When I met my husband I could see he was a fixer upper. That doesn’t bother him when I say that. He was like that adorable 1930′s Spanish home with great bones, but someone did a bad stucco job, and the garden was overgrown. But you can see that with a little TLC it could be great. No foundation work needed.
After I ordered him to get a gay man to cut his hair, made him shave, and had him buy a pair of cute glasses, the James Whitmore look lifted, and there was handsome guy. That took a few days. I work fast when I want something. He was mid-divorce, so I think he liked having someone take an interest. He even let me purge his closet.
Not just once… where I found many relics from the ’80′s. No Thriller Jackets, but yes, Hammer pants.
I went into the closet again with two of the most studly gay men handy. They picked away another layer. Then with a visit to Target and J Crew, my gay stylist friend outfitted him with some new duds.
Now, it’s years later and I am wondering, why, oh why are these still in his drawer?
We were on our way to Yosemite, and he realized he forgot his swim trunks. So we popped into a grocery store in Oakhurst and bought these. The long board shorts dangling from his very white legs.
He thinks they are funny.
I’m not laughing. Quick, distract him… I have to get them out of the house before they can embarrass further!
What item are you overdue in purging?
my husband also has clothing that is older than most 20 year olds…fortunately, he does not insist on wearing these in public, but rather saves them for handyman work around the house! he comes by this habit of ‘saving’ things honestly (inherited mostly from his mother and g’mothers).
while i envy wives who have husbands who cook (and am insanely jealous of those that cooks *well* – ahem, daphne), many of the wives i know personally are jealous that i have a husband who can -and will- do ‘fix-it’ stuff around the house – start to finish!
so all that said, i can forgive a few clothing relics in the closet. though if i had a few ‘studly gay’ men at my disposal (another point of jealousy), i’d be happy to put them to work on a ‘closet renovation’!
UGH. A Senor Frogs T-Shirt that has the sleeve cut off and USED TO BE white – and is now yellowish from so many layers of sweat stains. My husband got it on a high school trip and HE IS NOW 30. It’s time to let go.
When we were at a shoe store to buy good tennis shoes for my husband, I made the store clerk throw away his old shoes because they were so sad. I knew if I threw them away at home he would just dig them out of the garbage. He yelled, What?! My shoes! and people stared at us, but the things were so sad, they had to go
He still brings up how I made them throw away his shoes in every argument.
I would love to use this forum to bitch about my dear BF’s beloved pleat-front cargo pants (yes! they DO exist! a clothing urban legend!) that he refuses to get rid of, but I’ll be honest. I’ve got some doozies in my closet as well – most notably, a sundress made entirely out of primary colored bandannas, my Doc Marten boots circa 1992-1995 grunge, and a cobalt blue, crepe/polyester/shoulderpadded disaster of a dress from Talbots.
(urp) I just threw up a little, thinking of that dress. Ick.
Yes, Jamie, I hear you. I made the same gay guys go through my closet just to be fair. I do still like my college sweatshirt though.. yes, QUITE old.
Sarah, sounds like how you have to throw things away so your kids don’t see.
Fix it guys are good!
Sigh, my husband ‘s a dork and I know it. But he is mentally stable, a non drinker, non partyer, into hygiene, so I keep him.
It is a fine line to not cross when you try to change how they look: how do you keep them from looking like they’re wife/significant other dressed them? I’d like it to look like he dressed himself, not like I did it for him.
If the sight of what he wears isn’t too painful, I let him keep it. But some things have been “misplaced” while setting up for yard sales. He gripes once or twice, then accepts the fact that his highschool basketball jersey is just gone, can’t be found.
well you are so honest. I think it is better to marry the dorks, but it can also take some eye rolling