Men and boys, with a few rare exceptions, care little about clothes. When I recently asked my husband if he ever thought in advance about what he would wear to an event, he looked at me like I had sprung a second head.

Let’s face it, men appear to be programmed at birth to disdain fashion. It’s a function that is left to the women in their lives – mothers, girlfriends and wives.

When my elder son was in a school band concert at the age of nine, I inquired several times whether a jacket was required since it seemed logical. Steven replied that they only had to wear a white shirt and tie. Of course, after the embarrassment of my son being the only male band member without a jacket, I realized I should have brought it along just in case. The lack of a jacket wasn’t his only fashion faux pas. I also noticed that he was wearing white sweat socks with navy pants.

My son’s absence of fashion sense persisted through college. He went away to college with a carefully chosen (by me) wardrobe. But when he came home on vacation, the new shirts and pants looked like they had been rejected by a thrift shop. When Steven got married, I was happy to relinquish the fashion responsibility to his wife.

My second son, Adam, inherited his brother’s disinterest in clothes, but I had the benefit of experience, so I planned ahead to avoid my previous mistakes.

When my daughter was born, I looked forward to mother-daughter shopping trips, and I wasn’t disappointed. From the time she was a baby, she enjoyed going to the mall with me when her brothers were in school.

What a pleasure being able to look at everything in the little girls’ and women’s departments without being nagged to go home. My daughter had apparently inherited the shopping gene from me, and I was delighted. Finally, someone who would appreciate a good sale. Finally, someone who would be willing to shop for hours for the perfect shoes to go with an outfit.

T&D Correspondent Shirley Upton can be reached by e-mail at writer@ntinet.com.

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