The husband and I spar over many issues but luckily, clothes isn’t one of them. The days leading up to the marriage were littered with love messages and gifts. He had a unique way of sending pictures (hard copies) with personal notes written behind them. I treasured them and have saved those pictures. The gifts of the chocolate and flowers kind were most welcome but those of the apparel kind were looked at with apprehension. Of course, I could not tell him that I did not really like the Mickey Mouse Tee that he had bought for me fondly at the Disney Theme Park in the US. Nothing against the Disney characters but I thought only kids wore them. Besides, I really wasn’t much into printed T-shirts. Solids were more my thing. But, it was the thought that counted. Hence, I wore that Tee with élan. Of course, later printed tops and tees grew on me especially the abstract patterns but cartoons, nah!
Some of the colors he bought initially stunned me. For me my favorite colors were blue and BLUE. Yes, pretty much that was about it. So much so that my mother was frightened that I would pick up a blue lehenga for my wedding. It is another story that I chose most of the other saris in my trousseau in blue, and the reception saree was blue. Welcome hubby and he bought me vibrant reds, oranges, yellows, purples and all the pretty colors you can think of. Initially, I resisted. I felt they were too bright, screaming for attention. But slowly, they started growing on me. In fact, yellow is a favorite color of mine now. I have many clothes in mustard, which is a favorite shade.
As much as the husband loved colors on me, he had the most boring wardrobe for himself. Shirts in different patterns of checks and stripes, and Tees that were mostly in black, white, gray and the shades in between. I have hated gray always. It took a lot of cajoling and threats of burnt food that made him venture into the reds, cyans, teals and lemons for his T-shirts. I shed happy tears when he actually bought a dark magenta shirt with beige trousers. He looked really handsome in them too. Today, he experiments (selectively). Oh, the checks and stripes are still there, but they are in pleasant colors. Colors look good on men; why don’t they wear them often enough?
Hence, we have managed to influence and modify each other’s wardrobes without actually buying clothes for each other. That is a cardinal rule in our marriage. We don’t buy clothes for each other, but we offer generous critique to completely steamroll our choices in. 🙂
Do you buy clothes for your partner/spouse/significant other? What is your experience?
Pic courtesy: FreedigitalPhotos.net
No I don’t buy anything in our household..either for myself or for missus…….
Smart boy. 🙂 *In Ajit’s tone*
My uncle always wears white shirts with black pants. No one my aunt. my cousins have ever been able to change that ! He does look dashing and debonair in them though !
My nana used to do that. Always black and white. He was a criminal lawyer and looked so good in his work attire. Come to think of it, why didn’t he wear colors, I wonder? 🙂
Lovely post, actually sums up how two people grow in a marriage. Blue wedding lehenga and mickey mouse Tee – hilarious 😀
Thanks, Anita. Yes, from being hesitant to assertive, we all come a long way. It is fun to approve/disapprove each other’s choices. Glad you liked the post. 🙂
Lol!! My favorite colour was and is black so my mom had more to be worried about!
I used to buy clothes for The Husband but now both of us have very strong opinions. He still wants me to accompany him for his shopping as long as I just give moral support! 😛
hehehe Black wedding saree would be something else. Yeah, us too. Very strong opinions. Oh, I go with him and he comes along sometimes when I buy stuff. Of course, we tell each other, but we always know who will have the final say. 🙂
Your blog post made me open my wardrobe. Red, Orange, Yellow, very light blue, these are the colours I have. I think I need some blues and purples, maybe a bit of brown too.
Yes, blues, purples, wines, plums — they are beautiful. You must get them, Ritu. 🙂
My husband can’t tell between pink and purple so I buy my own clothes. Plus he has no idea about cuts or trends so naturally his wardrobe has whites and blues. Except for the red tees my son keeps gifting him. And he has no choice but to wear them. The way we obey our son when it comes to clothes is unbelievable. Shocking even. 🙂
hahaha Don’t get me started on colors. G has given up trying to figure out shades too. But he does know basic colors and is very sharp about what suits me. He has bought me many saris that really suited me. Actually, he is the one who goaded me to love saris as he loved me in them. 🙂 His taste is pretty good but in Western wear I prefer to shop myself. 🙂 Oh yes, I can quite imagine! Currently, I shop for the sons. But, I can see myself wearing anything they buy me. But, seriously, why don’t men try colors in general? My dad, he loves colors.
I used to buy clothes for V in the early days, but he would never really be happy with my choice. Now I just take him shopping, he buys what he wants and we are both happy. I , on the other hand, LOVE it when he surpises me. Maybe he has really good taste or maybe I am easily please. Who knows ? 😉
Yes, we do the same. We take the other shopping. I like to buy my own clothes, mostly. G has great taste in saris. But he buys them less because I don’t even wear the ones I own. I love surprises too just not of the clothes kind. 😛
I used to buy shirts for him for the past many years now…He used to buy for me, sarees. He never liked whatever I buy for me! But he chose pleasant colours. Sometimes he used to buy two sarees in different colours but with same prints/designs. He used to go to the shop straight from his office to buy sarees for our wedding day or my birthday and bring 2-3 sarees at the same time and look at my face for my reaction with so much hope in his eyes, saying, ‘we can always change’! I felt bad to give negative comments and so even now I have got same printed sarees in different colours. Nowadays, both of us go shopping and ask each other’s options!
Exactly, Sandhya. That is the beauty and joy of this relationship. That is the reason why we wear even if we may not like something. With time, we become more open and let each other buy as per our choice.
I used to buy clothes for my husband in our younger days. Now both of us depend on our children to buy all our requirements for both of us. This has a charm for us.
