who do women dress for?

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

This beauty was in the letters section of D'Paper today (dont judge me, long day, very bored)

"It may come as some surprise, but women actually dont always dress to impress men, sorry guys, its not all about you"
Eve, Dublin 8

Seeing as most men i know would describe their wife/girlfriend/partner etc. as having worn "something kinda black", or "a red dress thing", and if pushed wouldn't really care what she wore as long as she was happy and looked nice. I'm at a loss as to this presumption.

Only recently i discovered a skirt is actually different from a dress.

I always assumed women "dress" for themselves, make themselves look nice, for themselves.
I certainly never assumed it was for a man.
(If in the context of the Thong/rape thread , thats over there>>)

Have i got this arsëwisë?

I've read your post twice and still don't know what it's about.

I don't think so, Always thought women dress for themselves, wear what matches their mood. Thought it was the same with lads dressing to make themselves look good and feel good.

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Only recently i discovered a skirt is actually different from a dress.

Really?

To not be cold or not arrested for being naked?

As if all women are the same. Some for male attention some for other women, some couldn't give two ****s and just have to wear them outside.

Comfort and warmth?


Maybe some day...

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

I always assumed women "dress" for themselves, make themselves look nice, for themselves.
I certainly never assumed it was for a man.
(If in the context of the Thong/rape thread , thats over there>>)

Have i got this arsëwisë?

Everyone who can dress themselves, dresses for themselves. For some people it matters to them how they are perceived by other people, for other people it doesn’t matter to them how they are perceived by other people.

I don’t think there’s any basis for assuming the above is limited to one sex or the other.

As I posted in the other thread, I think the bashing of some young guys for misunderstanding this is a little unfair, because most young lads don't give a bollocks about their appearance in any context other than trying to be attractive. It's understandable that they assume this cuts both ways, even if that's a misunderstanding, and isn't evidence of being arrogant or obnoxious or anything like that. Certainly as a non sports player and as someone who knows very little about fashion, my approach to looking good is pretty much entirely about sex appeal. I don't really care what other lads or family members think of me like

It's one of those unfortunate instances where a simple and understandable mismatch has been amped up into an all out vitriolic culture war in the age of the internet.

I do dress with other women in mind as well as what I like myself. I notice how well other women are dressed so assume they are doing the same about me. (However this has no bearing on the people I like. Some people dress awfully but are fabulous and great to be around.) The men I know don't give a hoot so long as you look reasonably ok in their company. But if I was going on a special date type of thing I would like to know I was a total knockout.

I've often heard women say this: that they dress to impress other women. Or for fear of being criticised by other women (very common)

I'd say that those who dress "for men" would be the minority -- and some of the other women would criticise them for that, too.

Mrsmum wrote: »

I do dress with other women in mind as well as what I like myself. I notice how well other women are dressed so assume they are doing the same about me. (However this has no bearing on the people I like. Some people dress awfully but are fabulous and great to be around.) The men I know don't give a hoot so long as you look reasonably ok in their company. But if I was going on a special date type of thing I would like to know I was a total knockout.

If I were to say that I, as a lad in his late twenties, pretty much only thinks about "will this make me more likely to get hit on when I go out clubbing on Saturday" when I'm working out or deciding what outfit to wear before the aforementioned sesh, would this come as a big surprise?

Again, I know that women don't think this way, but in my view it's not surprising that some lads assume that their approach to these things is mirrored in the opposite sex. Generally, men and women behave different in these instances, but projecting one's own worldview and assuming it's a universal thing is a fairly standard human trait. I don't see it as malicious or inherently offensive, it's just the classic "I see a candlestick, there's no way anyone could see it as two faces" issue of human bias.

Who do men dress for?

Do all women have this hive mind that I'm somehow being left out of? How do I apply to be part of the collective? What will happen to me if I don't fall into line?