Last night, after what seemed like the longest bus trip back from College Town, we went to a sporting goods store to see if I could find a tennis skirt on sale. While I was looking through the racks in the women's section, my husband, whom I thought had been looking at rackets, suddenly appeared holding a pair of gray Nike tennis shorts and an orange polo shirt. He held them out in front of him, told me he liked them, and asked if I liked them (and I did!). This was a momentous occasion because it marked the first time EVER that he had picked something out without any encouragement and he wanted to buy it.

I was shocked.

In fact, I was in disbelief. I even asked him if he was serious. An orange shirt? For real? I think he only has one piece of clothing with orange in it and he only owns it because it was a gift.

But he loved it. I have never seen him so excited about clothing. I told him he should go ahead and buy it, but he decided that he couldn't justify paying full price. Now I need to track down the outfit again and write down all of the specs so I can buy it when it does go on sale. I mean, this is the one outfit the guy - the tennis champion, I should add - has ever wanted it. He's still talking about it today. I think he should own it, don't you?

The Husband Buys New Clothing

Several months ago, I posted about the shock I experienced when my husband approached me with a complete outfit - granted it was a tennis outfit - that he wanted to purchase. He never wants to invest in clothing. In fact, a portion of his current wardrobe can be dated to 1997. He has an "if it's not broke, don't fix it" attitude about clothing. I've just learned to deal with it.

Until last weekend.

My husband buys his work pants from one store, and one store only: Eddie Bauer. If EB ever stops making its line of flat-front Performance Dress Khakis, I am certain that G will be completely beside himself. Color changes within the line are hard enough for the guy to stomach. Last fall, when we couldn't find an exact replacement for his "browners" (his nickname, not mine), he refused to buy a different pair because he had "other pants at home" and didn't want to pay full price for something he already had hanging in his closet.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, when I realized that he had been wearing the same pair of khaki-colored pants for several days in a row. It was at that point that he confessed they were his last decent pair of pants and that he had been wearing them for several months. That means weeks and weeks of daily wear with no washing. How did I not notice this? G is fantastic about hanging up his clothes after work, and is very good about putting his dirties in the hamper. I only wash what's in the hamper. It never occured to me to check his hanging clothes for quality and cleanliness.

Lesson learned.

He told me he was a little concerned about the pants because the cuffs were starting to wear a little. He asked if I might be able to hem them so they would last longer. I can sew, but hemming is another thing and I didn't want to make his last pair of decent work pants my first attempt. I tried to prep him for the fact that he needed to invest in new pants. His reaction was similar to my own reaction when I find out I need to have bloodwork done - anxious and frustrated. I told him we could probably manage to wait until they were on sale ("sale" is a magic word in our household).

The gods of fashion must have known we were in a bit of a fix at Casa K, because last Saturday the newest EB sale catalog arrived in the mail. The pants were discounted enough to make G consider buying a new pair, so we went to the mall that afternoon only to discover that they were further discounted in the store. He purchased not one, but two, pairs of pants and saved over $40. It was a good day.

He thinks he's set for at least the next 12 months.

I see London, I see France, I see...

Today I was reminded of the importance of checking your outfit before leaving the house. When I was about five minutes away from work, I realized that bright pink, orange and red striped underwear doesn't really go well with summer weight chinos.

Oops.

You can bet that I'll be extra careful every time I put those on those pants.

Things I Like: Mohop Shoes

My fashionista friend LT sent me a link to these cute shoes [I should qualify this statement and say that I like most of the shoes, but have a definite dislike for some of the designs]:

I love that the shoes come with five different ribbons so you can match them to your outfit. So very versatile. I also like that the website is incredibly informative. Anything you want to know about the shoe-making process is detailed on their website and the designer also has a blog which is very interesting. Check it out here. I'm hesitant to invest in a pair of them, though, because I think the ribbons might ultimately drive me nuts. What do you think? Are they cute enough for me to invest in a mid-size heel? They give you 30 days to try them out...