YouLookFab Forum » Topic: Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?

YouLookFab Forum » Topic: Do you manage your partner's wardrobe? https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:41:35 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php minimalist on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe/page/2#post-1088506 Mon, 18 Nov 2013 01:46:29 +0000 minimalist 1088506@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ No. Do let us know what your husband says when he returns. Anyway, how's your own closet-consolidation project going? DonnaF on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe/page/2#post-1088503 Mon, 18 Nov 2013 01:41:31 +0000 DonnaF 1088503@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I do the laundry, and recently started to pull out DH's cheap, faded, stained, holey Ts that are raggedy at the neck (yes, all five!) because I concluded he won't, AND he has plenty of much better ones.  I can use them as rags before I toss them out since they're not good for anything else.  I let him know, however.  He will cull raggedy jeans on his own. Mary Beth (formerly LBD) on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe/page/2#post-1088492 Mon, 18 Nov 2013 01:30:57 +0000 Mary Beth (formerly LBD) 1088492@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I really like DBF's style - but he is color-blind with certain shades of blue and green.  So very occasionally I have to run interference, so that he isn't walking out the door in head-to-toe olive or khaki.    Sometimes he hits the "Daniel Craig as 007" casual-wear look spot on, and I wax rhapsodic over this.  But otherwise, he is very good about culling his own stuff. With my ex, I did have to cull his wardrobe.   He was military, and when he wasn't wearing a uniform, he still had to adhere to a civilian dress code, as an officer living overseas.  With the result that everything else just got pushed to the back of the closet.    In the mid-2000's, I had to purge several silk shirts that I am pretty sure were 'in' when Miami Vice was on prime-time television, and a suit from around 1990 that vaguely evoked M.C. Hammer's "Can't Touch This".    He also had two shirts his mother had given him that were gingham, and looked like they belonged on tables in a small Italian restaurant. I didn't ask.  I just did it, and he expressed his relief and happiness later. Don't let your loved on walk out the door looking like an 80's icon, or wearing Hammer pants.  Purge and cull. Karie on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088479 Mon, 18 Nov 2013 01:01:29 +0000 Karie 1088479@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ DH is very stylish. I buy all his clothes (this would explain why he is stylish). :) If left to his own devices, he would simply buy what the mannequin is wearing. This isn't to say that he doesn't care what he wears, he does - he wants to look good. He washes his own work clothes and sometimes his other clothes too, except in the summer when I'm home and I do it.  MuseumGal on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088476 Mon, 18 Nov 2013 00:52:47 +0000 MuseumGal 1088476@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ You guys are cracking me up.  As Azriphale says, this definitely depends on your partner and his/her relationship to clothes.  My husband is the absent-minded professor/mad scientist type and does NOT think about his clothing beyond the fact they must meet his fairly specific criteria - a specific brand of kakhis for work and only Levis 501s for everything else, both worn with button down shirts - short sleeved in the summer, preferably linen, long sleeved in the spring and fall, and flannel or cord in the winter.  So culling and organizing the lot for him is sort of a public service.  Or so I tell myself. Thistle on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088468 Mon, 18 Nov 2013 00:13:00 +0000 Thistle 1088468@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Sadly, yes, but never while he was away. He needs help sorting, organizing and culling. We usually do it once a year or every other year. I also do the laundry, so damaged clothes are just tossed, no questions asked. And if he whines about clothes being too tight (he gained baby weight with me), I tell him to to put it at the foot of the bed and I will take it to the donate pile. I also buy all of his clothes for him. I usually replace tees and jeans as he wears them out. He hates anything tight or long sleeved, so he lives in relaxed fit jeans and a tee shirts. And no, don't buy him premium denim. He has spilled acid on his Levi's too many times when he didn't have his lab coat on! Aziraphale on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088461 Mon, 18 Nov 2013 00:08:33 +0000 Aziraphale 1088461@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Good grief. If my husband did that to MY closet, he might find himself in the hospital with a severe concussion. So I could hardly start messing around with his. To be fair, I've never wanted to. I think it depends on the kind of relationship you have with your husband, and more importantly, the kind of relationship he has with his wardrobe. If he's like some guys and clothes are merely a way of keeping warm and preventing public indecency, it's probably fine for you to cull his wardrobe. Isis on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088447 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 23:55:44 +0000 Isis 1088447@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ No way.  I'd be really upset if he threw something of mine away. Actually my husband would love it if I bought his clothes....but I can barely manage my own wardrobe.  And I love that I can wear thing that he doesn't understand (boyfriend jeans? pointy toed boots? a belted sweater?  )  and he just smiles and accepts! Deborah on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088428 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 23:37:46 +0000 Deborah 1088428@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ No:)  Every now and again DH will have a clean out of his minimal wardrobe, which he keeps very organised.  