Has your SO made any style leaps? - YouLookFab Forum

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Has your SO made any style leaps?

April

Veteran

My own darling husband has finally seen the light about dress pants. After years of insisting that pleated (and cuffed) dress pants were the only ones he felt comfortable in, he can now appreciate the sleekness of a flat front with a clean hem. Hallelujah.

Anyone else experiencing style movement on the SO front?

General

32 replies

Latest reply was from Angie

Mo

(website)

Veteran

BF came to the flat front side 4 or so years ago when I convinced him. His bigger style leap was not just accepting, but liking some abraded black True Religion corduroys about the same time. For a 505 Levi's jeans wearer it was a monumental leap. From there we got some CoH Sid jeans. Hallelujah, indeed.

Diana

Veteran

Yes! He has been wearing bow ties! =D

catgirl

Veteran

Nope. He is still wearing just about the same things he did when I met him, only he has bought replacements. He's a typical conservative Bostonian guy. Button downs, t-shirts, khakis, straight leg jeans. Nothing with excess pattern, texture or flair. He is the antithesis of hipster. But when he puts on a suit for work, he looks sharp.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Oh, he updated his specs from gold wire rims to some Alain Mikli's as well. And started using a moderate hold wax in his hair.
Occurs to me, these are 2 of the 3 biggies Angie recommends at the start of a style overhaul. Obviously, he won't be going for a bra fitting!

Echo

Veteran

I might answer more fully when I can pick myself up off the floor from laughing so hard! DH would live in Levis, no-pocket t-shirts and flannel if I let him (and he usually does except when we go out on date nights).

Thistle

Veteran

Nope. Still same jeans and tees, although I have upgraded the quality, he won't wear anything but the same relaxed fit jeans and tees.

MuseumGal

Veteran

I convinced him to let the gal who cuts his hair trim his eyebrows. Does that count? It was a huuuuge deal! Now it's part of the routine.

April

Veteran

MG, that definitely counts!

Mo -- yes! The gold wire rimmed specs also left our house, replaced with something snappier. What a difference that has made.

The area we're in in New York is pretty young and hip. We often joke that no one living in our building is too old to be our child. Somehow that has made us both conscious of not wanting to look overly middle-aged, even though that's what we are.

Anonymous

Hubs just transferred to a job in a bigger city and has come to his own conclusion that he needs to update a few things (I will be a god wife and not remind him I suggested this months earlier)

He is happily shopping away but it is eating into my clothes budget lol

(Glasses, new suits, new jeans, new sport jacket, watch, dress and date night shirts, and new shoes both dress and weekend, new weekend coat, ouch)

Anonymous

Oops *good* wife

viva

Veteran

DH is coming around slowly. We're about to celebrate 25 years together and this last year he has finally made some progress!
In general, his style is rumpled East Coast -- jeans, hiking boots or
oxfords, button down shirt. He teaches fourth grade so is quite casual. There are certain things I have insisted on -- about 8 years ago I took him to a friend who has a salon and told him he had to go to her for haircuts and not to the $10 shop. So that was good.
This year, though, he has started to care about his looks in a very fun way. I think turning 50 was a major turning point.
We gave him Warby Parker glasses for his last birthday (you choose 3 frames which they send you to try on, then you select one and order it) -- and this process convinced him to stop buying his reading glasses in bulk at BJs or Costco.
He lost 35 lbs and is continuing to lose more, so can finally wear trimmer sweaters and fit in jackets well. So now he cares about what he wears and actually likes to shop for his own clothes.
Baby steps, but they are happening!

April

Veteran

"Rumpled East Coast" -- LOL

I know that look pretty well, Viva. It's what surrounds us when we're in CT (where many of the men are not only still wearing pleated cuffed dress pants, but pleated cuffed khakis.) Goodness -- bet you didn't know they were still making those...

viva

Veteran

Oh, April! Thank God I got him into flat front, no cuff pants years ago!!! He lives in khakis and jeans so what a horrible world it would be if I had lost those battles!!! (And yes, I know that world well .... we both grew up in CT, land of the pleated pant and the monogram.)

April

Veteran

Every now and then in CT, you can even see a man wearing something like this:

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Von

Veteran

I would say yes, and it took a bit of poking and prodding to get him there, but it has been worth it. I LOVE to shop for men's clothes, it's so much easier, so much less fussy (which is probably why my son has started to develop an excellent sense of style!). It started with my buying DH a few things here and there (and I mean little things, like a tie that wasn't so stuffy). I tried my best to educate along the way "this style tie is popular because XYZ" or "this color shirt is OK with said tie and is not too bold or loud". I'm also a shoe freak, so I would buy him nice shoes too.

We worked our way up from ties to blazers, to pants, to the fancy men's shop which does custom alterations. I bought him a "no exchanges, no returns" gift certificate and told the guys in the store what to expect when he came in! After his tailored jackets were back, you could just see it in his posture and the way he carried himself. He's larger than average, but not quite taller than average, so Big & Tall clothes were always a bit off on him. Anyway, he started getting tons of compliments and I think he realized that he must have been off the mark before...since then, he's not questioned my choices once!

