Menswear: where in the love of

[whatashower]

Gaah. Lovely DH is (horribly) low maintenance and really needs to buy some new togs esp “smart casual”. It’s been a while 😀. He is a youthful 54, stocky build but not overweight. M&S quality def poorer, so many yoof brands and stores about. Doesn’t like Boden. Has managed to find some stuff from Racing Green but where do you go/which brands for age appropriate stuff? He thinks all stuff should be £10 🤣 but I am willing to spend a reasonable amount for quality and durability (as this is a horrendously tortuous exercise and want to avoid repetition for as long as possible). TIA.......

Gant
TM Lewin
Thomas Pink
Paul Smith

Mine is similarly low maintenance. We end up at the local independent 'gents outfitters' (which is also the main supplier of school uniform so we sometimes kill many birds with one stone by kitting out the two teenagers at the same time). It sells a range of decent brands and means we don't need to go anywhere else. There is a besuited Mr Humphries type with a tape measure round his neck usually on patrol. The comedy value of seeing him perform offsets the ordeal somewhat .

Thanks thisway and blody
Agree shirts are easier and have shopped with Gant/TMLewin and Charles Tyrwhitt in past. Decent chinos and jackets have been harder to find - and suspect a decent gentlemen’s outfitters is indeed the thing to find. Hopefully someone will recommend brands I haven’t heard of which I can also find online. We are a bit remote so mail order ideal but he is not quite ready for country gent breeches and deerstalkers 🤣

*He thinks all stuff should be £10" - this is just like my dp! He'd be absolutely horrified at the idea of Paul Smith.

We've actually ended up getting him a couple of nice shirts with decent labels in charity shops recently. Also, John Lewis sales. John Lewis probably do chinos in their own brand to, although I haven't looked recently.

I tell my mum DH needs a shirt when she asks what he'd like for his birthday. All his favourite clothes were bought for him by my mum. Weirdly she's been choosing exactly what he likes for that last 30 years since before we were married but she's hopeless at buying clothes for me.

She usually gets things from "Designers at Debenhams" or House of Fraser

Dh likes next and sometimes fatface if in the sale
He also has a collection of debenhams shirts imo buys him for Christmas.

too not to - yikes.

Mil not 'imo' what does that even mean?

Gant is excellent for guys this age; you could also look at Timberland .. and COS can be good for shirts. Reiss also has a good shirt sale on at the moment.

MY DH loathes clothes shopping with a vengeance. I discovered a small local department store with a great men's department so he can get everything in the same place. Last time we managed to get four shirts, jeans, trousers and two jumpers, then he escaped for at least a year.

I can recommend a good place in SW Scotland if that's any good OP?

DH is completely disinterested in clothing, but demands it is comfortable to wear. As he is 6'5" and sturdy, with a long body and short legs, he is not easy to buy for. Mostly I have had his shirts copied abroad by leaving one as pattern and buying fabric lengths anywhere there was fast reasonable tailoring. Nothing in the UK high street is close to fitting him, but my sister used to buy him blue shirts in Germany for Christmas and birthdays which were usually good. I tend to buy them in the USA via Amazon to get the size right now those options have closed down.

Debenhams and Levis can produce something to cover his lower half, but one couldn't call him a tailor's mannequin. Decent is as good as it gets. (Albeit, not for want of splashing the cash; he has oodles of stuff hardly worn, which has been dismissed as too tight in the crotch, too short in the waist, too long in the leg. There's a point I think we're near it when just get it tailored for you is the last/only viable option.)

DH lives in mountain warehouse trousers and either beer or sports tops.

John Lewis own brand and TKMaxx is worth a rummage.

DH likes Debenhams ( always first port of call) and recently, White Stuff.
I sometimes find things for him in TKMaxx and supermarkets - can be quite good for plain T-shirts and some shirts.

Landsend

Thanks all, I realise now that Dh is not alone! Men being dressed by random presents, and their Mums 🙄

highlandcoo yes very interested ( and a little intrigued.) We are Southish and central 😀.....I could feasibly drug him, bundle him in the car and get him there if Ayrshire, Borders or D&G. (shire not fashion label🤣)

Will definitely check out Gant and Reiss, and I am heading straight over to White Stuff. I am embarrassed I didnt know they did menswear.
I should have said I worship at the altar of TK Maxx almost daily, but need to identify some reliable mens labels to spot like I do for me.

xingming feel your pain, at least you are both nearly reconciled that it is an impossible task. My DH's feet are almost square, i.e. almost as wide as long 🤣. Will he invest in a last and commission one decent pair a year? No. Would he rather buy ill fitting "£10" trainers and complain a lit ? Hell, yes. 🙄

Again thanks all.

Hi again OP. Brilliant! you're within striking distance of Barbours in Dumfries. Again, nothing to do with the fashion label of the same name .. it's the oldest independent department store in Scotland, now being run by the fifth generation of the Barbour family.

It's an excellent shop. I know some Dumfries people think it's expensive, but if you've shopped in JL or HoF it's no dearer than that, and sometimes there are real bargains. And their buyers, particularly in the menswear and home department, do a great job. You can find products that are good quality, pretty mainstream but a bit different from JL etc. And the staff are really friendly.

There's a nice tearoom upstairs for lunch or coffee too. Or if you want a posher lunch in the town, but still excellent value, try Casa Mia, a lovely restaurant along the river past Gracefield Arts Centre.

Good luck and let us know how you succeed with your mission

That’s brilliant highlandcoo - sounds great and a great excuse for a wee trip! Promise to give you an update!

I'm probably the only wife I know who doesn't 'dress' their DH. Mainly because mine is incredibly fussy! He gets a lot of t shirts from TK Maxx, tends to go to Next for jeans, also Debenhams and House of Fraser and some local menswear shops.
He has picked up some nice t shirts in Primark though before so your DH might like that idea for 'under a tenner'

Zara menswear is very dapper

With the exception of shoes and a decent coat, all my clothes are under a tenner, I suppose I stretch nearer to 20 for trousers.

Don't see the reason to spend more.

Primark or supermarkets generally.

Udner, Zara is indeed very dapper, but not if you are 6'5" tall and a 48 inch chest. Their sizing stops well short of that. Zara caters for small thin men mostly. I have never seen a garment in Zara that would fit my DH except socks!

DP and DS like a combination of jaeger, Ralph Lauren, moschino, and chain store eg Debenhams and M & S
I love TKmaxx and outlet shops and find them both loads of bargains