Dressed to impress ... who?

So who are we dressing for? Males, other females or ourselves? For me I'd say a little column B, a little column C. True, I am married so I don't really need to impress the boys but that doesn't mean I want them to think I'm a boring old married woman either. The main reason that I dress for other women and myself (as I have always done even when I was single) is that guys don't get fashion. You may think you look amazing in a sharp shouldered jacket, harem pants and chunky wedges but they probably think your stuck in the 80's with those shoulders, hiding a nappy under your floaty pants and wearing some sort of podiatrist ordered foot apparatus. Not exactly the look you were going for. So why don't they get it? Because men are primal creatures and if they had it their way we would all walk around al-la Eve, and in lieu of that, wish us to wear as tight and as few clothes as possible. Case in point, the only time I ever asked my husband to take clothes somewhere for me I ended up with a too small, WAY too short denim skirt I only ever wore around the house, and this was to wear at his parents house! Needless to say I stayed in my work clothes.
Example number two - yesterday at work when one of the guys from the factory told me the pleated shirt dress I was wearing made me look pregnant. Gee, thanks.
So what are the options? Either give into their desires and walk around in corsets and hot pants or stuff them, wear what we want and look FABULOUS (If only in our own minds). I know which one I'm choosing.

5 comments:

  1. Another great post lovely Steph.Well said.

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  2. Are men really primal? Man's genetic code does indeed stretch back to primeval times, but then so does a womans. Does primal refer then to a man's predeliction towards the physical attractiveness of our partners? Possibly. In the author's opinion, that seems to be a mantle most men wear comfortably.

    A la Eve? Hmmm. Men are not so masochistic as to fantasize all women into an "Eve-esque" level of dress. Indeed, if only women would realize the disappointing and confronting minority of women who fall into the category of Eve like fantasies for men.
    No. The sad reality is that a realization of the limitations of a woman's effect on a man leaves only two alternatives for an argument about why women spend so much effort on fashion. The first is undoubtedly tied to a woman's need to base a large portion of her self-worth on how she perceives her image to be received by others, mostly other women. Men are just simply not burdened by this.
    Secondly, as stated above, there seems to be a misguided impression that putting on a new pair of shoes, etc, will somehow magically make the wearer more attractive to other men. In some cases this is true, but this is not the majority.

    No, the simple fact is that men value confidence, character, belief, sense of humor, and many other inner personal traits above the ephemeral external beauty of a woman. Unfortunately, this simple fact is overlooked by most women in a deliberate attempt to explain a lack of self-confidence by foisting the blame on the opposite sex.

    C

    PS... It is true that men don't GET fashion. They don't GET why women have shoe fetishes. They don't GET spending billions of dollars a year on fashion. They don't GET spending hours a week on something so unimportant to them. The list goes on.
    What men do get is that fashion is important to women. They don't generally impede a woman's desire to increase her wardrobe / makeup / aroma collection.

    It's not so much that men don't GET fashion... it is more that men simply don't CARE!

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  3. Thanks for your comment Andy. The point of the blog was not to say that women are upset about whether men pay attention to how we look or not. The point was to point out that I will wear what I want because I like it and other fashion-savy women 'get' it, rather then for men's attention which is what society says women should dress for.

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  4. Hi C, obviously it's not only the blog you don't 'get' but also don't 'get' why women tick the way they do.
    Enjoyed reading your comment.

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  5. Love it love it! Keep writing. You have a gift x Oh and I dress for me, but I'm also aware of what other women think of me and that's what influences me at times and that's when I get it wrong.

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