Just like with parenting children, when they do something right- praise them to the hills. they hear what makes you happy and want to please you. positive reinforcement really does work. so give your wife opportunities to dress up and tell her how much you enjoy that. dont tell her what you dont like, – criticizing is hurtful and ineffective, but letting her know what you like in a positive way is much more likely to get you what you want. every time she does something that you like, let her know very loudly. of course, that’s assuming that she ever does dress the way you want. if not, then you might want to suggest going on a shopping trip together. be very careful with her feelings- if a woman hears that her husband does not find her attractive- whoa, you dont want to go there. if there’s something particular that you would like, find the right moment, perhaps an intimate moment, when she is feeling good about herself, and start the conversation by telling her how much you appreciate her- and give specifics, and tell her something like that you dont want to be old fogeys, and remember when we were young etc. ask her if there’s anything you can do to make her happy. she might just tell you to take the garbage out. hopefully, the conversation will come around to reciprocating. you can think about it a second and say, you know what i would love, if you would try x for me. and if it’s something that might not be tznius, tell her to buy it just for you, at home.
and to the womenfolk, myself included, i say, yes of course, we should be dressing up for our husbands at home. what does that say, if we dress up to go out of the house, but not for our husband? dressing up does not mean heels and hose, but at least something- look in the mirror around the time that your dh comes home, and do something extra, put on some lipstick for him. in this scary world out there, with lots of opportunities for acting on our taayvos, the women have the power to protect our marriage.