# Married folks: who buys the husband's clothes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631 "2011-08-05T20:09:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/41 "2011-08-06T10:49:13Z")
My wife knows better than to try to buy clothes for me. It’s not like my tastes are at all complicated, it’s just that I still need to be the one to pick things out. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/42 "2011-08-06T16:05:03Z")
We typically go shopping together, and I’ll suggest a particular color/style if I see something he might like. Usually he picks out his own stuff and asks my opinion on which one I like better or think fits better. If I know for sure that he needs socks or underwear I’ll just buy those. Sometimes I have to call and ask if he wants the 34/36 waistband or 36/38 waistband for his boxer-briefs, but there’s not that much difference otherwise. However, if I’m a thrift store and see something that really catches my eye, I’ll just go ahead and get it. If it doesn’t fit or he doesn’t like it, it goes back. I would never try to buy his shoes though. Even after almost 12 years together I can’t remember what size he wears. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/43 "2011-08-06T16:18:38Z")
I don’t like to shop. She _hates_ to shop. Every few months I have to coerce her to go on a big shopping trip (“you only have _one pair of pants without holes_”). Usually it’s the two of us, but sometimes she’ll go with friends. She’ll help me pick out stuff when we’re out together, but she’ll never buy me anything without me. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/44 "2011-08-06T17:47:42Z")
My husband buys almost all of his own clothes. We had a long chat about this issue before we got married. It is one area where he likes to retain his independence/express his individuality, so that’s why I don’t buy regular clothes for him. The only stuff I get him is the occasional “team shirt” for his favorite basketball team. Every now and then, we’ll hit up the thrift shop on dollar day. Then I’ll help him find stuff on the racks. He will often ask my opinion on whether a color suits him, or how a shirt fits across the shoulders, but it’s ultimately his decision what to buy. However, when we are dressing for an important occasion, he’ll ask me for, and usually accepts, my suggestions on suit/shirt/tie combinations. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/45 "2011-08-06T17:48:30Z")
My sweetie is hard to shop for AND hard to size, as am I. Well, I’m a lot easier to buy for and he frequently will buy me shirts he’ll know I’ll like \ but something for him is really difficult. He does, however, want me to shop WITH him for his clothes, and that is cool. ---
**Author:** ![cherry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/46 "2011-08-06T17:54:32Z")
My husband hates shopping for anything so I buy everything. He also has a very busy work schedule so any free time is for doing fun things. I can only think of a few times when he had to go to Nordstroms to buy suits. I also bought the furniture, found the house and put an offer on it before he had even seen it. But he did see it on the weekend when he was off though. It’s pretty easy to shop for him. I have good taste and he generally likes what I get. For shoes I will buy a couple of pairs and see what he likes. If he has a favorite shirt I go out and buy more of the same. We are both pretty easy going about what works and I love to shop. I also buy my kids clothes and she has no preference yet. On the other side my husband doesn’t buy clothes for me or our daughter unless it was Christmas pjs. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/47 "2011-08-06T18:33:14Z")
Carhartts and jeans don’t require a fashion maven. I can do that just fine by myself. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/48 "2011-08-06T21:42:07Z")
He’ll buy his own shoes and suits and that’s about it. I buy the rest. When he does shop, he overspends because he’s too lazy/eager to wait for a sale. He recently got two new suits and two dress shirts and spent over $1200. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/49 "2011-08-06T21:51:09Z")
My husband cares way more about clothes than I do, so he mostly gets his own stuff. I’ll occasionally get him work t-shirts or jeans, but he gets his own work clothes. I do try to encourage him to try colors other than black and gray, and it’s working - he bought some shirts in blues and greens and even reds, so yay for that! If he had his way, he’d buy all my clothes too. Like I said, I really don’t much care about clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/50 "2011-08-07T06:48:49Z")
My husband wears a uniform to work, so he doesn’t need much as far as new clothes. More often than not, it’s stuff like underwear and socks that he needs. And since I do most of the shopping, he’ll just say, “Hun, when you go to Wal-Mart next, pick up some socks for me.” So I do. As far as clothes like jeans and shirts and such, sometimes he’s with me, but usually it’s me thinking ahead. I’ll notice he needs a dress shirt for a wedding, I’ll look through the closet, see that he doesn’t have anything that fits, then I’ll buy him a shirt to go with my dress. (We’ll at least doesn’t clash. I don’t want to be too matchy-matchy.) In general, he doesn’t wear through clothes that often that we need to buy much for clothing. Just chef coats, chef pants, socks and undies. All of those I am totally capable of buying for him. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/51 "2011-08-07T14:06:24Z")
