The ABC's of Dressing Me

I was watching a movie today called The Big Year Staring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson. The movie was about Birding and the lengths 3 men go to in order to become the top birder of the year. It was a delightful movie and I greatly enjoyed it.
That aside, one of the things that impressed me about this movies was how Steve Martin dressed. I am always impressed with the way Mr. Martin puts together his clothes and how they indeed make him the man and the actor he is.
Now me that is a totally different story altogether . I am the product of two parents who believed in the adage: "Clothes make the man." Throughout my life I was always told by them to dress to impress. My father used to say that you can always tell what kind of man you are dealing with by the way he dresses . If he does not iron his shirt or pants, take care pf those little details, how do you expect him to handle bigger details. Then he would give examples of impeccable dressers who have become men of success like Bryant Gumbel and Bill Cosby. He equated their success with their dress.
When I would bring up examples of men who did not dress to impress but were still successful like Steve Jobs or Woody Allen, he would say but those guys are white and do not have to work as hard to impress.
So as an adult male, I find myself making compromises between what my parents taught me and what I have to do as a matter of fashion survival and comfort. Here are the ABC's of Dressing me.
A. I usually wear buttoned-down shirts with two pockets. Being a techie I need two pockets one for my smart phone and other for my Ipod and a moleskine notebook. The shirt is always oxford blue.
B. I usually wear khakis sometimes cuffed sometimes not cuffed. This has a practical purpose as well. Khakis are comfortable on one had and can be dressed up on the other if needed. All it takes is a tie and a blazer to turn a causal uniform into business dress.
B. Shoes and outer wear. In the spring, summer and fall, I wear dark athletic shoes for two reasons: because they are comfortable, I workout and walk on a daily basis, and because they can double for dress up if needed. I usually carry two types of outerwear in my car or on a trip . One is a Scott Evest tech vest that can be used to carry a cell phone, camera, ipod and a variety of other devices needed on a daily basis. The other is a blazer weather navy or light brown silk.
Theses are the ABC's of dressing me despite all else comfort is the key.