When he does this, he will usually ask me to come and give opinions on what he can move on and what to keep, but other than that he is toally responsible for his own wardrobe.  I don't even shop for him. Peri on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088337 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 21:24:24 +0000 Peri 1088337@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ No way. I can barely manage myself! Plus, he dresses well and things are just easier for him. Easier for men in general, but when you are tall, trim, fit, cute...clothes are just easy. He doesn't need my help. Anonymous on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088334 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 21:19:49 +0000 Anonymous 1088334@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ No way.  I have enough trouble with my own wardrobe.  My husband is very practical, he has only what he needs.  Once though he had a pair of really, really, really, really (I could go on) UGLY pants.  These pants were worn only on canoe trips in Canada so fortunately I never had to see them.  Then he stopped going on these trips and needed some yard working pants and he started wearing said pants.  Did I tell you how UGLY they were?  One day I hide those pants and left a "Dear John" letter on his dresser.  The pants told DH how they had no choice but to leave him and spend the rest of their life back in Canada where they had always been the happiest. My husband laughed and they said "where are they really".  I'm pretty sure I would have spent the rest of my life in Canada had I really thrown them out.  Laurinda on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088297 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 20:31:11 +0000 Laurinda 1088297@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ No way.  Mander on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088254 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 19:31:28 +0000 Mander 1088254@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Oh lord, he'd kill me.  Fortunately he has pretty good taste (better than mine) and throws things out regularly.  I don't think I have ever seen him wear something that I found questionable. carter on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088238 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 19:12:10 +0000 carter 1088238@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Just asked my husband if he really is happy when I organize his closet. He always says he is, but it never hurts to double check! He said, "absolutely. I like being able to find stuff. I like the neater look. I like that it generally causes you to go buy things for me I didn't know I was missing. I also really like the labels you did last time...makes it easier for me to keep it organized." Maybe you should make some labels for his newly organized closet and pick up a few things for his wardrobe holes:-) Parsley on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088227 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 19:01:05 +0000 Parsley 1088227@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I wouldn't say manage, but I do encourage and advise rather strongly. :-) My husband's clothes are ultimately his responsibility, but he appreciates some help with them, so we usually go through his closet together to evaluate his needs and purge things, and we usually shop together. I wouldn't feel comfortable re-arranging his closet or throwing out any of his things when he wasn't there, just as I wouldn't want someone to do that with my things. RunswithDolphins on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088201 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 18:38:15 +0000 RunswithDolphins 1088201@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ My DH and I are both pretty independent so it's not something either of us would do.  We do offer our opinion, sometimes unsolicited but always heartfelt, on wardrobe choices. I always say though each couple dances their own dance.  What works for some doesn't work for others. Amy on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088189 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 18:16:27 +0000 Amy 1088189@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ No way. I would be really upset if he interfered with my wardrobe, so I don't do that to him either. Laura (rhubarbgirl) on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088187 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 18:10:21 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 1088187@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I am happy to help him shop, or cull, and I encourage him to get rid of old stuff and things that don't suit him, but I would never clean out his closet without him being around or knowing I was going to do it. He's an adult and gets to have control of what he owns and wears and I'm not going to preempt that even if it's stuff I don't like, just like I'd be irritated if he did it to me. I have been known to throw out an undershirt or two that developed holes in the laundry, because I'm the one that deals with the wash, but I always tell him about it, and all his undergarments are pretty much interchangeable. Anonymous on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088183 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 18:03:04 +0000 Anonymous 1088183@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ OMG, no. I can barely manage my own. Good for you for taking initiative. bella on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088120 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:56:57 +0000 bella 1088120@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I don't clean out his closet for him. I do, however, encourage him to do a clean-out about twice a year. I provide him with snacks and a cold beverage and some music so that he doesn't get bored. Also, I sit on the bed while he works to help him make keep/purge decisions, fold the tshirts/sweaters, put the discarded stuff in garbage bags, etc... In addition to these occasional purges, I am usually in charge of folding laundry. If I find that a pair of socks, or a plain white tshirt is too old, I will throw them away.  