How do you get your hubby to....

[barbaraanne]

....get his clothes together for a cruise!?  Mine waited until three days before and then found out that half of the clothes in his closet didn’t fit anymore.  When you’re both retired and  you don’t need to dress up any more, it’s easy to not know if your dress clothes fit right after a year or two.  I had been buying clothes and getting ready for weeks, meanwhile.  Here we are, three days before and the few clothes I had ordered for him don’t fit either.  I give up.  Some men just hate to try on clothes and think about fashion and my hubby is one of them.....what do you do when this happens?  Eat in the buffet?  

[clo]

Dine without him.  

[barbaraanne]

43 minutes ago, clo said:

Dine without him.  

Haha haha!  I like that answer!  But really, I can’t do that!  Right now I have him trying on all his clothes and trying to come up with seven outfits.  He has a newer suit that still fits and two of the pants I ordered him fit, so we are slowly piecing together what will work!  I think we will be able to do it.  My hubby is one of those old fashioned traditional men and shopping for clothes is something I did for him...don’t ask.  I’m glad my son is a modern man and doesn’t expect his girlfriend to do anything for him.  Oh well, we seem to be from the dinosaur era even though we retired young!   

[ams1130]

I'm sure my answer isn't politically correct, but if I didn't look after my husband's wardrobe (day to day, not just for vacations) I'm pretty sure he'd be wearing the same pair of sweatpants and tshirt he had when I met him in 1980. And as far as underwear; let's not go there 😳 For reference, he's still working and I retired last month. He's a fantastic man who does a lot for me, so this is something I do for him. I've been shopping for him for our upcoming cruise for months.  My son, fortunately, doesn't expect his wife to do this stuff, either.

[clo]

42 minutes ago, barbaraanne said:

Haha haha!  I like that answer!  But really, I can’t do that!  Right now I have him trying on all his clothes and trying to come up with seven outfits.  He has a newer suit that still fits and two of the pants I ordered him fit, so we are slowly piecing together what will work!  I think we will be able to do it.  My hubby is one of those old fashioned traditional men and shopping for clothes is something I did for him...don’t ask.  I’m glad my son is a modern man and doesn’t expect his girlfriend to do anything for him.  Oh well, we seem to be from the dinosaur era even though we retired young!   

SEVEN OUTFITS?????  How long a cruise? We were out for 12 and IIRC Bob took two, maybe three, Docker-style pants, perhaps three dress shirts and some nice, collared golf shirts. For dinners on Oceania.

 

[clo]

1 minute ago, ams1130 said:

I'm sure my answer isn't politically correct, but if I didn't look after my husband's wardrobe (day to day, not just for vacations) I'm pretty sure he'd be wearing the same pair of sweatpants and tshirt he had when I met him in 1980. And as far as underwear; let's not go there 😳 For reference, he's still working and I retired last month. He's a fantastic man who does a lot for me, so this is something I do for him. I've been shopping for him for our upcoming cruise for months.  My son, fortunately, doesn't expect his wife to do this stuff, either.

Ah, rewarding bad behavior. Gotcha.

[ams1130]

7 minutes ago, clo said:

Ah, rewarding bad behavior. Gotcha.

😂😂😂Lol I guess he rewards my bad behaviour by shoveling the snow I don't want to.  We're all good. Thanks for your concern.

[clo]

11 minutes ago, ams1130 said:

😂😂😂Lol I guess he rewards my bad behaviour by shoveling the snow I don't want to.  We're all good. Thanks for your concern.

I think I like that Bob picks out his own clothes and that we share the snow shoveling. And he's a much better sweeper and vacuumer than I. You're welcome.

[barbaraanne]

4 hours ago, ams1130 said:

I'm sure my answer isn't politically correct, but if I didn't look after my husband's wardrobe (day to day, not just for vacations) I'm pretty sure he'd be wearing the same pair of sweatpants and tshirt he had when I met him in 1980. And as far as underwear; let's not go there 😳 For reference, he's still working and I retired last month. He's a fantastic man who does a lot for me, so this is something I do for him. I've been shopping for him for our upcoming cruise for months.  My son, fortunately, doesn't expect his wife to do this stuff, either.

I’m glad I’m not the only one.  I take care of him and he takes care of me.  We’ve been together since 1977, so something keeps us that way.

[frantic36]

6 hours ago, barbaraanne said:

I’m glad I’m not the only one.  I take care of him and he takes care of me.  We’ve been together since 1977, so something keeps us that way.

 

Same for my husband and myself. We take care of each other and respect each and are celebrating 29 years of a happy marriage today. 

 

Barbaranne I wouldn't worry about him waiting till the last moment, though I understand your frustration 😁. Maybe when you come back from the cruise tell him you are doing a spring clean of the wardrobe and get him to try things on that if they don't fit go to Salvation Army. It might take a few times but that way you will know the size better when you order him new clothes.

 

My husband, washes, irons and buys his own clothes but he has other little frustrating quirks...mind you so do I 😂. 

 

Julie

 

Edited February 16, 2020 by frantic36

[Thecat123]

3 minutes ago, frantic36 said:

 

Same for my husband and myself. We take care of each other and respect each and are celebrating 29 years of a happy marriage today. 

