A style guru helps a Weekly reporter polish his act by shopping.

My childhood wardrobe was built like this: Instead of buying me two pieces of clothing I actually wanted, mom would buy me 10 pieces I didn’t. Big savings, of course. My brothers and I would get home from school and there’d be bags in the family room, and mom would have us pull the clothes out, telling us which items were for whom. Attempts to convince her to return any or all of the items were met with tongue-lashings.

Three decades later, the state of my current wardrobe isn’t much better. And while I can’t blame mom this go-round, I have an early-cultivated ability to not care much about what I’m wearing. Add to that, shopping for clothes always seems to get in the way of other things I’d rather be doing, which are pretty much all other things.

I could have coasted through the next few years with minimal clothing purchases and not thought twice, but a few weeks ago my best friend saw me – more disheveled than usual, perhaps – and said: “You need a makeover.”

Men I know do not use the term makeover lightly, if at all. Clearly, I had let myself slip too far, had entered territory that gave even my friends pause. I knew I had to act.

I called Maddox.

That’s Maddox as in Maddox Haberdasher, a Del Rey Oaks-based fashion guru who has delivered a fresh vision to the Peninsula – partly through events he produces like a recent Valentine’s Day party at Cibo’s celebrating the color pink – about what it means to dress well. His wardrobe is built of an extensive, colorful collection of sports coats, pants and pocket squares. He stores his shoes unlaced, so that everyday he can decide on which color of laces feels right. “Sometimes when I get home, it takes me 25 or 30 minutes just to undress,” he says.

And it shows: Whether you see him at the supermarket, on the sidewalk or out on the town, Maddox is always looking good. Real good.

I HAVE A CULTIVATED ABILITY TO NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT I’M WEARING.

Maddox is also a friend, despite the fact that he says, “If you walk out the door and you’re not well-dressed, I think that’s disrespectful.” But perhaps he only really warmed up to me when I asked him to take me shopping. Maddox likes shopping.

“I like obscure classics, like a Miles Davis B-side,” Maddox tells me of his fashion sensibility, just before we head out for our mission. I told him I could spare 500 bucks, and wasn’t looking for fancy. He looked me up and down and nodded, smirking.

Our first stop was the Robert Talbott outlet in Carmel Valley, and as I walked into the store aimless, Maddox honed in. Just a few minutes later he presented me with some pieces to try on: jeans, cloth jacket, polo shirt, belt – it all looked mighty fine. But when Maddox added up the price, just over $300, he got antsy about the budget   – he wanted to fit me in as many clothes as he could. I imagined my mother’s words as I eyes myself in the mirror – “I could get something just as nice at Costco for half that price” – and decided to buy the whole lot.

From there we aimed for Carmel thrift store Yellow Brick Road, a Maddox favorite, but didn’t have much luck. On to downtown Carmel, we stopped at Cole Haan, where I bought four sets of socks and off-color shoelaces, per Maddox’s suggestion. Subtle flourishes of color – whether in the form of laces, buttons, socks or accessories – are a Maddox signature. “It’s not that I dress well,” he says of his style, “it’s that other people don’t dress up at all.”

We took the Talbott jeans to Maddox’s tailor, Tuyen at Expert Alterations in Carmel (“If I were to go to another tailor, I’d feel like I was cheating on her”), and dropped in to Mantra hair salon to make an appointment. My hair hadn’t been cut since a bad hack job in the fall, and Heather at Mantra rightly called it “a little bit mullet-y.”

Our last stop was Marshalls in Sand City, and we dove into the aisles, trying to find pieces we agreed on. Maddox very much wanted me to try on white denim pants – I don’t do white denim.

A note on Maddox’s Facebook page helps explain why he was pushing me so hard. “It is impossible for [white] not to complement any palette you favor,” he writes. “Be angelic. Be pure… Wear white.” As I am neither of the first two things, I’d say that exempts me.

I walked out with one pair of pants, two shirts and new shades, and with the haircut to follow, we managed to stay just under-budget. There is still much work to be done, no question, but for a few days I got a new spring in my step, and feel like I’m staying true to the essence of Maddox’s fashion philosophy: “Strive to be a better person.”

I’m not sure I am one, but at least I look like it.

Reach style guru MADDOX HABERDASHER at haberdasher4hire@gmail.com