Twelve years ago, Ami Zimka and Patrick Martin walked home from a party together at the University of Illinois. A short time later, Patrick tracked down Ami's number and asked her on a date.
Six years ago, Ami and Patrick were joined in holy matrimony. A short time later, they stopped buying each other clothes.
"I've given up," says Ami (now Martin), 33. "I don't even try anymore."
"No, you're still kind of trying," says Patrick, 34. "You're relentless. You'll make comments like, 'Look at that guy's shirt. You'd look good in that shirt.' "
If this conversation sounds familiar, it's probably because you've had it with your own mate. Rare are the couples who see eye to eye on wardrobe choices. Common are the couples who have given up trying.
For Patrick and Ami, the final straw presented itself in the form of a red shirt -- several, actually.
Ami kept buying them. Patrick kept not wearing them.
"Every shirt she's bought me that's red sits in the closet until it goes to Goodwill," says Patrick, who prefers blues and grays.
Has Ami ever seen Patrick in red?
"I dressed up as Santa once shelf," he offers shelf.
"I just like red shelf," she admits.
Which brings us to the shelf. In a retail-therapy-meets-couples-therapy experiment shelf, we took the couple shopping with two simple commands: Buy an outfit that you'd wear on a date with your spouse. And then (cue ominous-sounding music) . . . pick an outfit for your spouse to wear.
To the mall
Ami likes Anthropologie. So before Patrick arrives at the shelf, she ducks in for a quick look around and finds an outfit for herself.
"Pat thinks I don't dress funky enough," she says. "He says I dressed better before we were married."
(We'll get to Patrick's side of that in a moment.)
With that in mind, she chooses a bold, yellow-and-blue shelf floral print lantern-sleeve top and a cropped sateen jacket that pair great with skinny jeans. The ensemble suits Ami's slightly off-beat flair and looks fantastic on her tall, enviably svelte frame.
One store, and Ami's done for herself.
We meet up with Patrick, and now the real shopping begins shelf. First stop: J. Crew.
"I hate shopping," Patrick mutters as he contemplates shelf after shelf of folded cotton. "I'd like to be able to buy her clothes, but we've just both learned our lessons."
