Husband's eclectic wardrobe

DH lives in jeans, which I try to influence or he goes for completely shapeless ones. When working as a civil servant it was always suits and ties, so I guess he likes the freedom, but it would be nice to see him dress up occasionally! He tends to get jumpers for Christmas and birthday from the family, has a big box of them.

My DH always looks smart, he does love his designer clothing, but I must admit it lasts for ages, and when wearing out a bit it goes on to be garden wear. He chooses all his own clothes, I wouldn’t have a clue.
I, on the other hand, always look a bit scruffy, however hard I try. It’s unfuriating.

LauraNorder

I’d say Orlin’s style is similar to Michael Portillo. Not sure if I’ve had any influence but looking back at old photos he used to have a more sober look.

Wow, I'm impressed!

DH did buy a pair of red chinos years ago and loved them but I really dislike them and told him he looked just like the Mayor of Bristol when he wore them. Not Marvin, his predecessor George Ferguson. It still didn't put him off them.

Tabbycat

When I met my husband he was wedded to a pair of vintage old basketball boots - they were falling apart and, quite frankly, stank!
The first time I saw him in his underpants - I was stunned and tried hard not to laugh. They were huge, purple paisley, nylon Y-fronts, which his mother bought for him from M & S!
He replaced the Y fronts sharpish, but it took me years to get rid of the boots - I kept putting them in the bin, somehow they kept sneaking back into the house!

Love this Tabbycat. Took me back to the first time I saw MrM in his Black Calvin Klein trunks underwear. They were world's away from the rest of his charityclothes.

He did say later on that even they were from a charity outlet via the hospice where one of his friends worked and tried to reassure me they were brand new and still in the packaging.

Comfortable, and no buttons, or as few as possible. So he wears jeans, or chinos, T shirts, sweat shirts and fleeces.

When he stopped work he stopped wearing suits. For formal occasions he wears a smart blazer over smart trousers. Despite never wearing a tie. He will not part with one tie from his extensive collection

Very conventional and professional at first. I slowly injected simply colour and he moved into smart casual with comparative ease. All good for both of us.

Mine is actually quite interested in clothes, he favours an Italian shop where he buys lovely jackets and trousers, and he has a huge selection of colourful shirts.
At work every day he wears jeans and polo shirts, so perhaps he wants to go a bit mad at the weekends.
Our son, a very conservative dresser is horrified by some is his outfits.

I don't understand why DH wears a tie for some Zoom meetings! Apparently they all do (Probus).

DP and I have fairly similar tastes as it happens, although she’s more to the butch end of the spectrum and I’m definitely more femme (and inclined towards leopard print a la Bet Lynch). About to steal her eyeshadow for a Zoom call and accused her of stealing my red lippie for hers...

Mine only buys navy grey or black, I’ve tried for years to get him to try brighter colours but he refuses. One time he did wear a red top and everyone said how good he looked in the colour but he didn’t listen and went right back to his favourite navy,grey and black.I’m his opposite, I love anything bright.

DH prefers Clothes for Comfort rather than style. He loves his pure cotton Polo shirts, and either jeans or cotton trousers/shorts depending on season. He does own a couple of M&S suits, including a formal Dinner suit and Bow tie, which he bought when we started to go on Cruises after he retired, but he’s put weight on, and a lot of his trousers no longer fit him properly.
I buy any replacement clothes he needs out of end of season sales, his Jeans are from Asda, and his Polo shirts are from Cotton Traders.
His Trainers and slippers I buy online, he has a regular style and brand that get replaced almost like for like once the last pair have worn out., and socks and underwear are multipacks from supermarkets and places like Matalan, bought as gifts from Daughters and Grandchildren!
His oldest items of clothing are a jumper that has lasted him for about 29years, since our DD was a baby, and a Cotton Traders zip up Fleece jacket from the year he retired 16 years ago which he still wears Daily!

My OH is in his 70's and refuses to by new shoes. My Eldest son had to buy one for him because Hubby wore them to the ground. Also, OH has kept the same clothes for the last 20 years. Anything new is something the family get him as a gifts. He doesn't by second hand clothing however, buys all his clothes from Walmart. So no luxury anything.

I laughed the other day because I was looking at my 'order history' from an online department store app, and it showed two pairs of the same Levi's in 2020, and in 2019.

He has worn the same style for as long as I have known him, and we get two new pairs a year. The size has gone up and down a few times over the years though. The old ones are moved to doing chores. Every few years we will get a 'dressier ' pair of jeans for casual outings.

He does clean up nicely though, He likes button up short sleeves for summer, sports jackets in cooler seasons, and can get away with pastel colours with his Mediterranean complexion.

Smart casual for my man.

