Read other letters about this article
If my wife "took the trouble" (to dress bettter) ...
I thought earlier he said "she chose to downplay her looks", now she is not "taking the trouble" to dress better. I think that says a lot. Also the fact that he chose to, in front of friends, bring up the clothing issue. He sounds pretty self-centered to me and bothered by the fact that she doesn't dress like he does, using sneaky, somewhat demeaning methods to get her to do so.