This is actually a real sore spot between us lately. When I met my husband, he had a very unique sense of style. He certainly cared about how he looked- he used very expensive shampoo, had a collection of hats that he wore and actually accesorized his outfits. We used to go vintage/thrift shopping together and he had some really cool handmade shirts from South America that he would wear open over a white T with along strand of natural stone beads. He had his ears pierces and wore earrings and rings on his fingers as well. Those days are long over, and it's really sad. Now, he's a geologist at a limestone mine. Practicality and durability is more important than style to him these days. He wears really awful baggy jeans to work- sometimes with holes, and always way too long. Work boots and a long sleeve shirt- either polo or plaid button down complete the look, and he carries a huge day pack crammed with stuff. I had a little fit last winter and made him get a decent pair of darker wash jeans that actually fit him and a couple of graphic tees. If he is going to be seen in public with me, then he has got to step it up form his work wardrobe. Now it's time to work on his summer wardrobe, and he is fighting me tooth and nail again.

My husband's wardrobe and shoe collection kicked me out of our (small) walk-in closet. He LOVES nice clothes and is more likely the one telling me how my own outfit might be improved.

He is an unusual case, because although he is younger, he has always liked very grown-up clothing, such as Brooks Brothers and Ralph Lauren (classic polos especially). He wears dress slacks and dress shirt to work every day, so those items take up most of his wardrobe.

He also loves suits though, and is always waiting for an excuse to wear his tux. About half of his dress shirts are French cuff so we had to find a special cuff box to house his collection. Another toy is his rotating electronic tie rack that holds 72 ties (it's almost full). His other favorite accessory is his Tag watch. If I ever let him he would love an Omega too.

Even on the most casual occasions it is hard to get him into a shirt without a collar. He has nice casual khakis and loves his Doc Martens for going out and about.

He was only 19 when we met (which I didn't know!!) but his style made him seem much older. We got married when he was 21 (he's 25 now) and he is still the best-dressed man I know. Just an over-achiever, I guess.

This is a fun question. I am really amazed at how many of you pick out clothes for your SO or try to overhaul their wardrobe. I do sometimes point out to my husband that he might need to replace an item because it's worn, but otherwise I don't influence his style at all. I have never bought any clothes for him yet though he takes me with him to go shopping and asks me about fit.

Before meeting my husband I have had some boyfriends whose style I tried to improve. Looking back at it I think that it was not only about style, but I tried to improve their personality/character as well. Ahem. You know those little things you wish you could change in your SO. It always started small and in the end I felt and behaved like their mother, telling them how to behave and to dress. (Perhaps MY character needed a bit of improvement instead of theirs. LOL) So I am very happy that I don't feel this urge to change my husband at all. Phew!

I have to say that my husband is a VERY conservative dresser so he knows exactly what he would like to wear. He's a gentleman at heart. For work he wears black or dark grey custom made suits, white french cuffed shirts, silk ties with matching cuff links and welted shoes. It's actually what everyone else in his department is wearing, too (he's a banker).

For "casual" wear it's flat fronted trousers with button-down shirts and v-neck sweaters in winter or the same kind of bottoms with polo shirts in summer. I have never seen him in jeans or a t-shirt and very seldom see him wear shorts (only when it is really, really hot, and never in "public"). He usually buys rather expensive clothes and then wears them until they almost fall apart.

Oh, if you are wondering whether I married an old sugar daddy: Nope, my hubby just turned 35. In my opinion he could dress a bit younger and replace his clothes before they have holes in the elbows but that's up to him.

I cannot tell you how much I've been enjoying this thread for all the fantastic stories and memories it brought back! MNSara, I'm at the office and actually laughed out loud when I read about your husband experimenting with the novel concept of trying jeans on!!

Corey has definitely undergone a style transformation over the past few years, and I take a great deal of credit for it. He was always a clean and appropriate dresser, abhoring anything sloppy, but he lacked flare. He stuck to khakki pants almost exclusively, liked solid henley-knit tops and tees, and usually preferred things to be black, beige or dark blue. Red was ok in small doses. None of his shirts had collars when we first got together, and somehow this bothered me a little. He started letting me buy things for him, and even basic shirts from the Gap were considered a branch out (graduating to better colours and patterns was a bold step).

The tipping point came when we discovered an amazing second-hand menswear store a block from our apartment. The proprietor carries high-end pieces only, and once Corey started trying things on, he was hooked. At six feet and relatively slim, he fits easily into most clothes and had a wide selection to choose from. He fell in love with Hugo Boss, which is now his brand of choice. The owner of the menswear store is a master at picking patterns and colours that Corey wouldn't have thought of on his own but that work brilliantly, to his very great surprise. After our first visit there, he found that he was really psyched about his higher-quality, more interesting clothes and was hooked.

