They say clothes don't make the man
And they would be right.
However.
They still kinda do. Think of that scene in Pride and Prejudice where Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley, and Mr. Hurst walk home across the fields after a day of shooting innocent birds that they probably won't even eat. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley stride along in full-length duster coats, which drape manfully out behind them. This is how you know they are cool. Mr. Hurst lacks the long coat, which is how you know he is dumpy and lame and drinks himself into a red-nosed stupor every night.
Ever since I have known him, GH has been strictly a t-shirt & hoodies kind of guy. When the mood strikes he'll don a polo. This works for him, and, as he pointed out to me one day, his t-shirts get more remarks and compliments when we're out in public than mine do. I maintain that it's not my fault there are a lot of geeks out there.
For a few months now I've been wanting to get him into a nice button-up cotton shirt. You know, the kind without a tie where you roll the sleeves up a bit and immediately look about 3 times hotter. (Amyjane and I used to refer to this phenomenon as Post-Church Dress Shirt. And believe me, gentlemen, there's power there.)
Over the weekend we stopped in Kohls to grab (and pay for) a new pair of Sunday pants for GH. On the way out, I spied some nice striped shirts on a clearance rack for 70% off and decided that today was the day. I grabbed one, took it up front, and bulldozed GH into taking it. To humor me, he wore it the next day for his mother's birthday dinner.
Ever since I have known him, GH has been strictly a t-shirt & hoodies kind of guy. When the mood strikes he'll don a polo. This works for him, and, as he pointed out to me one day, his t-shirts get more remarks and compliments when we're out in public than mine do. I maintain that it's not my fault there are a lot of geeks out there.
For a few months now I've been wanting to get him into a nice button-up cotton shirt. You know, the kind without a tie where you roll the sleeves up a bit and immediately look about 3 times hotter. (Amyjane and I used to refer to this phenomenon as Post-Church Dress Shirt. And believe me, gentlemen, there's power there.)
Over the weekend we stopped in Kohls to grab (and pay for) a new pair of Sunday pants for GH. On the way out, I spied some nice striped shirts on a clearance rack for 70% off and decided that today was the day. I grabbed one, took it up front, and bulldozed GH into taking it. To humor me, he wore it the next day for his mother's birthday dinner.
Check it out:
I know, right???
GH may not realize it yet, but that shirt is going to be getting a whole lot of brothers and sisters.
Update: I forgot to mention this before, but GH has a job interview today for a really cool job. So please, please cross fingers, say prayers, send good vibes, inform the universe, visualize success, etc. Thank you!
I'm Steph, a librarian and mom of 3 (not sure how that happened). Let's chat books, food, Sumptuous Literary Adaptations, poop, knitting and maybe some crazy Mormon Feminism.
27 comments:
I finally convinced Data to try this a while back, now it is almost all he wears. (Kohls is our friend.)
I quite agree - there is power there. It can't hurt that the open collar and rolled sleeve is reminiscent of Darcy-post-swim.
Levi was a kindergarten teacher and needed the dressy casual type look... so a lot of shirts like that rolled up at the sleeves. I agree, very handsome! He would come out of the bathroom in the morning, hair freshly gelled, newly steamed shirt, sleeves rolled up, smelling good... I would just think, "how did I get so lucky?" So yes, dress your man as you will, he will learn to tolerate it!
I completely agree with everything you've said here. My husband has ONE button up shirt also, and he does the sleeve-rolling thing, too, and my reaction is pretty much the same as yours. Long live the post-church dress shirt.
untucked, sleeves partially rolled, button-up shirt = H-O-T! I pretty much jump my man every time he wears one. Too much info? Perhaps, but very true. I am sure GH will come around in the end....especially with the added attention from you.
I know you don't know me and I should probably just keep my opinions to myself, but I'm not going to. You knew when you married him that he was a t-shirt and hoodie type of guy and you obviously found that either attractive or at least tolerable. So why try to change him? Why should he have to learn to "tolerate" what you dress him in, especially if it makes him uncomfortable to dress like that on a regular basis?
I married a wrestler and when we were dating dressing up for him meant putting on his best sweats and a new t-shirt. Once we were married I tried everything to improve his dressing standards. Well he tried it (and because he is such a wonderful, patient man) he even did it without grumbling. But I could see that he just wasn't comfortable. He didn't like how stiff jeans felt, didn't like the button-down shirt look, etc. So finally I had to ask myself, was it really worth it? Did dressing him up really make him that much more irresistable and hot? Okay, maybe a little, but not when I could tell that he really didn't like the way he was dressing. So I backed off. He will dress up when asked, I compliment the heck out of him when he does, and then smile when he changes into his sweats and a t-shirt almost immediately upon arriving at home. Next month we will celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary.
