Men's versus women's clothing, an interesting comparison

[Julia Cross]

I was just working away at laying out a clothing catalogue and came to an interesting realization. Men's casual clothing seems to be designed more like a tool, structure, practicality, useful design features all seem to be the key elements, while the women's section is designed more for appearance, design in this case is on looking unique or interesting, far less emphasis is on practicality, or useful design features. based on the apparel in this catalogue, it would appear women buy on emotion, men on necessity.

So I guess the average man looks at a jacket as if it were a tool, where as the average woman looks at the jacket as if it were a puppy.

That's my thought for the day.

Julia

[Nikki Dee]

And I would agree with that thought Julie.!...I just know I have no interest in male clothing these days....other than necessity...it is SO damn boring...no wonder we refer to it as DRAB....The fabrics and colours and styles that are available to us in femme mode are just wonderful...makes me feel far more "alive" and interested in life.
Love Nikki. xx

[erica12b]

yep ,thats it practical.

[SandraInHose]

Totally agree. Being a pantyhose freak (and I mean that in a nice way!), I cringe when I hear or read comments by young women today saying that pantyhose are so unnecessary, and they serve no purpose. I beg to differ on both accounts. They may not be practical, but hose, along with heels and other accessories make all the difference in the world.

Practicality be damned! It's all about the look! :)

[Julie York]

Name six styles of men's shirts.


Nuff said.

[SandraInHose]

Name six styles of men's shirts.


Nuff said.


Let's see...

1. long sleeved
2. short sleeved
3. buttoned
4. pullover
5. ......?
6. ......?

Ummmm....I'll have to get back to you on 5 and 6. ;)

[Julia Cross]

5. clean
6. dirty

Julia

[Shannon]

I totally agree. If I do need to pick up some clothes for him, the choices and selections are so boring and unappealing. I'll fulfill the need, and then off to the women's clothing section to at least satisfy my visual and sensual need for variety, fun, style and imagination. Which usually results in something for Shannon too!:)

[Helen MC]

It wasn't always thus. In Tudor, Stuart, Hanoverian and Regency times British and European males were very fancy in their attire, matching or even exceeding the prettiness of the women's clothing of those days. Look at the paintings of the times of Henry VIII, Charles I and II, even George III . I blame the Victorians and Edwardians for the boring, trousered, drab bondage we now must all endure in the Western World.

Even the Victorians and Edwardians used to dress their boys as girls when they were infants and toddlers and let them have long and curly hair. It was only when they went to school that their hair was cut and they were made to wear male clothing, that must have been a terribly traumatic experience for some lads.

Now a little beauty is coming back to male clothing and of course we have much that is now unisex (at least in Britain) but it is still mainly functional and plain and in a word DRAB compared to female clothing, as even the trousers, jeans etc made for women are more appealing then men's clothes.

[Kera_Efflorescence]

Reminds me of this email notice I got from eBay or something, advertising holiday shopping. It was like:

Gifts for her:
Perfume
Intimates
Shoes
Makeup

Gifts for him:
Watches
Tools
(Some other typical manly, work related, practical items that I don't remember)

I thought.. wow, these are the gifts we buy for each gender, and thus what they're expected to enjoy or use. What a perfect window into the roles that each gender is expected to fill in society. The woman receives items designed to increase her physical beauty or appeal, the man receives items which are practical and useful for their job.

Male = achieve worth through work; female = achieve worth through beauty.

... this is also commonly the criteria that the genders use to measure each other's sex appeal. Hence why women constantly criticize men for being shallow and only wanting gorgeous babes, and men often criticize women for dating guys with money.

So, yeah, it's natural that clothing would reflect these values as well.