two different blazers that I got from Salvation Army, but I could not find one this time at the thrift store. I ended up getting a nicely fitted one from the J.C. Penny.

Then over my navy blazer and slacks, I’ve long worn my old – but somewhat dressier – Lands End winter parka, that I think my parents bought for me when I was still in High School. For a long time it had a mismatched-parka hood, but all and all, it didn’t look all that bad with with a suit. But for sure, it wasn’t a proper wool top coat, that you are supposed to wear with your dress cloths. But I am all hesitant to spend money that I don’t have to spend, delaying replacement of things until the last possible minute – and trying to repair thing to get them to last as long as possible.

My Lands End parka finally wore out. The outer shell had cuts in it from getting caught on various things. The cuffs were starting to look thread bare. But what did it for me, is the zipper broke on the Lands End parka, and the end of winter seasons where underway. I was able to find a nice, wool top coat for an affordable price. With the good fitting blazer and wool top coat, has me feeling like a politician, an old man, or maybe just a professional. I guess that is a good thing, because I am more likely to act like a professional, I guess, if I dress like one. Maybe at 31, I should have earlier planned to get dressier clothing, but I am happy with being conservative in my spending habits.

And for normal, casual stuff, I have my Carhartt jacket – which is starting to get kind of threadbare too – but I don’t care as long as it’s still warm and the zipper works.

Great until I realized one minor problem… the top coat does nothing to keep your head or neck warm in the cold weather.

One disadvantage to wool top coat for dress purposes, rather then a mismatched parka, is they have no way to keep your neck and head warm without an external hat and scarf. I should have thought about that when I ordered it from Lands End, but of course I didn’t. I looked at ordering one today, but taken aback by the $8 shipping charge on something together that would cost like $30 including tax.

I was originally going to pick something up at the store this weekend when I went to get another pair of dress pants at the store (which I couldn’t find online) and another dress shirt. But I realized it will be nearly impossible to find something local this time of year, when swim suits are the norm (it’s almost March in Albany, after all). After visiting several of the stores over the weekend, my fears were confirmed.

But my friends and colleagues on Facebook had some ideas. One was try LLBean, which has free shipping, as I use their credit card. That’s a great idea, but I had trouble finding nice looking mens scarfs and hats that I could wear with a top coat. Then it was suggested I try Amazon and carefully read the reviews. Sears offers free shipping to their stores for in-store pick up. Or try the local stores – some may still have winter stuff in stock. I sure hope so, as I don’t want to pay $8 in shipping for a stupid hat.

I ultimately did order a scarf and hat on Amazon with free shipping. It worked out to be $30 together. I will hopefully get it on Tuesday or Wednesday. But for the next two days it might be a bit cold at the bus stop. I guess I could have just thought ahead, or wear my blaze orange hat in the next few days with my top coat. This morning wasn’t too bad, as I was pretty late for the bus, so I only was outside for like 30 seconds.