My husband wears the adult version of Garanamals. Polos and Dockers, every day. In the winter, long-sleeved twill shirts and Dockers, every day. And he regularly ruins them at work, and then we go get more. He probably has two dozen solid-colored polos in his closet right now, and he will get a half a dozen covered with grease that won’t come off, and rip a couple of his Dockers, and I’ll keep an eye out for when they’re on sale, and the cycle will continue. It may as well be a uniform. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/52 "2011-08-09T01:21:32Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > I completely floored my male friends lately when I told them I buy all of my husbands clothes without him there (with the exception of shoes when I take him out to buy them). > > Frankly, he doesn’t care what he wears and I do. I am also the one who does the clothes shopping for the kids and myself so I just pick up some stuff for him in the process. (He’s pretty easy to please.) > > So, am I alone in this? As far as shopping for clothes is concerned, I could be your husband. My wife says that when we walk into a store, especially a clothing store, I just go somnolent. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/53 "2011-08-09T10:15:40Z")
My husband would not buy clothes if I didn’t tell him we were going shopping for them. I have proof of this - when I met him he had tshirts, shorts, and boots. Except for the boots, his clothes were all grey. Not originally, they were just so old and faded that’s the colour they became. Ugh. Plus, now he has to wear suits to work. Typically, we take a day, I go with him. He picks out his own stuff, though I will give my input. This is everything. I might pick up up a pack of socks or undershirts or underpants without him there, but not anything else, because he won’t wear it. He’s incredibly picky, he just can’t be bothered to shop for clothes because he’s not interested. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/54 "2011-08-09T10:52:24Z")
My husband doesn’t want to spend money on his clothes, and his main objective is comfort. I make sure his shoes, leather jackets etc are shined and go in for repairs. I buy him new clothes occasionally and he gets to say which clothes he wants to keep and which ones I return to the shop. It is a thankless job and I do less and less of it. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/55 "2011-08-09T11:04:38Z")
I _ **WON’T** _ let her buy my clothes, because she has neither my taste nor does she ever get the sizes right. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/56 "2011-08-09T13:44:09Z")
While I do buy his clothes I sure as hell don’t dress him or decide what he will wear on any give day or occassion. CLothing for for work is practically uniform, chinos and an oxford shirt. Colors are in blue, black, grey or beige. Shirts are solid or striped. SHopping for him is sort of like stopping at the grocery store to stock up on basics, wait for a sale and no list required. He would shop for himself but he would be putty in sales person hands, probably leave there all dandied up and $500 poorer. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/57 "2011-08-09T14:59:18Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Well, I help my husband pick his clothes, as in we’ll go shopping together and he’ll try stuff on and I’ll tell him what I like and what I don’t, but he does the same thing for me. > > I have picked him up work pants before so that’s sort of like your OP. Anything that it actually matters what it looks like he picks himself though. This - only from the other side. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/58 "2011-08-09T15:17:02Z")
_Wife: my husband and I share the shopping for him._ We generally go together. He has gone/is capable of shopping for himself. Sometimes if I’m out and I see a shirt or something I think he’ll love, I’ll get it, but that’s rare. It’s the same for me. If I need to go shopping for clothes for myself, he usually goes with me. We both hate shopping, so we figure if we have to do it we might as well spend the time together. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/59 "2011-08-09T15:33:54Z")
The only articles of clothing I have purchased in the eleven years I’ve been married have been a few pairs of shoes. My wife really cares about clothes and other aspects of personal appearance, while I am somewhat oblivious (she would remove the somewhat). She knows that if I were left unattended, I would probably dress myself in a way that would not make her happy. She seems to enjoy buying clothes for me, and my only occasional objection is that I have too many things to choose from. Her response to that complaint is to help me choose. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631/60 "2011-08-09T15:58:57Z")
I’ve got a question to y’all who let your SO do your shopping for clothes: How on earth did you manage to look half way decent when you were single? Or did you go directly from “Mom buys all my clothes” to “wifey buys all my clothes”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/married-folks-who-buys-the-husbands-clothes/591631.md?page=4)