Since that first visit, he's gone back several times and in fact does most of his professional-wardrobe-related shopping there. He owns five suits (Pal Zileri and Boss being his favourites), an unbelievable assortment of dress shirts (one of which is pink) and an expanding collection of ties. This was done in reaction to promotions at work as well as a desire to distance himself from his dad's fashion sense (dude thinks it's appropriate to wear ball caps to professional appointments, AAAACK)! Of all the SO's described here, Corey now most closely resembles Julieanne's. In fact, when I red her post, I called Corey to share it with him and he's coveting the collection of french-cuff shirts and the electronic rotating tie rack!

The style evolution continues, however. He resisted jeans all his life and only capitulated recently when I bought him a pair for Christmas. Higher-quality denim made all the difference, of course, and now the jeans come out almost every weekend. I hope to expand his collection! He still likes his cotton twill pants too, but they're all flat front thank goodness. The one thing left to work on is shoes; he has a pair of rockports that he wears with just about everything. He needs some real dress shoes to go with his work clothes and maybe something a little more hip for his weekend looks.

OK, you all have convinced me. I have GOT to get rid of my husband's pleated pants. We just started sending our laundry out (I know, how lazy am I, but it makes life SO much easier considering the laundry the girls generate) so maybe the cleaners can conveniently "lose" them...

Great thread. Love all the stories. One thing that seems to pop up as a pattern is that many of your menfolk seem to allow their occupation to heavily influence their dress. Like ChewySpaghetti's husband, whose work as a geologist makes him dress with practicality in mind. A lot of the ladies here have engineer/computer hubbies/boyfriends, and I know from my college days (I went to an engineering heavy university) that those fields do not care much for style. My partner, who was very fashionable when we met, and remains so, teaches English literature at the college level, and there's more freedom for creativity. In NYC, there's a lot of ways to be stylish in youthful ways. At 5'10" and not much more pounds then me, he's very slender, and he exclusively shops the European stores (H&M, Zara, etc.) He does have a good collection of vintage (via his also slender Grandfather) and thrifted 1970s clothing items. He's picky about what he wears, favors earth tones over black/brights, and has style icons, like Alex Chilton (or any of those dudes from Big Star): http://www.austinchronicle.com.....66/blogID/

I did a blog post about his style:
http://cohabitatingcloset.blog.....style.html

Steven and I at our wedding:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/4.....442720269/
(the tailor did a number to that 1970s suit).

I am reviving this topic to tell you guys about a bloke I saw on the street today who stole my heart!

He was wearing sunnies, black and white scarf tied muffler style, fitted black buttondown with the sleeves scrunched to the elbows, slim cut dark wash jeans, and croco dress shoes. Dark hair was styled to perfection. I was in love!

Kim, you're much more generous than I am. I don't buy that most guys are just clueless. I think most guys really do not care. If they cared, they wouldn't be clueless. I mean, all of us clearly try to figure things out when we're clueless about something...so why don't they extend the same effort? I realize we are *especially* into style and fashion, even compared to most women, but there are some basic things that are worth figuring out regarding fit and appropriateness. It's actually not "weird" but just shows that women are held to a MUCH stricter standard.

My supervisor had a freelancer come in today and he was wearing a gross tshirt, Nike knit shorts, and sneakers (gear sneakers). It was awful but I'm sure he had absolutely no problem with it. Neither did my supervisor, who dresses pretty decently himself, but was all impressed because the guy "looked like he was going to the beach"...which is really not appropriate for a meeting...

Anyway, I don't think men are "wired" this way. This is a VERY recent thing. In times past, men cared deeply about their appearance and took measures that most men find incomprehensible today. I had to do research into mens' fashions in the 40's, and part of my research involved browsing an issue of GQ, and you should see the kinds of ads and articles that were written! There was a time when men knew how a suit should fit. Now I board the train and see more ill-fitting baggy suits than I can stand to think about.

Ele, you and I can sit in the mean girls corner together! Glad you found someone who lives up to your standards. Now find someone for me

Had to laugh at some of the stories here - I know we love our guys but damn they can be clueless sometimes

There's not much payoff for them either, if they do make an effort. They'll get compliments from us, but sometimes other guys will try to take them down a peg if they look like they care too much about their appearance.

My guy is a better dresser than I am. He's always been in the visual arts and when I met him was the king of op-shop (thrift store for Americans, I think?) styles. Mostly because he was dead broke at the time.

Now he swings between sloppy old shirts on weekends and looking really sharp for work with graphic tees and blazers with really nice shoes. Previously I'd end up feeling like I was under-dressed compared to him, but now that I'm improving my style (with YLF help!) he's making more of an effort on weekends too.