Femalisms I have noticed (some might be regional)

[Lesley_Roberta]

I have been for some time going to Tim Horton's and specifically concentrating on looking at the people as they come and go.

The location I go to seems to have a high count of seniors too (there being a large condo complex nearby for them helps). But it is a busy spot and I see plenty of people from 20s and up. Not much teen traffic though.

I have noticed

Women seem to wear pants that conform to the shape of the leg. No baggyness to the fit. Some of it is of course specifically form fitting because that is the nature of the article.
Men seem to wear pants that have a lot of excess fabric in the legs.

Women seem to always have twice as many layers of upper body wear than men (not including bra). A guy might just have a shirt, whereas a girl might have two tops on as evidenced by how you can see a differing coloured item that is long enough to stick out an inch or so lower. Seems deliberate. Many female outfits seem to have an inner article with an outer article not always closed in front.
Unless a guy is wearing a suit, it seems a shirt is all there will be there.

Tucked in seems to not matter between genders, but it seems women's tops were never meant to be tucked in to begin with. It seems to be just a choice with men's tops. I can wear the t shirt in or out and it looks right either way.

Belts seem to be a great deal more bolder on men and of course fancy buckles exist. Not that girls don't wear them ever. But so many girls seem to wear articles that would make seeing a buckle impossible rendering there be no point in wearing it.

Head coverings. I have been realizing women seem to rarely if ever have anything on their head other than a hood pulled up from a hoodie or similar item. I am guessing that is because messed up hair is a bad thing. I don't really like wearing ball caps myself, and I do tend to be fussy about how my hair appears.

The attention to one's hair seems to preclude my being able to wear my relatively overly expressive big head phones around. I suppose it looks ok as a guy, but would look kinda dumb as a female. That means I'd likely need to settle for ear plug type head phones or accept I'd look dumb.

Women seem willing to wear open concept shoes in damn near any weather conditions. I can only assume that is also a refection of not needing to walk far. I have often wondered what I would do about long duration walks and what would look sensible with some outfits. Some outfits seem to scream out 'you can't expect to walk far in this". I wonder if that means I'd be forced to curtail long walks if I want to wear some outfits. Don't even want to think of walking an hour in some form of heels.

Girls seem to be routinely 'cleaner' than most men. Men seem to be more willing to walk around in attire that seems like it just walked off a contruction site. Then again, girls seem ok with walking around in jeans all torn up in the front of the legs (I don't understand that fashion statement).

Size, I am noticing, that one major visual detail with women is they are just typically smaller over all. I suppose I can stop lamenting being inherently small. Once I get the waist down, I suspect a good wig and I will likely fit in easy enough just by looking the right over all size from most angles.

Getting a realistic wig is likely going to mean getting one that looks entirely ordinary as in not overly fancy. I have a thing for hair accessories, but I don't want them to end up acting like beacons too And I am not as of yet experienced in how much a person can safely do to a wig if made of artificial fibres without harming the wig. Something on my to do list that. I like pony tails and I like the idea of ribbons and I want to be able to wear clips etc.

But most girls appear to wear their hair in a way that states they did as little as possible to get it that way. The trick will be a pony tail that looks 'rushed'. And I don't want to just look like a guy with a pony tail. But that likely will be easy if the hair is kept coloured in some fashion. I have noticed girls can wear all sorts of extreme colourations whereas guys seem to rarely indulge this.

My goal, assuming I get the green light (that IS of course a requirmemnt like it has always been) is to look like a typical woman of my age range. I want to be able to wear a skirt if at least 15 other women can be seen to have walked by me inside of an hour. I have no desire to be the only 'woman' in a skirt on a day no one else is wearing one. Same with a dress to some extent. Today it is windy and over cast and threatening rain. There were very few women out today in skirts (no shock there). I have seen plenty out in hot weather though.

I am thinking my ideal outfit, will be some form of pants, not jeans and not tights, that fit close and have nothing in common with my male type pants. And some form of top that goes to the waist, not below it much and can be combined with maybe another top over it as an accent and with potentially something that can be worn left open. It seems to be a common 'look'. Colourful but mainly female due to the cut, not the colour. Neck lines on female tops are almost always a great give away. Men's tops seem totally uninterested in leaving much upper torso open to view. Men also of course tend to not wear lacy or open weave like top layer garments such as sweaters.

Any comments on my observations would be appreciated.

[Beverley Sims]

Good observations,
Layering of tops seems to be in, I like low cut fronts because it helps my passing image.
Wig wise yes something less of a beacon, and pants.... You can do well by steering away from jeans.
I like low heeled calf length boots as well.
I can agree with the skirt ratio also as I have been caught out in a skirt and I am the only one pantless
Loved your survey.

