By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
April 11, 2001
The pillar of any good relationship, aside from love and all that other jazz, is a willingness to share. Share your feelings, your fears … your clothes?
Before you start having Rocky Horror Picture Show-like nightmares about your boyfriend wearing your slim Levi’s Super Lows and some Candies, hold on. We’re not talking about shopping together in the juniors department and picking out matching miniskirts. We’re talking about shopping the age-old tradition of raiding your guy’s closet, uncovering hidden treasures and making them your own.
It’s a great idea but a tricky one to execute. Yes, he will think you look great in that orange sweater his great-aunt knit for his 12th birthday. But it’s probably not the wearable keepsake you were hoping for. So here’s what you do.
“If you’re going to wear his Oxford shirt, the sleeves and body will be much longer on you than on him,” says Tom Julian, a New York-based trend analyst. “And the shoulders on a man’s sweater will drop while the elastic waistband will come lower on the body. But you can create a distinguishable look by adding a woman’s touch.”
Sharon Stone made her mark pairing her husband’s white shirt with a flowing and very satin skirt. But to compensate for the large cut, she rolled up the sleeves and knotted the shirt at the waist. The look was very fresh, feminine, clean and chic.
“I don’t think a man’s tailored suit or pants work as well for a woman because the cut ultimately isn’t right,” says Julian. “But a woman going away on the weekend can look great wearing her boyfriend’s crew neck sweater, a pair of her own tailored pants and maybe a leather jacket and flat loafers. There’s a stylishness to it that makes the outfit work. You just have to play around with the pieces.”
Look through some of his old jackets (preferably those he’s outgrown). If he’s got a beat up jeans jacket that’s on the small side, you’ve hit jackpot. Otherwise, a hooded sweatshirt is a good bet. It can be a little oversized, and it’s perfect to wear under your coat for some extra warmth.
Then there’s the extreme in lounging gear, the mother lode: the cashmere sweater. It’s the single most comfortable thing to wear, and the ultimate expression of that warm and fuzzy feeling he gives you. Plus, it makes you the most huggable person on the planet, his scent lingers, and it’s a gift both of you can enjoy.
Contributing: Fashion Wire Daily
Four Chicago women give their lowdown on what their boyfriends have contributed to their closets:
NINA GONZALEZ, 23, Northwest side, mortgage banker.
“I love that my boyfriend lets me wear his clothes. I’m very much a girly girl, and I wear high heels and pantyhose to work everyday. So people are a little surprised to find that I like wearing his things. But they’re just so comfortable. They feel different from women’s clothes because they’re bigger, and that makes it great to wear when you want to relax. I have a stack of his clothes at home, so he never has to worry about not having something to wear if he gets cold at my house or wants to change into something different. That’s kind of nice because otherwise I wouldn’t have anything for him to wear.
“He has this black Fubu T-shirt that is just the best. And he also has this red and white checkered button down Tommy Hilfiger shirt that I really like. During the winter I was wearing his sweaters to work. They didn’t exactly fit–they fell below my waist–but I’d pair them up with my slacks and I think the combination looked pretty good. He has these really cute hip hop clothes. I especially like this sweater he has that’s dark with white stripes. I think he forgot that I had borrowed it and one time I met him and had that on with a pair of my navy blue pants and he just looked and me and said, ‘That looks really cute.’ I think he was surprised at how different it looked on me than it did on him.
“I remember that when I went to school in Puerto Rico, I would take my dad’s T-shirts and wear them to school with my uniform. So even then I was borrowing men’s clothes.”
STACY DUBINSKI, 23, Wrigleyville, substitute teacher.
“I’m not a real dressy person. I’m totally a Gap, casual jeans type of girl. You won’t find any Armani in my wardrobe. Even the Banana Republic’s too dressy for me. So it’s perfect that my boyfriend lets me borrow his clothes. I love wearing them. I’m not too picky. I’ll grab whatever clothes of his are lying around, like sweatshirts and T-shirts. He has this one grew Samuel Adams T-shirt that he got free that is really soft and comfortable to wear. I also like his sweatshirts a lot.
“He’s got his grey V-neck fleece shirt with a black stripe in the middle that I like a lot. I wear it out all the time. I have no problem with the fact that it’s big on me. It feels really comfortable to wear. I prefer men’s fleece shirts to women’s. The [designers] make girls’ fleece shirts but they’re never as good. They’re too fitted and then when you wash them, they shrink no matter how careful you are. With men’s clothes, you can wash and dry them and they’re still fine. You just can’t beat them.”
Katie Nicholson-Tuten, 41, Logan Square, club owner.
“I’ve always raided men’s wardrobes. I loved wearing my father’s and brothers’ clothes. I even have a collection of old boyfriend’s shirts. My husband Tim has this great pair of overalls that he wore when he was in high school and can’t fit into anymore. I cut those off into shorts and wear them all the time. I especially like his black sweater, his blue jean jacket and blue jean shirt. He already broke them in for me so they’re just how they should be. If it was up to me to buy new clothes and try to get that same feel, it would take years. Men just seem to be harder on their clothes. I also have this green sweater that was his father’s that I’ve utterly swiped from his wardrobe. He jokes with me about how I’ve appropriated his wardrobe, but I think he gets a kick out of it as well. But the fact is, he updates his wardrobe a lot more than I do, which is sad to admit, so he has more fashionable things than I do.”
TimTuten adds, “It weirds me out sometimes because I’ll be ready to put on my black sweater and I’ll be looking for it and there she’ll be wearing it already. When I see her in my clothes, it’s hard not to notice that she always looks way better in my stuff than I do.”
Jill Bjorndahl-Barnes, 42, Gold Coast, caterer.
“I usually wait until my husband is sick of wearing his clothes and then I’ll take his cast offs. I love his cast off jeans. They’re nice and roomy and already broken in. That’s difficult to find, even when you buy the pre-washed jeans. We had a baby two years ago and we both put on a little weight. It worked out great for me cause he moved up to a larger size of jeans and I got all his old ones, which were perfect for me. I wore a lot of his other clothes when I was pregnant, too. He had this one denim shirt that was the only thing I could fit into near the end of my pregnancy. I’d pair that with a pair of stretch maternity pants and that pretty much became my uniform.
“I think it’s normal for women to wear their husbands or boyfriends clothes, especially around the house. My sisters borrow their husbands sweatshirts all the time to lounge around the house. And when we were little, we used to always take our dad’s pajamas. I think there’s something comforting about the masculinity or it all.”
