Valentine's Day is one of those times where attached men are pretty much required to step up their game. If you are planning to take your lady out for a date, let me extend some advice. First off, if I catch somebody (especially a reader of our blog) wearing tennis shoes to a nice restaurant, I’m not going to be happy. If you go to a really nice restaurant, you’re going to want to wear a suit.

When I'm going out, my go-to choice is a button-down shirt, nice slacks and a sport coat. For a more casual date, I would wear jeans with nice dress shoes,  a button down shirt and a sport coat. If I wanted to spice it up a bit, that's when I would wear a really nicely fitted pair of slacks with my sport coat. If it was more formal, I would wear a very sharp suit and I would be sure to accessorize with a pocket square, fun socks or some type of red theme to add a pop of color for the holiday.

Regarding flowers and gifts. My honest thought is that flowers have become so overdone that you should come up with a creative alternative or a creative "in addition to" the blooms. If you really want to give your lady something in the floral variety, try sending it her work to make a splash. Better yet, go against the grain and think of something else to give your girl on Valentine’s Day. Does she like poetry? Get her a book of poems. Is your woman a coffee aficionado? Pick up a bag of her favorite coffee beans.

Now that I’ve shared all my secrets to help you navigate Valentine’s, I better think of something great to do for my own wife. Wish me luck!