The other day, he wore a navy and white striped shirt with a royal blue and kelly green paisley tie, with matching DRAGON printed socks that my son picked out. The socks were royal blue with gray dragons breathing fire LOL! He said he got SO many compliments. My son picked the tie + the socks for his Christmas gift. I'm also pleased that hubby put the outfit together on his own! Years ago, he never would have worn a striped shirt, much less mixed it with paisley!

carambola

Veteran

Not much. He lives in jeans or cargo pants and a T shirt. Sometimes wears shorts to work in the spring, summer, and fall. He's a research scientist and can wear whatever he likes, but I don't see many others who are quite that casual. He does clean up nicely one day a week when he sees patients (button down and trousers, sometimes with a jacket).

April

Veteran

Go Von!

Emily

Veteran

Well, he still refuses to mix patterns (IE, a neutral sweater with a thin stripe + a neutral dress shirt with a subtle, tiny pattern = no) but has come around to patterns mixed with textures (IE, a neutral tee with a thin stripe + a marled cardigan = yes). In related news, DH selected and bought a freaking button down cardigan, which previously would have been rejected as Old Man attire. Another 2013 purchase was a very stylish suit.

He also updated his specs and almost bought a pair of plastic rimmed librarian frames, inspired by David Tennant as the 10th Doctor. I think we'll be heading back for those when our benefits roll over in the spring!

Dee

Veteran

Funny story about this. A few months ago, DH was going to a professional conference and realized he had nothing to wear. He asked me for help shopping so we ordered a ton of thngs from Banana Republic for him - button downs, slim dark jeans, cardigans, oxfords, etc. Busincess casual mostly. DH said that he was more dressed up than most of his American colleagues who were wearing khakis and polos. And several people asked where in Europe he was visiting from because his clothes didn't look "American". I count that as a win!

Now, he still mostly lives in jeans and t-shirts, but he works in a lab so doesn't want to risk ruining anything with chemicals. But the new slimmer jeans and cardigans see regular wear instead of the old oversized jeans and hoodies, and he will put on a button down if we're going out.

Lisa

Veteran

Nothing for style with items themselves but I have convinced SO to layer. With our crazy cold weather he finally sees why I am always in layers. Layers = warm.

doubleh

Veteran

In our "wooing" phase, I got him to wear jeans- and flip flops/sandals/toe-exposing footwear. (He used to wear sneakers to the beach!) Since marriage, I have been able to convince him of the importance of ironing, but not much more. Luckily, I now have a little guy I can wardrobe control.
Mostly.

anne

Veteran

Yes! - DH has now bought skinny(ish) jeans insteaf of the really baggy ones he has worn for ages

fuzzylogic

Veteran

My husband is super stylish and has a great sense of what styles and colours work for him. He generally stays within the realms of a 'modern classic' style. He frequently updates pieces to keep the look fresh and contemporary but hasn't shifted in terms of style recently.

Linda

My DH is very selective, often prefers the highly functional over the stylish, but can manage to look very put-together often. He finally agreed this year to retire his aged winter coat, a very Clouseau-ish khaki trench coat. We found a really nice wool overcoat at Jos. A Bank (do they just continually yell "SALE" ??!? Their ads make me giggle.). He will get a haircut so long as I nag him to. But if I buy him fancier shirts I have to lie to him/hide the receipts, he's very thrifty about his shirts. He has a great eye, because he worked for a while when he was a teen, in one of the real old men's clothing stores.

cciele

Veteran

The great revelation (so far) was that spending some money on a well-fitting pair of jeans is worth it! Granted, we had to try on a ton of different jeans to get there, but he's seen the light

April

Veteran

Fuzzylogic, I'm putting your first sentence in my "Things You Never Hear" file.

I will say that SO was tremendously relieved when we developed a casual uniform of sorts for him: the winter version is a cashmere v-neck with tee beneath and extremely dark wash jeans. He always looks elegant in that combination.

He likes to look good (who doesn't), he just hates fretting about clothes and shopping for himself.

TraceyLiz65

(website)

Veteran

My dear husband humors me as I try to stretch his conservative nature... He now owns and wears an oragne sweater, a big deal for him... He switched to slim pants several years back when i made him try them on, now it's all he wears.. Trying to introduce pattern mixing wiith striped long slleeves tees I bought him this year for Christmas...My kids joke that he's my doll as they quite often find me styling him... He gets compliments from his best friend every time I get him to try something new, then he gives me credit and later tells me that he guesses I was right... He has come a long way!!!!!!

Elly

Veteran

Ah-- my SO has made strides. He had a bit of the "I give up" syndrome when I met him. Since then he has changed his hair and facial hair styles, bought new pants, a few new tees, and several new jackets. He also lost weight and is looking a lot sharper than he used to. He even promised to try on a proper pair of jeans for me.

In fact, he was recently concerned that I was looking shabby next to him (I had no clothing budget) -- since I bought a few pair of new shoes and some new tees, he is less concerned and back to talking about how nice I look while he happily wears his cargo pants.

We will see if the sharper side of him holds this summer-- his grungiest casual season.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Fun thread, April. Go Team Flat Front Dress Pants.

Greg, who has always been a stylish bloke, has grown out his buzz cut and is sporting stunning long curly locks. The boy has so much hair at age 45, and not a hint of a receding hair line. It's a style statement all on its own. He also wears white and light grey jeans. I love it. xo

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