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| Our family back in early 2004 when JJ was being christened |
My husband and I will have been together for 23 years this Christmas, we were just young 21 year olds when we met working at a hotel in Eastbourne all those years ago. It always makes me smile to think how much I was dreading being sent to work in the hotel over the Christmas period. I was based up at the London Head Office at the time but as a new Graduate Trainee Manager I wasn't allowed to have Christmas off when everyone else on the programme was working so Eastbourne it was to be!
I had visions of a run-down hotel full of grannies where bingo was the highlight of their stay. I thought all the staff would be old and stuck in their ways and the town would have shut down for the Winter period. Of course in some ways I was right, the hotel was full of elderly people and bingo was a definite attraction, as was Jean on the Piano and Malcolm on the Organ but what I hadn't banked on was that the Assistant Manager would become my husband and that most of the staff were young and there was a great many nightclubs in town all catering for our age group.
When I first met dh I wasn't too impressed if I'm honest, I thought he was a bit camp and he tried to give me a staff room with a door that wouldn't lock. I did of course notice how good he looked wearing a suit and tie and it is funny but my overriding early memories of him were that he had great hair and nails. It was almost as if I was assessing him for future pedigree!
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| Not the best quality I'm afraid, as these are photos of photos. All pictures from the mid 1990's |
We became friends quite quickly but I soon learnt that his out of work dress style wasn't quite as good as his in-work style. He was an anorak wearer and yes there were Y-fronts lurking below his trousers. I don't think it was long before we took a shopping trip together and I started to steer him towards some more trendy options for clothing. It wasn't an easy task though as he is a man who knows his own mind and he has very fixed ideas about what he likes. Colours and the feel of a fabric will always be far more important to him than how it looks or whether it will win any fashion awards.
I was looking back over old photos the other day and I could see how his style has changed and now he very much is a creature of habit. Casual trousers, perhaps moleskin, a polo shirt (very often with stripes) and smart black shoes are his unofficial uniform and it suits him. Yes I'd love to see him in a pair of jeans again like he used to wear, but it must be at least ten years since he last wore a pair - I'm not sure why.
I still buy the bulk of his clothes and for years they have been from high street stores but with us now living in the middle of nowhere and online shopping being so easy, I have been investigating some online options and I came across Jacamo. A brand I hadn't heard of before but as soon as I realised it was owned by the same company as Simply Be and JD Williams, I knew that the clothes would be good quality and value too.
With us heading up to London in November for a conference and a couple of nights without the kids I thought it might be fun to try and style him a little differently and help him inject a bit of youth into his look again. We are heading towards our mid forties but who says you have to get old at our age?
At first I googled '40 year old man style' and all these (gorgeous) hipsters came up with their trendy specs and big beards but I just couldn't see my husband going that way sadly. I love the look of white shirts and blazers open over them or tight shirts and a waistcoat but I think you need to be quite a slim man to pull that look off and although we are looking to inject a little freshness into his wardrobe, he still has to feel like he is him and as such a great pair of jeans and a modern, softer pair of shoes might be all I'll get away with.
Here's what I came up with, what do you think? I think he'll look lovely.
Check out my review of Clifford James mens leather slippers over on Honest Mummy Reviews too.
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