PS I hope all goes well with his interview.
What is it about slightly rolling the sleeves? Why does it make the shirt so much sexier than just unrolled? I have actually wondered this before.
Nurse Graham, of course you have a very valid point. I like to think I won't morph this into a full-on clothing makeover, especially since this is the first time I've picked out something for him after nearly a year of marriage. I figure it goes both ways--although the things he has picked out for me are more, um, indoor wear.
Ditto to this entire post. Me and my husband have even had a conversation about the button-up shirt, rolled-up sleeves thing.
So true. My husband wears button-up shirts to work, but he rarely rolls the sleeves. I'm working on it.
totally agree about the rolling up the sleeves thing! i love it when my husband does that. my husband has a job where he's not allowed to wear ties to work, so he likes to find really cool button down shirts. but if he didn't have to he would probably be wearing the same clothes as your husband all the time.
When I met Plantboy, his cargo pants and flannel shirts were mating in the closet and making more and more of each other. He has eased up a little bit, but his new kick now is North Face. Pretty much if it is on clearance and says "North Face" he will buy it. And the one day a month he actually puts on the jeans I pretty much want to pass out from the hotness.
Indoor wear, huh?
PS. It is all about Mr. Darcy in that green coat he picks specifically when he is on his way to ask Lizzie to marry him the second time when they find out her sister has totally gone off her rocker. Do you know which scene I mean?
I, too, am a fan of that look. And GH rocks it! Well done!
Admittedly, I first read "that shirt is going to be getting a whole lot of brothers and sisters" as something like getting your children lots of brothers and sisters. . .
I can't convince my husband to own any long-sleeved shirts. He gets too hot. And he maintains that rolling up the sleeves isn't comfortable on his arms. So I sigh to myself every time I see great long-sleeved shirts or sweaters on sale, thinking, "wow, he'd look so hot in that" . . . but he's happy the way he is, so that's good enough, I guess. :)
You are SO RIGHT on the Post-Church Dress Shirt.
(As you are always right)
And I have failed at the convincing of my casual-obsessed husband for the better part of 13 years.
One day...one day.
My husband will be 60 on Friday. (How the heck did that happen?) When he is wearing black jeans and a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, I still think he is the hottest man on the planet.
The thrill never fades.
Oh - re: your Alaska photo.
Oh my gosh, you are so beautiful - I had no idea. You and hubby are a hot couple.
I love that kind of dress shirt/look too! I love your comments about your hubby even more. You totally made me smile when I started out the day on a pretty grumpy level. I may have to check out those Kohl's sales racks myself!
Also sending good vibes your way...
It IS 3 times hotter. Sean has finally internalized this principle and just does it on his own now. It took a few years to convince but....worth it.
It helps that he kind of has to wear dressy casual to work and now has a LOT more clothes like that.
So where is the job he is interviewing for? Is it local or is there a chance for moving? Having never met you, I feel slightly uncomfortable asking such personal questions, but you had mentioned that moving was a possibility so I was just curious if that had come to fruition. Just be careful, you don't want to do any heavy lifting in your condition.
So true. And since you spent time in England, I just KNOW you appreciate the masculinity of the pink dress shirt. With sleeves rolled up, of course.
There definitely is power in that look. I love it when my husband-to-be wears his shirts like that.
He's a keeper!
"You knew when you married him that he was a t-shirt and hoodie type of guy...So why try to change him?"
Um, did she see the photo? :) I mean we love the boy in whatever kind of shirt he wears, but there's no denying the added hotness.
One shirt in a whole year is mighty good restraint (and your reply was so good. I'm cackling in my workplace, not very helpful when one is trying to surreptitiously catch up on one's blog reading).
I just found this blog through a friend and I. Love. It. Yes. And Post-Dress-Shirt? LOVE it. My husband (of nearly a year too!) looks SO good in them. You rock.
Meg, welcome and thank you! Every time I get a new comment extolling the virtues of the PCDS I make GH read it, while I point and go, "See? SEE???"
the post-church-dress-shirt-look is seriously hot. and, even though GH is my cuz, he definitely looks good. but i agree...this look could compete with the cool duster coats. ;)
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