That sounds lovely, Ushaji.
Heheheh…such a sweet post…I could end up writing a post instead of a comment 😛 In short, we don’t buy any clothes for each other..I don’t mind if S buys for me, but he doesn’t 🙁 I am like Gurudev. All bright colors person where as the hubby as usual has stripes and checks and a thousand hues of blues.. 😀 Though he didn’t change much, now I know what he likes and what to buy if at all I have to 😛 I second to Roshni’s comment. I have to be there for moral support…lol
For kids, I only do most of the shopping but he has to approve…
Gurdev had stripes, checks and hardly any colours in his wardrobe. I got him to try colors. He did the same for me. 🙂 Of course, I shop for the kids but would be happy if they wanted to buy their own. 🙁
Well Rachna .. colors certainly look good on men and I am glad that me and hubby both love colors 🙂
We are generally a color coordinated family though not as in his Tee and my sari in exact same shade 🙂 .
Nice article …
We also end up being colour coordinated often without planning. 🙂 Thanks for reading. Good to hear from you after a while.
I can;t take that risk Rachna. Nor can my hubby. Yet we go shopping together and make our respective choices and offer critical views to the other’s choice. 🙂 Btw I liked the idea of a Tee with a Mickey Mouse.
Haha I am sure many like cartoons on tees. We also shop together at times and apart too. But hardly ever for each other.
I let my wife buy my clothes and let her buy her clothes.But I always accompanied her when she bought her saris and nod my head to whatever she chose.
That sounds perfect, KP Sir.
Colours are a strange thing. For ever, when anyone has asked me about my favourite colour, I have always said ‘blue’. Until the day when a friend of mine, a qualitative researcher who knows a thing or two about psychology, debated with me that my favourite colour was actually green. Because my shoes had some green, my phone wallpaper was usually green, I used to drink a lot of Sprite those days, and my tee-shirts were usually greener than they were blue.
But ask me today what my favourite colour is, and I will still say blue. I think men are conditioned to stick to greys and blues and the shades around them!
Yes, conditioning it must be for men that they don’t experiment with colors. About blue, that was an interesting anecdote that you shared. Blue and green do overlap a lot. Though, I have a clear preference for blue and its shades, at least I think I do. I’ve never understood the pink is for girls and blue is for boys bit. I never did like that color much.
For formal wear, I guess, it makes sense to stick to whites, blues, grays but for casuals some color provides a nice change. By the way, I never would have thought that blue was your favorite color. I thought white was more your preference.
I had a lovely time reading this piece about colors in your wardrobe. So you had a blue wedding:) hehe
Thanks, Vishal. No, I didn’t. But I really wanted to. 🙂
awww it’s so wonderful to read how you two have blended each other’s choices. In my case, we still have wars. Like serious wars in shopping mall 😛 But, though I hate to admit, my style choices are way better now than it was before him. 🙂
I would hate to admit that too but it is true. 😉
I like pretty much all colours and my wardrobe reflects that. But I am a bit more biased toward darker tones, and in the hot climate that I live in I mix them up with white so it works! Over the years (25+) my husband’s choice of colours has also remarkably changed. He used to be the light blue kind of guy when I first met him, but now his wardrobe reflects many different colours and also the Indian prints/handloom etc which make me very happy (those are my favourite kind of fabrics). But yes, I still don’t allow him to buy clothes for me, though I do surprise him from time to time – though rarely – with a T-shirt or something in colours of my choice. Generally, it is approved 🙂
That sounds like a very sound approach to me, Beloo. I think we all have our distict style of dressing and it is best to give each other space. 🙂
I am the big shopper at home, as well as for my friends. 🙂 Sury admires everything green and brown and me being color-blind, can never differentiate between the two. I’ve quietly managed to do my own shopping – being rather fond of reds, oranges, yellows and blues…and blacks (did I leave something out? :D)
Would love to see your blue reception outfit!
Sounds good to me, Vidya. 🙂 I shall take the picture of that sequined sari and share with you some day soon.
I love all colours – my wardrobe has many colours. But I love blue and there was a time I loved wearing Disney Tees as well 🙂 I still have a Disney jacket that I love wearing.
That sounds nice, Suzy. I guess there is nothing wrong with a Disney print. It’s just that it didn’t work for me.
Interesting post! I have been married for 7 years and we don’t shop for each other. Period. I am a vibrant colours person and he is black and blue and grey person. And we have left it to each others’ choice of dressing. He is a South Indian and his excuse for not trying colours is his complexion is on the darker side. And I don’t argue either. I think clothes are a personal choice and it’s ok to not interfere with what one has been used to for a couple of decades and a half of their lives.
Absolutely, everyone has their style and comfort of dressing. Initially, we all try to make inroads but with time we give more space. I am glad you guys have it figured it.
Yeah, we still dont buy clothes for each other because our choices are so different ! We now know that if one of us has liked it, the other probably wont 🙂 But yes, we have rubbed off on each other and we do experiment with stuff that either of us would not have been considered earlier.
You perfectly summed it, Asha.
Nice read! I was searching something about my flat’s khata transfer and bumped into this post as well. and found your post regarding the same really good, as I’m in the process of khata conversion without bribe as well, requires lot of patience given high level of corruption at these offices. Thanks for sharing your experiences, inspiring!:)
By the way with respect to clothing, I used to experiment with different shades in my college days, I even had yellow sweatshirts back then, however over time I have figured out grey, black, blue and all shades in between suits me, also I am still single, so can’t comment on buying clothing for the spouse.
And I’m sure blue lehenga for your reception would have been awesome 🙂