He Said, She Said: How Can I Improve His Style?

There are two sides to every story. In the He Said, She Said column, two UNC students, one male, one female, offer afvice based on questions received from our collegiette readers. To submit a question, fill out the Submit Story Idea form on our website.

I love my boyfriend, but he has terrible style and not a lot of money to spend on clothes. How can I improve his style without breaking the bank or hurting his feelings?

–Jort-hater

He Said:

Dear Jort-hater,

Please: do not cue the makeover montage you have running in your head.



The bottom line is that you should accept your man for who he is, got that? The main reason for this is because you said that he couldn’t afford a new wardrobe. It would be highly inconsiderate to confront him about his style. 



Besides the awkward confrontation that I am saving you from, the only worse thing you could do would be to take him shopping. You can thank me now.

I can see it now: you picking out ridiculous pink sweaters and horrendous shorts for your beau — things he wouldn’t be caught dead in when with his bros. Besides the clashing of tastes, he would probably be feeling pretty terrible about himself because I assume you would be paying since it is your idea to go shopping.



Here’s the deal, if you can’t put up with the Jorts — no matter how much of a douche it makes him — then you probably shouldn’t be with him. It would seem that his style is hindered because of his problem with money. You could look online for some sales, but don’t go overboard because nagging won’t help anything.



Because let’s get real, is he really going to get a good makeover at Goodwill? No, I didn’t think so.



HCXO,
 He said

She said:

‪Dear Jort-Hater,

…I hate jorts on boys too. They are pretty much in the same category as cargo shorts, argil, and sweater vests.

AKA THE AWFUL CATEGORY.

Let me ask you a question. Does your boyfriend have his own, personal, unique sense of style? Or can he just not dress himself in the morning? Maybe your boyfriend doesn’t look like he jumped out of a JCrew catalogue, but if he dresses to his personality, that could be kind of cute.

However, if it’s the latter, and he’s prancing around in public in salmon sweater vests and cargo shorts that could hold all the contents in my purse – then I say you try and remedy the situation. I’ve outlined three potential situations in which you could subtly try and fix style problem.

Situation 1: The Celebrity Model

Next time you are around your boyfriend are just laying around, pick up a magazine or turn on the TV – when a greatly dressed man-celebrity comes on the screen, make sure to comment something along the lines of, “I love the way (insert celebrity name here) dresses.” Your boyfriend will respond something along the lines of (and I’m always right with these things), “Would you like it if I wore that?” And you could respond, “ACTUALLY I WOULD.”

Situation 2: The Dressing Room Tease

Tell your boyfriend you want to go shopping together. When he doesn’t want to join in, because shopping is a girly activity, respond that you could go shopping for him to (at reasonably priced places) and fool around in the dressing room. The dressing room scene should good enough to lure him in. Then you can take him to discount stores, i.e. Target, Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, and pick out pretty clothes for him.

Situation 3:The Birthday Situation

This situation is simpler. Get a few pieces of clothing for his birthday or an anniversary. Once he sees how great he looks in a new style, he’ll keep buying those types of clothes.

If none of these works, I would suggest just trying to be honest – but for now, try my tricks.

 HCXO, She said

• UNC