[RADER]

Lesley:
You have many interesting observations their.
I agree with you, today's fashion is not what is was say when I was in grade school.
Men wore a suit and tie generally, Unless they where doing construction, Women wore
a dress or a skirt and top, nice shoes by both sexes, and courtesy was the order of the day.
Society has gotten quite laze over the years, with new laws being generated on those who
wear their pants at their knees. (I can not understand that one at all)
Like you stated, girls pay big money for pants (Jeans) with holes in the them, we use to use
them as rags when working on the car.
No one wants to be bothered with fixing up their hair, (Glad I am going bald) It must be to much
work. My wife is always fixing her hair, even when we are not going anywhere.
It is part of her up-bringing, something taught to her as a child.
Todays kids are over powered with tech. to the point that they do not use their heads for more
than an unused Hat rack.
As a Carpenter, I used Math everyday, so many of the young men coming out of school did not
have the basic knowledge of simple math, they could not add 2 fractions together, or multiply 2
fractions together, or could find the circumference of a circle. Heck I had a man, about 22 who thought
"pi" was a desert.
I guess we came from the old school where you did home work with a pencil, and not the computer.
Rader

[Chickhe]

Fashion and style is complicated, that's why shows like 'what not to wear' are popular. The trick is to figure out what works for you... something about men's style is interesting though...so little choice, yet the way you wear carry the clothes says a lot about you. Its subtle, wear a tank top and baseball cap and you look like a looser...a t shirt and baseball cap...a sport fan, tucked in t shirt more class. I think with women's style its more about combinations and what looks good, but certain styles identify your profession.. wings tips, wide eyes, page cut...reporter, stretch everything...stay at home mom, bright colored suit sales woman. Pick someone who is your shape and size, who wears what you want to look like and copy it, then build on it.

[Tina B.]

Yes girls love that layered look, at least for the last few years, they even sell a tube on TV, that you wear under your top to give that look if you don't want to wear two tops. but as to the hair color that might be a female thing in your part of the world, but here in California, I would say it's more a young persons thing. A lot of the boy's are wearing spikes, and coloring them some pretty wild colors, or just the front that hangs down the forehead, in things like blue, green, or bright red.
Womens pants goes through cycles too, from elephant legs, to leggings, they come and go with leg width, season by season, one of the biggest differences I see between men and women and clothes, women are a lot more willing to change things up, and try something different, men dress like it's a uniform, Suits never change much, basic shirt styles stays the same, and what can you do to change the true male uniform, of jeans and a tee.
If a guy tries something different, he can expect to be laughed at by his friends, when a women does it, her friends want to know where she got it.
Tina B.

[outhiking]

From what I've noticed, the layered look also has to do with regulating body temp. Women seem to react quicker to changes in temps and adjust, especially to cold, quicker then men. My wife almost always brings a sweater to the movies, especially in the summer.

The real trick is achieving a great look that disguised the fact that it took a lot of thought and effort to achieve it.

[docrobbysherry]

Just one question, Lesley: WHO is Tim Horton? Not as in, "Horton hears a Who?"

[StarrOfDelite]

Just one question, Lesley: WHO is Tim Horton? Not as in, "Horton hears a Who?"

You obviously don't like ten inch long cream stick donuts with chocolate topping ! :-)) It's a chain of restaurant/coffee shops, somewhat similar to Panera's.

[Babeba]

You obviously don't like ten inch long cream stick donuts with chocolate topping ! :-)) It's a chain of restaurant/coffee shops, somewhat similar to Panera's.

Starr, I don't know this Panera's you are talking about but I am sure it's probably the other way around - that IT is similar to Tim's! (they do t do ten inch cream filled donuts, I'm afraid - but they do an awesome Boston cream donut, filled with custard.)

Tim Horton was a hockey player who went into retirement, opened a coffee/donut chain, and then came out of retirement back to the NHL to help finance it. He died prematurely, and today his legacy is a ginormous chain of donut/coffee/sandwich shops across the whole of Canada. They send disadvantaged kids to camp, they give away thousands of prizes during 'roll up the rim' season (a sure Canadian sign that spring is on its way), focus a LOT on how awesome hockey is and a community can truly feel it is large enough to matter to the rest of us once it is big enough for a Timmy's. If you ever want to pass as Canadian, when you enter a Tim Horton's go up to the counter and ask for a large double-double!

Lesley,

I think for the look you are thinking of, try a store like Cleo's, Ricki's or Suzy Shier? The latter two are not overly expensive for trousers and tops especially their sales racks... And on the ricki's website they usually have ten items ten ways - ten different outfits that can be put together with ten pieces from their current collection. It's a good way to get an idea about how to wear things.

[Frédérique]

Any comments on my observations would be appreciated.

[SIZE="2"]How many people in the U.S. know who Tim Horton was? I certainly do (I watch lots of hockey*)!!!
*[SIZE="1"]Go Kings!!![/SIZE]

Anyway, your observations are spot-on. You could easily use your powers and be a visual artist of some sort or another. Here in my little Kansas town, I recently saw an interesting photo in the local newspaper – they were dedicating a new sign along the hiking/cycling trail, so a few locals (who had lobbied for it) posed for posterity. The men stood on one side of the sign, and the women stood on the other side (the gender divide in action), and they all looked alike! I honestly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Each gender wore t-shirts (not tucked-in, of course), and shorts, not to mention baseball (feed) caps and running/walking shoes. The women were a little cleaner looking, they had more hair on their heads, and the effects of beer consumption were not as much in evidence, but they were virtually identical to the males by way of dress. Ah, civilization...
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