 

 

 

Julie

 

 

Congratulations on your 29 years of marriage Julie and Keith

[frantic36]

1 hour ago, Thecat123 said:

 

Congratulations on your 29 years of marriage Julie and Keith

 

Thanks cat. 🙂

 

Julie

[shipgeeks]

This reminds me, once again, that I am "the most fortunate of women"*

DH will not go on a cruise without his tuxedo, one or two sportscoats, and nice shirts and slacks.

The downside is that he doesn't see that men's pants have become slimmer in recent years.  He considers himself "portly"; I say "husky".  I think he would look a lot better in narrower slacks and shorts, but it's hard to buy the right thing without trying on.

Fortunately, a classic tuxedo and classic navy blazer always look good (as does he).

 

(*What book/author is this from???)

 

 

[Hoyaheel]

20 yrs married this year. We live in the boonies so I order stuff sent home to try on. When we travel, we might go shopping (lunch with good craft beer first helps 🙂 He loved the sock selection at Century 21 in Manhattan. Who knew? 😉 We had very different approaches to clothing when we first started dating. These days we're much better at the compromise - I can usually get him to wear clothing I like because I take his preferences into account when I shop (or when I give him recommendations if he's shopping for himself). 

 

[sydbarrett]

I would take him for a quick jaunt to a banana republic outlet and get a couple pairs of chinos and shirts! Just got a cotton cardigan for my son for $3!!!!! We do a lot of old navy as well.

[sydbarrett]

18 hours ago, ams1130 said:

😂😂😂Lol I guess he rewards my bad behaviour by shoveling the snow I don't want to.  We're all good. Thanks for your concern.

I hand over the following tasks to hubby: change a lightbulb (there's always dead flies in the shade!), handle pests of any kind, tipping other than at a restaurant, car or home maintenance, or any other uncomfortable situation. He handles all of that for me and I gladly do the cooking/sewing/whatever! lol

[2BACRUISER]

We celebrate our 35th Anniversary this coming weekend and DH still let's his mom buy most of his clothes, if I'm lucky I might get him to a store once a year pre vacation. I have a photo taken on holiday in 1993 and yup same shirt out last year on holiday. Must be my excellent laundry techniques lol 😜🤣 packing wise he leaves everything until about 2 days b4 the trip and then guess what the washing machine and dryer are flat out becoz things he wants to take are things hes worn and unseen by me hes put back in the wardrobe dirty 🙄😤drives me mad and if I try to pack for him.....dont dressme I can dress myself...oh yeah go figure...large glass of wine perlease 🍾🙄

[VennDiagram]

My husband hasn't gained weight since I met him.  So that means all his clothes from before the turn of the century still fit.

 

Not the SAME problem as the OP,  but still ... a problem 😉

[Hoyaheel]

7 minutes ago, VennDiagram said:

 So that means all his clothes from before the turn of the century still fit.

Yeah, we had some Miami Vice issues to deal with when I started dating husband. Sadly, we started dating in 1998 🤣 He still wants those white jeans back....

[frantic36]

Thanks for my morning giggle everyone...a good way to start the day.

 

Julie

[MJC]

My DH is a last minute packer too and it drives me nuts. I am one of those spreadsheet-for-my-outfit-needs kind of packers. He always thinks it's going to be easy -- shorts and tees -- because he hasn't studied the itinerary or paid attention to temperatures or excursion needs (we do lots of active ones). No idea what he's doing.

[clo]

3 hours ago, MJC said:

My DH is a last minute packer too and it drives me nuts. I am one of those spreadsheet-for-my-outfit-needs kind of packers. He always thinks it's going to be easy -- shorts and tees -- because he hasn't studied the itinerary or paid attention to temperatures or excursion needs (we do lots of active ones). No idea what he's doing.

Well, then let him go. Not your problem.

[awhfy]

A month out we go thru the closets & decide what to bring. We both try on everything at that time, then it’s dry cleaner, laundry, iron.  Hang clothes that made the packing cut up in drycleaning bags. We’ve been married 50 years last November. He still manages to sneak a disreputable pair of jean shorts in, everytime 😂😂.  Just love the guy!

[MJC]

clo, that's pretty much how I deal with it. I do pitch in if there are going to be formal pictures or I think he's making a mistake that might make him ill or extremely uncomfortable (as in thick cotton socks for the tropics, or forgetting his inhaler). I knew he wasn't a fashion plate when I married him. 🙂

 

It does sometimes become my problem, though, like on our last cruise when he caught a cold that made his asthma flare up, and his inhaler was empty, so he had to visit the ship's doctor, and missed an excursion we had paid for. Certainly not life and death, but it could have been prevented if he had packed more carefully. And I was worried when his breathing got so bad, which is more scary when you are away from the familiar surroundings of home.

 

I think the whole title of this thread is kind of funny, because he could easily finish "how can I get my wife to..." in so many ways as well!

 

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by MJC

[Hoyaheel]

Relationships are about compromise. If you don't want to help each other out (in whatever ways make sense in YOUR relationship) why bother? I'm better at planning - my husband is way better at actually packing. We typically work together (many years of travel together = we've arrived at a pretty good system 😉 to get the job done.