DH has "wardrobe angst"

[grannyslippers]

Wonder should i post this in the men's room or whatever it's called.

DH owns his own small company and most of the time wears jeans/fleece jacket/company polo shirt. But then he looks like the van driver not the boss.

We had big stress out the other day because he was going to meet clients and had nothing that looked like he was the one in charge of the operation. He is clothes phobic hates shopping hates anything modern looking. where on earth do I take him shopping for decent smart casual type clothes. he does not do suits/jackets/ties/formal shirts. Not sure if Boden is quite the look, not to mention slightly too expensive.

I despair.does anyone else have this problem?

same problem here. dh gives casual a bad name. hes away a lot and never has enough clothes to bring with him. normally accuses me of hiding his clothes or not washing them and then i will point out to him he only has two pairs of half decent trousers , both worn to within an inch of their existence. last time he went on a very important trip he went to nearest debhemans (spelling???) with his empty suitcase and about ten mins to spare and got a very startled sales assistant to pick out stuff for him.

Would he do nice jumpers with a shirt underneath?

What kind of business?

(Oh and don't take him shopping get loads take it home make him try it all on and take back the rest )

It's sound engineering/event management. So half the time crawling around under dusty stage sound checking a rock band, other half trying to impress Mr Loaded who is putting on a big event or having a sound system installed. Essentially an informal/creative sort of industry he does not need to look like sales rep.

Bought him a black shirt and grey jumper from Next but he won't touch them. Taking home is a good idea but he's well over 6 foot and hard to fit.

hmmmm.

You really need MrsB for this.

I will have a think and come back to you.

and as if by magic...

DH does similar in his job (security-type stuff) and does the grubby stuff with drills in fleece, polo shirt and combats, but meets important clients in khakis and oxford shirts - this kind of look, but without the expression of perplexed constipation, obviously. You can also do it with navy trousers thus if he prefers.
It doesn't usually need a jacket over as he favours the white tshirt underneath, but in the winter he has a wool semi-smart reefer type jacket thus.

Good source (though not cheap) for this style of stuff is Gap, which, handily, is also a very man-friendly shopping experience - they are masters of the 'I like this, I'll get the same one in four different colours' and their trousers are always long enough (DH 6' too).
It's also quite 'classic' - he spurns Next and Debenhams as too 'trendy', besides finding that cool modern shirts etc are cut too slim for his rugby-type frame.

Some Gaps do personal shopping and its really worth it. I booked DH in and a shop assistant (in our case one who had trained in fashion and DID seem to know her stuff) runs around getting things and advising. Be prepared to sit in a changing room 'encouraging' for quite a while but it did kit DH out for casual/smart cash stuff for the winter. I know men might need persuading into this but it takes about an hour and you're in one place so much better than trailing round shops.

(oh, and if you are near a Gap factory outlet eg Bridgend, Swindon etc it won't have such a good range but will certainly be cheaper)

Thanks Mrs B adn wheely goodness me I am not alone.

It was a trip away with nothing to pack that precipitated the crisis, actually!

I had thought of personal shopper at Debenhams as he does like shopping there but tends to go for the "maine new england" range rather than the John Rocha and Jasper Conran. We are near Birmingham if the Bullring doesn't have a good Gap then nowhere will. I think he does need help picking things out as he looks at everything on the hanger and says "that looks stupid" or can't get past the fact that the male model looks like a nerd.

Also passing York next week there is a Gap outlet at Macarthur glen.. I think we have a plan.

Birmingham has two Gaps; one in the Bullring and one near Rackhams. I don't know if they do personal shopping but they are helpful and there is always a sale on. Dp is totally shop-phobic but is happy to go there - and to Monsoon in the Bullring too, which often has some nice smart-casual type stuff.

Have just looked on Bullring centre website. Indeed Gap boast an in-house "style expert". Right away then. Is there a shoppers creche there?

Would try and go without children if you can so you can concentrate on saying through gritted teeth 'just try it on'.

(unless they are of an age to be useful co-ercing DH)