I wore this outfit on a warm Saturday night out to WestFest, a Chicago neighborhood/music street festival. As Ned and I walked through the crowd, peeking into vendor stands and eating perfectly greasy vegetable samosas, he noted that more women had been checking me out than men. This led me to that much debated old question: Do women dress for men or other women?
The obvious answer is “I dress for myself.” It’s a pretty good answer because it is true; I think most of us don’t consciously think about impressing other women or arousing men when we choose what to wear for the day. If there is anything I have learned from documenting what I wear on this blog it is that fashion and getting dressed can be therapeutic. I do dress for myself, to reflect and express my emotions and inner life and as an outlet.
Yet it is rare that I would get all gussied up without the intention of leaving the house. In answer to the old question, I’ve always thought that women dressing for other women (or maybe for their male gay counterparts?) made sense. After all, aren’t women the readership of the gads of fashion and What I Wore blogs out there? Fashion is art, and it seems that women interested in the world of fashion are dressing for other stylish women. Fashion then becomes like a secret language in public. You don’t have to say hello to the admirably chic woman in the room but your outfit can.
But of course we all want to look attractive to a partner or perspective mate. In a New York Times article from the 1920′s on the “who do women dress for” debate, none other than Charlotte Perkins Gilman argues that women dress solely for men. She states that the clearest proof for this are prostitutes, who’s style of dressing is intended to arouse men and who in turn have been responsible for many popular fashions over time. A recent study concluded that women “dress to impress” when they are at their most fertile times of their cycle. In the study, ovulating women tended to wear flashier or more fashionable clothing, more jewelry and show more skin. While it may be TMI, I confess that in this What I Wore I’m about a week off from starting my period, during a fertile point in my cycle. I do think I am showing more skin/dressing a bit more sexy than usual here, perhaps this study was onto something.
I do think you can certainly dress sexy with the intention of inciting lust in your partner and still be dressing for yourself, as it is you who is enjoying that thrill. Just as you can dress to impress other fashionable women and still be dressing for your own creative outlet and imagination. If I had to answer the ancient question, I would preface it by saying that it is different for every woman, but on a whole in answer to do women dress for women, men or themselves? I choose D, all of the above.
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I would have checked you out too. I love the outfit and would have been thinking, “how can I make that work for me?”
Leigh´s last blog ..Mad Love for Shaun Sundholm
*blushies* thank you dearie!
From what I can tell, most women dress to impress other women — full well knowing they have the more judgmental eyes — with the secondary train of thought leading to the station housed by men’s wandering orbs.
tankboy´s last blog ..Beeeeeaaaaaans!
It’s interesting you bring up women’s more judgmental eyes. I had a friend in college who would always tell me in regards to women and looks “There is beauty women see, and there is beauty men see.” I think what he was getting at is that women seem to be more propagandized by the media about the ways that women should look, and hold those who reach that nearly unattainable thinness and look as beauty.
this look is smoldering!
Pretty Robotic´s last blog ..Chicken Pesto Pizza
I have always said that women dress for other women, but mainly in the sense that they inhabit a society that forces them into a rather different form of competition than men. They dress for men too, for obvious reasons. And, actually I do not see anything wrong with dressing to attract a mate, it seems a pretty natural thing to me. And then there is the fitting in with a tribe thing…
Proud Maisie´s last blog ..Interesting times… often in the Chinese sense…
Smooooooookin’ outfit! Damn. Those shoes are amazing.
i never actually thought about that before…if we dress for girls or guys. interesting question. i certainly take note of what other girls are wearing…but anyway, like you, when i dress up, i just feel AMAZING. nothing is better than a new outfit. NOTHING. well maybe a few things.
Candice´s last blog ..Where it all began
Add me to the ‘would have been checking you out’ list. I like that dress.
Nick´s last blog ..Two Poems for Special K
First of all – nice outfit!
It is interesting to think about who women dress for, and while most of us believe we dress for ourselves, there is probably still some small element of impressing someone else influencing our decision. I know I am more likely to wear something more often if my partner likes it – purely because I feel better about myself when wearing these things.
Also, at risk of TMI I never wear my nice sexy clothes when close to my period. I’m not sure whether this is because of hormonal changes or just because I don’t want to accidentally dirty my nice clothes.
Miss Peregrin´s last blog ..Things I Love Thursday #2
TOTALLY FIERCE.
Chelsea Talks Smack´s last blog ..When You’re BROKE and in LOVE……you buy shit with pennies.