Diana on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088118 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:55:41 +0000 Diana 1088118@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ H*ll no.  He can take care of it himself.  Of course I will offer my opinions if asked but he is perfectly capable of buying his own clothes and taking care of them.  He's not a child.   Word Lily on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088112 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:52:51 +0000 Word Lily 1088112@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Nope. Over the years, as it comes up, I've educated him on fit, mostly. But he's pretty good at purging (better than I!), and he's got a definite sense of style, all his own (Ah, the artist.). I don't even shop for him, although we like shopping together. Jude on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088109 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:48:55 +0000 Jude 1088109@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Goodness, no, I wouldn't dare to do that. His closet, his decision. I do let him know whether I like what he's wearing (and how he's wearing it) or not. He is a little bit vain and likes to be complimented. That helps Alexandra on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088103 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:42:12 +0000 Alexandra 1088103@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ No, I planned his wardrobe for him when he asked for it. Now I just educate him on how to recognize a garment that is past its prime and needs to be replaced, how to find good quality clothes that will last, and how to recognize good fit. deb on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088095 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:35:19 +0000 deb 1088095@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ No, that is why I have my own closet, so I do not have to look at his.  Dee on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088093 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:34:07 +0000 Dee 1088093@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Seriously, my DH would cry if I got rid of any of his wardrobe without his knowledge. Even if they are old, worn t-shirts for the most part - he gets attached to them. Instead I've been trying to encourage small purges ("This shirt has three holes in it! Can we let it go?") and shopping for better items when he has to replace things. MsMary on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088088 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:27:57 +0000 MsMary 1088088@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Over the years I encouraged some purges, but I would draw the line at purging while my partner was not on-site to participate.  Two reasons:  First, I think it's disrespectful to dispose of somebody's belongings without his permission, and second, I think it's infantalizing to clean out a grown person's closet in his absence as though he were a child.  (ETA I guess those are really pretty much the same, aren't they?) But YMMV, of course.  Whatever works.  vipanchi on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088086 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:26:34 +0000 vipanchi 1088086@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I never did until now! But I have been planning to myself! Elly on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088081 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:21:24 +0000 Elly 1088081@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Ooo . . . I grew up in a household where for a long time my mother bought all of my father's clothes (although he had strict specifications). I grew up doing a lot of the shopping for my dad and brother. Now my SO, when I first met him begged me not to buy him clothes or try to get him to wear certain things. His ex was always trying to change how he dressed. Now that we have been together several years, he knows I am not trying to change who he is or how he looks and has faith that I will pick out something he enjoys. He still does most of his clothes shopping, but he has taken my opinions into account and mostly does his own shopping because he travels more and has more time to shop deals online than I do. That said, he wants me to move in, and if that happens, we are cleaning his closet together. He has a medium size walk in that has bags of stuff on the floor and barely enough room for a few of my things. Most of it is old an unworn, and I suspect that there is still 1-2 bags of clothes in his storage area. I helped him move into his current place, and I refuse to move or store all those things he doesn't wear again. It will be a project for the TWO of us though. EDITED TO ADD--- The SO has OCD and often stagnates on processes like cleaning the fridge or sorting things. I, on the other hand, am a very good purger. Having me around helps him process things/get going on activities like this. Once I get him running he usually completes it on his own. And who doesn't enjoy someone who is willing to help you get started on a task you've been avoiding with a little positive encouragement, bribery and hand holding? He encourages HW, I encourage closet cleaning. cheryle (Dianthus) on "Do you manage your partner's wardrobe?" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/do-you-manage-your-partners-wardrobe#post-1088075 Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:14:09 +0000 cheryle (Dianthus) 1088075@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I have encouraged a major purge on a few occasions.  I mean really, who needs a mustard colored double breasted suit???? I don't do any day-to-day types of wardrobe management though.