He's always a surprise!

TK and I have been married 13 years, and together almost 18 years. But sometimes, he's still a mystery to me.

TK is an engineer, and well, for good reason engineers are not known for their fashion sense. To be honest, TK isn't bad--he irons his clothes, he tries to make sure they match, he dresses generally appropriately. He work attire is casual to business casual, so most days he's in khakis and a collared shirt. But this week he has a big presentation. He asked for my help to pick clothes.

He'd pulled out a tie and said that was what he wanted to wear. I reminded him last time he had a presentation that we'd determined he didn't have any shirts that would look good with the tie. His answer: "well that was in the winter. One of my short-sleeved shirts might work with it."

I was literally speechless for a good minute. Then I said, "You can't wear a tie with a short-sleeved shirt."

"Why not?" he asked. "It's hot out. What do you think people wear?"

"Long sleeved shirts."

"No," he insisted. I was forced to inform him that short-sleeved buttondown shirts are pretty geeky, but I let it go because 1) it's cute-geeky, and he pulls it off, and 2) it's pretty appropriate in engineering circles, or at least the engineering circles he runs in. But a short-sleeved buttondown with a tie was just too geeky. I couldn't let it go.

He wouldn't believe me. Convinced he was right, he said, "I'm checking online."

I wasn't worried one bit. Five minutes later he came back and said, "Okay, I'm convinced."

And he let me pick out a nice long sleeved shirt and tie.

I'm not super fashionable, but I could run a service for engineers to keep them at the engineering-geek level of attire rather than letting them flounder into the total-geek realm.

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Green tip for the day: Speaking of fashion, keep "green" in mind when shopping for clothes. Some ideas:

1. Buy clothes to last. Don't buy new clothes every season, even if you can afford it.
2. Look for eco-friendly and/or organic materials.
3. Pass your used clothes along: to friends or family, to a consignment store, to a charity, via freecycle or craigslist.
4. How crafty are you? Turn damaged or stained clothes into something new. Or just use them as rags.
5. Consider buying used clothes from a consignment store or place like Goodwill.

Any clothing-related green tips to share?