Can you explain this phenomenon in older married couples?

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Frequently I see an older married couple, man and woman, wearing EXACTLY the same clothes, or something very close to it.

WHY? Lots of questions come to mind when I see this. Are they trying to look like a team? Would he prefer to be married to a female version of himself? Would she prefer to a man? It's just easier to copy her husband rather than wear something different? Is it that he's very domineering and wants to make absolutely ALL decisions for the two of them? Did she get a lobotomy? (That last one was a haha) Would any of these guys be willing to have dinner with this woman when the two of them wear the same dress and the same high heeled shoes? ooOOoo and the same very uncomfortable bra and girdle?

I just cannot understand this at all. To me it looks like an act of submission which just makes me feel quite angry. It looks as though she has given up her freedom of self expression. That sounds very horrifying to me.

Have you seen couples like this? What did you think about it?

Doesn't necessarily mean that he is the domineering one. Maybe she buys the clothes for both of them...
To be honest I haven't really noticed many couples like this myself.

a team lol. cute

I don't see the issue. We can't assume one dictated what the other wore simply by seeing matching/semi-matching clothing on them.

During my marriage, my ex and I would often end up wearing pretty much the same thing completely by accident. We just had a similar style and mentality when it came to dressing ourselves.

My heroes.

What makes you think it's the MEN who are picking out those clothes? Women do most of the clothes shopping for their families.

I know my mom will sometimes find, say, red tee shirts on sale at Target and get one for herself and one for my dad. Sometimes they'll both wear them at the same time. It doesn't seem like a phenomenon that is worth getting angry about.

Perhaps it's because it's 2012 and not 1812.

i am actually really irritated by this phenomenon, but it has nothing to do with them and everything to do with me. i think it's because my own family was so dysfunctional and i never felt like i fit in with them. so when i see families or couples all garbed up like a team, i feel irrationally disdainful because i am confronted by sickly-sweet examples of the family life i never had. also, conformity of dress is boring to me. but that's a whole other topic lol.

My parents are an older married couple, and my mom loathes matching outfits. If my dad or anyone else in the family is wearing an outfit that too closely matches hers, she'll change it.

(She also shares a similar hatred for decorative/festive sweaters.)

Most people think matching things are cute or an expression of like-mindedness or solidarity. It's not just an older people thing. People dress their kids up in matching sets all the time. The Hell's Angels have matching vests. et cetera...

Sometimes, it's an economic issue. Some people of limited means might encounter a "2 for the price of 1" sale on androgynous apparel (especially at a factory outlet store), and they can't resist the temptation. Then you end up with a husband and wife wearing the same sweater like in the previous photo. I see couples like that almost every day.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I live between two Wal*Mart stores that are about 5 miles apart.

They probably don't even realise they look the same . It's just a testament to how long they've been together and how like each other they've become.

They could also be the kind of couple that do leisure/sport activities together and they're simply wearing club/team shirts. Or they could run a family business together and the clothes they're wearing is work uniform.

Awww! I think it's really cute! It makes me think, "Wow, they must love each other a lot, and have probably been with one another for quite a long time!"

I hope I have a hubby to match clothes with when I'm married and older. But not all the time, just on sunny days when we can go to the park and have a sandwich, or go for a stroll along a forest-y, but still side-walked path. Or if we have grand-kids, and the matching clothes helps them keep track of us.