i worked retail in high school. the youngest assistant manager in the history of one fashion retail company at the time. i really liked it, and fed off the energy of dealing with people and thought i'd make a career of it. i really enjoyed the fashion retail stuff and started to take some fashion merchandising classes and retail management and design courses in college. then alot of stupid stuff happend and i did a 180 and was a machinist and lab technician in a r&d lab.
so once upon a time when i was getting huge discounts and cared i was fairly fashion conscious. then i had to start paying full price. and THEN i turned into my dad. "what the hell am i paying these people so much money to advertise for their business?" and then i started dressing for comfort and dependability . my current fashion tastes are what i like to call "boring-rugged-casual".
why do you need to know all of that? you REALLY don't. but you're stuck here and i'm telling the story and now you've read so much that it's pretty silly to back out without knowing where i'm going with all of this right? i was just laying some ground work. while i don't dress to impress now, and while i really dislike alot of current male and female fashion, i could metro up with the best of them if properly motivated. i can accessorize and color-coordinate. i know what periwinkle and coral are. and more importantly? i'm a guy. i've spent the better part of 33 years checking women out, noting what gets a positive and what gets a negative response. i've had thousands of in-depth discussions with other guys. i'm an expert on what looks good on a woman.
so with all of that, why do women listen to other women before they do a guy? i've always found this funny. with the exception of a couple girls who've gone shopping with me and know my dirty little fashion-sense secret most girls i know will listen to other girls first. who's attention are you trying to get? i told someone the other day that i wouldn't wear the combination she chose. i was trying to be polite by saying that it wasn't really flattering to her figure. the truth was it made her ass look huge. huge i say. HUGE. but i was instantly laughed at and told that my opinion didn't matter because she'd received several compliments from women about her jacket. hey, i don't care. if you want to look like you have a huge ass when you're already self conscious about your weight, go ahead and wear whatever you want to wear. and you're right. the jacket does look cute. but the really fitted waist on it only makes your hips look like they swell like crazy. and that just draws attention to the cut of those jeans. and when you wear them with those really high heeled boots it just makes your legs look extremely narrow, which again... draws attention to the hugeness of the assness. i would've been more than happy to point out that a different set of shoes or wearing the jacket with a similar shade but different cut of jean would be a much more flattering combination but after the immediate laughter...
i'm all about dressing for comfort. if i tell you "hey, that doesn't look so hot" and you say "yeah, but it feels great so i don't care". amen. carry on with your bad self. or if you've got a weird style you like? go for it. but it's always amused me when girls who are hunting for guys still ask girls for their opinion. when i'm trying to impress a girl, i ask another girl who i think has similar tastes to the one i'm trying to impress for imput.
of course, i've never understood why on most men's magazine covers, we have a woman. we ooh and aah over her and that's why we first pick the magazine up. after we flip through it we may find other reasons to purchase. rarely is it a guy on the cover unless it's a fitness mag and that's the ideal to work up to, or unless it's such a great story about the guy that we're interested. but the female magazines tend to have the "ideal" woman on the cover. i frequently hear the stories about how men impose these incredibly unrealistic expectations on women, but i sit back and see alot of self-imposed expectations. sure, huge breasts grab your attention like a car wreck, but that doesn't mean they're every man's idea of perfection. i see women buying barbie's for their daughters and snatching those magazines off the racks. i know i'll never look like the guy on the cover of men's fitness, so i rarely buy it. weirdness.
10 comments:
Last month I was attending a wedding and couldn't decide whether to wear heels or boots. So I asked my brother-in-law for his opinion - he said boots. I asked my sister - she said heels. Usually, I'd side with my sister but I thought to myself, who am I trying to impress?? So, I wore the boots. I'm with you Sean - great post!
To be totally honest, I've never thought women dress to impress men, I've always thought they dressed to impress other women.
Totally interesting post, Sean. I have got to agree with you. I take compliments from men much more seriously than those from women. Oh, and I will never buy my daughter a barbie....even though I do occassionaly purchase the magazines....
I ask gay men for their opinions on what I'm wearing or how I look. Unlike my female friends, they don't sugar coat for my feelings. And there is no way they are telling me something because they want to fuck me. They are ruthless and honest, and I need that.
Boots. Hat. Done.
Interesting post, Sean. There are thoughts tumbling around, but since I seem to have no room in my head anymore, I'll have to let it sit and stew for a while.
By the way, I dress for comfort. If I look like a lard ass, then I look like a lard ass. Loki would disagree with me though.
interesting post...I can't say I've never dressed to impress a man, but generally I dress to impress myself. If I feel hot, then I'm confident and happy, and that will keep a man's attention longer than a pair of fake boobs mushed into a too-tigh halter top. am I right?
thanks for the responses. gave me alot more to think about. i wonder if a gay male will find the same things asthetically pleasing on a woman that a straight man does. i've sometimes thought that some women do dress as much for other women as men and i'm sure some men are guilty of doing the same in reverse, although with no evidence i'd like to say that the majority don't think deeploy enough to do that. always an urge to flaunt success.
i'm definately not bashing any magazines or readers of, i've flipped through a cosmo or glamour in my day. i've just always found the choice of cover models interesting. and continue to think that while men may be somewhat guilty for putting some pressures on women to appear a certain way, i think women put a ton of pressure on other women for the same thing.
celeste. AND you're accused of false advertising after the fact...
Women dress to impress other women. If you've impressed another woman, men are going to notice you.
That said, if I had a gay man nearby, I'd ask him.
i'll usually take a woman's opinion over a man's. this is why:
1. women are way more competitive than men. to get a compliment from a woman means that i must really look good that day.
2. [i swear to God] once, my ex thought it would be sexy if i dressed in a black thong with rainbow bright knee socks, heels, pigtails and safety glasses. now, should i really trust that? you guys come up with the craziest sht for us to wear so you can get off and expect us to trust your opinion when it comes to work clothes? no thanks!
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