We have some really good charity shops in our town and he has twice bought himself Paul Smith shirts for under £10. His favourite one had never been worn.

He is lucky to be slim so often can buy clothes in a sale that are slimline.

My late DH was the same as Jaxjacky's husband - short sleeved shirts, jeans or cargo pants, and a jumper in winter. If we weren't going out anywhere he would wear a polo shirt and shorts around the house (even in winter!).
He was also fond of the Michael Portillo look, and had a few jackets in different colours. He was very fussy about his clothes and liked to look good.
The one thing he would not budge on was jeans - he insisted on wearing very pale blue ones which looked dated; I tried to get him into darker ones, even got him to buy some, but they were hardly ever taken out of the wardrobe, while his light ones were worn until they wore thin.

Forgot to say DH was very fussy about shoes, and would only ever wear one brand (Barkers) in one particular size, as he said they fitted him like a glove. They cost an arm and a leg, well into the hundreds a pair, but were good value as they lasted for years. We also lived not far from the factory which had its own shop, where the shoes were considerably reduced, and also did repairs and makeovers. We had frequent visits there taking in shoes which looked worn and tired; they used to come back looking like new for considerably less than he had paid for them.

My husband buys his clothes in supermarkets when we're grocery shopping. He has a wardrobe full of suits, ties, fancy shirts from when he was a detective. Im going to persuade him to donate them when the charity shops open.

Mine is a snappy dresser. Usually chinos, shirt and sleeveless jumper for work and Chelsea boots. Smart linen/wool jackets. I do buy from eBay for him especially jackets I know will fit. Nothing better than pre-loved.

I admire your husband for never buying anything new.

There are so many good clothes in charity shops and the clothing industry is using and abusing far to much of the world's resources.

Both DH and I do the same as your husband, although we do very occasionally allow ourselves to buy something brand new.

When we first met DH was always very smartly dressed and seemed to be able to wear any style. Fast forward now he seems to live in polo shirts and faded trousers. When shopping for trousers I know it will be a fraught time. He only looks at the front so when he asks my opinion and I comment he has half of them pulled into his 'behind' the tension starts. Seems only the expensive trousers fit him nowadays. Does anyone else hate when a man with a scraggy neck refuses to do up the top button?

No influence at all. My husband rarely buys new clothes. I have to get the kids to buy him new tshirts etc for christmas/birthdays/fathers day. He says he doesnt need new clothes. He will only buy trainers when the pair he has are falling off his feet. He does but a lot of coats though which is rather odd.

Missfoodlove

Since suits are rarely worn for business now, he wears smart casual if he’s working.
Favoured brands are Gant and Barbour.
For casual and about the house he loves his Rohan jeans and walking trousers.
He tends to invest in quality and doesn’t buy often.
In the days when we could travel abroad, he loved to shop in France, Czech and Holland.

"Smart casual" is something I've never mastered for myself, let alone DH. He's colourblind and taste-free so I've always gone with him when he's buying anything other than jeans (though he can cope with choosing his own underwear, socks and T-shirts).
Now he's retired he wears jeans, T-shirts and fleeces, though he does have slightly smarter stuff for occasional wear. Sadly he often wears the smarter stuff when he's decorating so its not smart for long. He usually manages to destroy knitwear with battery acid, paint or whatever so I try to keep a smarter jumper tucked away in case he needs something.
When he was working he did normally wear a suit, often M&S so he could have a second pair of trousers.
Still I'm happy to sacrifice his smarter clothes when I think of how much he saves us when doing DIY!

BlueSapphire

Forgot to say DH was very fussy about shoes, and would only ever wear one brand (Barkers) in one particular size, as he said they fitted him like a glove. They cost an arm and a leg, well into the hundreds a pair, but were good value as they lasted for years. We also lived not far from the factory which had its own shop, where the shoes were considerably reduced, and also did repairs and makeovers. We had frequent visits there taking in shoes which looked worn and tired; they used to come back looking like new for considerably less than he had paid for them.

Like BlueSapphire my otherwise scruffy DH does like to buy good shoes. He no longer wears the smart black lace-ups that he wore to work but still finds more casual shoes with leather soles that can be repaired. We go to outlet shops in out of town shopping areas and have picked up some real bargains.

When he worked Marks and Spencer man ,now Rohan man. I have a system of filtering old clothes to the back of the airing cupboard told to me by a friend many years ago. When he has forgotten about them they go to the recycling.

My late husband was a rep so had to be smartly dressed. When ordering a new suit i used to go with him to choose the material. One day he came home and said he had ordered a new suit by himself. When it arrived I discovered it creased very easily which meant that as he spent a lot of time driving it was absolutely useless.
When he retired he got rid of all his suits and ties and wore casual comfortable clothes for the rest of his life.