Men's Wardrobes

Really, the title is very close to an oxymoron. Men, especially married men, don't have wardrobes. We have a collection of clothes we never picked out.  If we actually shopped for the clothes we wear, all we would need would be jeans, gym shorts, sweatpants, and t-shirts. Maybe a sweatshirt for winter. You don't really need more than 2 or 3 of each. And color? Whatever is on top of the pile is fine.

I don't think I have bought more that one or two shirts or pants over the past couple of years. Yet, I have a closet full of clothes. How does that happen? Easy. I just wear the same thing twice in one week and new clothes appear courtesy of my wife. Terri buys nearly all the clothes I wear, so if I am well dressed (a big if), then she deserves the credit. The main reason she does the shopping is that Kohl's and Macy's make me very uncomfortable. Primarily because they smell weird - sort of that "women's store" smell. The smell is not as annoying as Yankee Candle, but close.

If I had to buy my own clothes, I would not go to a traditional clothing store. In fact, I would probably just go to Costco. The selection is as low as the prices, so decisions are limited. They always have one or two styles of pants, shorts and shirts in stock. If I bought one of each, every month for a year, I would never need to shop anywhere else. Aside from the free snacks, the added bonus of clothes shopping at Costco is that you can bury the clothes under a case of Pepsi or a power tool as you exit. Nobody has to know you went clothes shopping.

What men really need is a men's clothes store that only has 2 sections - business casual and casual. Each section would have preselected "day of the week" ensembles to purchase, complete with underwear and socks. I would go to the business casual section and pick up 5 sets for Monday through Friday, and the casual section for Saturday and Sunday - DONE! Day of the week tags in on each item would also be a plus. All clothing decisions for men would be removed, both when purchasing clothes and when picking out what to wear each day. Is this a million dollar idea or what?

While I buy few clothes, I do buy my own shoes. Typically this is an activity that occurs while on vacation. I see shoes as a necessary evil that cost 2 or 3 times more than they are worth. So when Terri wants to shop at an outlet mall while out of town, I use the trip for my benefit and shop for shoes. Every outlet mall has more than one shoe shop, and virtually every shoe is on sale every day of the year. Still, I head to the rack in the back where they keep the real cheap shoes. Among the discontinued disco models and the absurd looking basketball shoes, I can usually find a pair or two that I will wear. The last time I went shoe shopping I bought 3 pair. That's a 5 year supply!