My girl is away in New York on business  — a whirl of fashionable meetings in Soho House and dinners at The Wythe. I am at home in Peckham watching Richard Osman’s House of Games.

I’m not jealous. No actually, I am jealous. I’m scrolling through Linkedin looking for a new job, she’s shopping in Williamsburg. I’m writing metres of cover letters, she’s pinging me lists of celebs she’s spotted.

I mean, yes, she’s got a great job, one I’m uniquely unqualified for. And yes, she works incredibly hard and has a positive can-do attitude, qualities that make me feel queasy. But even so, it just seems fundamentally unfair.

I decided to watch Richard Osman, the massively successful presenter, author and TV personality, to get some inspiration. I thought that studying a dude at the top of his game might provide me some insight into what it takes for me to realise my personal ambitions. Twenty five hours of simplistic word games and ironic prizes later, I have learned nothing. Other than my geography is shocking.

Fortunately hope comes in the form of my social feeds, jammed as they are with articles, gifs and memes all advocating the power of positive thinking. Apparently 2023 will be great for me. I just have to believe it will. I’ve got to bolt on a smile, remain buoyant at all times and treat everything as an opportunity. Admittedly, I’m not privy to the peer review process behind this particular branch of science, but I’m prepared to give it a go. I’m going to continually radiate goodwill and optimism. Normally I radiate a sense of impending doom, with sarcastic interludes, so it’s quite the challenge.

Anyway. New year smiles all round. Positive is the new negative! My Triangle of Sadness face is resolutely H&M!

So what’s good? Well, I bought three new shirts from Tres Bien‘s recent digital-only Archive Sale. I’ve been a fan of their two in-house lines Atelje and Everywear for a while. And when £220 pieces start hitting sub-£100, it takes a stronger man than me not to pull the trigger .

My favourite is the stripy patchwork shirt with double sleeves. Very Comme des Garçons Shirt-ish, but with a fuller, less formal cut. Then there’s one with a pale yellow front, tan back and some intricate sleeve trickery. And the third is navy and zip-fronted with a three-quarter sleeve. The latter reminds of the boxy 1950’s style from the movie Swingers which I’m fully prepared to vibe with.

The Archive Sale is sadly done. But if Tres Bien isn’t on your radar, I recommend it. It’s basically a multi-brand retailer, selling rarified casual wear, incense holders, art books and trendy ceramics that look like someone’s taken a dump and painted flowers on it. It’s Urban Outfitters for people who look down on Urban Outfitters.

As a member of the under-employed it shames me to admit that I also recently dropped on a pair of Reebok x South2 West8 sneakers and yet another Needles bucket hat  — this time an excessively spotty number in chocolate brown. Reckless behaviour. Or at least it would be, were it not for my darling girl out in Brooklyn, suffering swanky drinks parties, so I might keep my Paypal fires burning.