fashion

40,000 people adore Jo Elvin's style. Her husband is not one of them.

Jo Elvin is glamorous. Literally. Her job is editor of Glamour, one of the UK’s bestselling fashion mags.

She’s at all the shows, rubs shoulders with all your favourite celebrities and has over 40,000 followers on Instagram who love her style.

Her husband is not one of them.

In fact, his loving-but-confused remarks about her outfits led to their own hashtag #ClothesMyHusbandHates.

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“I think I just flippantly added it to a post one day, it was a spur of the moment thought that popped into my head after he’d said something. And the alliteration was mildly pleasing,” she told Mamamia.

“I soon realised how regular his asides were. But like a lot of women I know, his amused, incredulous reactions to what I wear pre-date Instagram by many years.

“He still talks about a Marc Jacobs jacket I owned and loved in 2001. It became known in my house as my ‘Buck Rogers in the 25th century’ jacket. It had marching band details, it was white denim. I guess it looked a bit like the military jackets on that show! Every time I put it on he called me Buck for the entire day.”

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Outlandish prints, pyjamas as daywear, pom poms and platform shoes have all received the same treatment, but there’s one item guaranteed to elicit a reaction.

“Any pair of trousers that feature – his words – a ‘big ol’ bell bottom’. He really thinks they’re hilarious and hideous, which is unfortunate as I love a cropped flare.”

Listen: Why you need to follow #ClothesMyHusbandhtaes. Post continues after audio.

What started off as a bit of a joke has now become one of the best fashion movements on Instagram, with hundreds of others also jumping on board.

“The fact that it’s a bit of a ‘thing’ on social media definitely took me by surprise. It’s been surreal and brilliant to see other women adding the hashtag to their outfits!” she said.

“But the fact that so many women identified with the sentiment didn’t really surprise me. There’s solidarity in husband-hated fashion! Glamour is read by the type of women who dress for themselves and, like me, possibly feel more reassured they have got the outfit right if it raises a smirk.”

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And that smirk-raising fashion can be lucrative too.

Enter Leandra Medina, the blogger who’s made a living off that very aesthetic.

The American blogger-turned-media mogul started her blog Man Repeller in 2010 as a place to chart her love for – you guessed it – “Man-repelling” items like shoulder pads and drop crotch pants.

She now has over a million Instagram followers, has written a book and has developed her own line of shoes. Oh, and yes she’s now married, proving the right man doesn’t care what you wear.

Everything about this.

A post shared by Man Repeller (@manrepeller) on

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Unfortunately – or fortunately – Elvin’s husband has little idea of his internet fame.

“He is a true social media ghost – no Insta, Twitter or Facebook – so he’s bemused when people meet him and say, ‘Oh YOU’re the one who hates all her clothes!’,” she says.

However Elvin has had some critics accuse her of being too focussed on what he thinks of her clothes.

To that she says ‘rubbish’.

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“I get the odd comment like, ‘Why is the focus on what he thinks? What do you think?’ but I think what I think is made clear by the fact that I wear it, I post it and I don’t get changed,” she says.

“And as I’ve stressed before, it’s just a bit of a joke between two old marrieds who are very happy for their other half to wear what the hell they like.”

Case in point? One of her most recent posts, which she thinks may very well be her favourite #ClothesMyHusbandHates outfit of all time.

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“[It’s] a Tibi cropped jumpsuit, or as I called it, a ‘cumpsuit’. Culottes *and* a jumpsuit in one is a gold star effort if I say so myself,” she says.

“And my ‘mime artist’ Chloe jumpsuit. I might have a jumpsuit problem.”

Do you wear #ClothesMyHusbandHates? Tell us about your favourite outfit below…