As with moving home, making way for a renter to take over the house you are vacating to take up a secondment or posting abroad is an ideal time to pare down your wardrobe and shorten the inventory of household goods, writes Joanne Hunter.

Streamlining your life sets you up for your next career move, lightens the load of a return home physically and emotionally, and certainly will save on storage costs.

It takes ruthlessness to attack the job of clearing out clutter that's built up over the years. New stuff is welcomed into the house while not so much is readily given its marching orders.

A wardrobe clear-out says goodbye to items which for years have been relegated to the sidelines. You can remember when this sharp-tailored suit used to clothe a hot-shot of the business world and how these once-loved 'smart casuals' were the epitome of 'cool', back then.

A keen and able decision-maker in the boardroom can find it hard to transfer that well-honed skill to their personal life and the home. But transferable, it is.

Can it really be so tough for that potential  'mover and shaker' or the person who's earned that attribution among their peers to move forward and shake out from the wardrobe all that gear that's not seen the light of day for years?

European and national lawmakers are calling business leaders to exercise the discipline to design strategies to reduce, recycle and reuse products and materials.

There are environmental, economic and social reasons to be more aware of how we behave as consumers in every of our lives.

Paring down the contents of the home is not so different to consolidating factory production or controlling stock levels.

A warehouse and wardrobe have much the same function, and avoiding the need to splash out on a new unit, in both cases, surely is a good thing.

Young executives whose personal ethics are on the 'green' scale will be the ones banging the drum for green economics to help their companies live up to expectations as sustainable enterprises.

The new blood coming in will also have different ideas about what's cool to wear to the office. Don't be surprised to see them recycling office fashions that saw British companies grow great first time around. The cloak of confidence that tip-top tailoring gives could be just what is needed to spur on the present recovery.

UK men have forgotten how to be gentlemen, as studies show that overwhelming numbers of men do not abide by even the very basic standards of etiquette.

Numerous examples attest to the decline in good manners among males. Recent studies have shown that only 4% of men on trains would be willing to give up their seat for a pregnant lady or elderly person.

London's most prestigious fashion event, the bi-annual London Fashion Week, is again just around the corner.

With all the top names in fashion out to impress at the fashion shows, front rows, backstage and parties, London Fashion Week spring/summer 2012 is set to be more glamorous and cutting edge than ever before.

However, for those who love fashion but are not involved in the fashion industry, London Fashion Week still holds some peripheral public events so that everyone can have a slice of the action.

• Karaoke at Source Below, Soho – Monday 13 Feb, from 6-11pm (free but register online) – special fashion-themed karaoke.
• Upstyler Barnabus Bazaar at the House of St Barnabus, Greek Street, Soho– Friday 17 February, from noon till 7pm (£5 donation on entry) – a ‘high end vintage shopping experience’.

Victoria Beckham this week beat the likes of Stella McCartney, Tom Ford and Burberry to win designer brand of the year at the esteemed 2011 British Fashion Awards.

The award for Mrs Beckham's three-year-old label is her first from the British Fashion Council, and confirmed her status as a credible fashion brand. Mrs Beckham’s label was praised for its “focused growth strategy” and its “high levels of sell through”.

Sarah Burton, creative director at Alexander McQueen, was named designer of the year at the fashion industry’s prestigious ‘Oscars’, an award that came as no surprise considering that she designed Kate Middleton’s much-photographed dress for the Royal wedding earlier this year.

The McQueen brand was further honoured when Sam Gainsbury won the Isabella Blow award for fashion creator, after translating the McQueen archive into the Savage Beauty exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan Museum.

City listings website Timeout has this week unveiled its list of London's 100 best shops, and fascinating reading it makes too!

Time Out’s shopping team put together the ranking using suggestions from a panel of experts, including designer Matthew Williamson and Grazia fashion editor Melanie Rickey. The assessment considered store concept, stock, customer service, and each shop’s uniqueness. The list included the eclectic and eccentric as much as obvious London retail landmarks.

If you keep your eyes peeled this month, you're sure to spot more moustaches than usual. That's because the UK is celebrating Movember - a light-hearted annual fundraiser that seeks to raise awareness of men's health issues.

We look at what there is to do for Birmingham dwellers in November!

The Footman James Classic Motor Show (11-13 November, NEC)

The biggest and most popular classic car exhibition in the UK, celebrating over 1200 wonderful cars from the veteran to the vintage, from the classic to the future classic. A must for motoring enthusiasts.

Renowned for its cutting edge fashion and innovation, London Fashion Week this season, Friday 16 – Wednesday 21 September, continued to push Britain head and shoulders above other top fashion locations across the globe.

The Prime Minister’s wife, Samantha Cameron, opened London Fashion Week at Soho House, promoting British fashion by wearing Mulberry, Sykes and LK Bennett. She announced that Britain had “the talent and expertise to take UK fashion forward”.

You have been invited…… now you must judge what sort of occasion this will be and how to dress for the event.

There are a few simple tips to get you through the minefield of social dressing. Firstly, How were you invited? Was it an email or phone call? If so then it is likely to be a more casual affair. A summer Barbeque or Garden Party perhaps.

Was it an embossed invitation for a charity ball or even a wedding? Then clearly this is a formal occasion and a dressier event perhaps requiring full evening dress. More of which later.