Why Do You "Dress Up"?

[Jovan]

I dress in dresses or a skirt & blouse every day, and always have my hair, make-up etc done. I do this because I love this look, and enjoy looking like a lady.I have been dressing like this for so long now that I can't imagine dressing any other way. I think if I was to go out in jeans and a t-shirt (not that I own either of these things), I wouldn't feel right.


I agree with The Shirt, the last thing I want to do is bump into the man of my dreams & ruin my chances by looking a mess! In saying that, I very rarely get attention from any men around my age...."dressing up" seems to be something that most younger men aren't interested in. They'd rather have their girls in baggy jumpers or ugg boots [huh] So meeting the man of my dreams isn't looking very likely lol.

Those guys have no freaking clue what they're missing out on. Their loss, not mine.

 

[Tophat Dan]

just the old man in me coming out...

I've always dressed differently, but mostly because I was casting about, looking for something that I liked. "What I like" turns out what to be what most of my family and my wife term "old man clothes". I laughed it off until my grandma showed me a picture of my great grandfather (her father) in his early twenties wearing the same type of extra full cut newsboy cap I now wear every day at nearly the exact same age.

Since realizing I had more in common in my style likes/dislikes with my great grandparents than with anyone else I've embraced my inner old man as my finances allow. I use pomade. I shave with a straight razor. I feel naked without my hat (unless I'm indoors). My casual clothes tend toward the earlier 1900's with suspenders, collared or henly shirt, 40's style ankle boots, cotton or wool slacks and a wool vest. I hope someday to find a suit (or a bunch of them) I can both tolerate and afford. Until then I'm stuck my my revolting JC Penny special I wear to some weddings, funerals and not much else if I can help it.

Regards;

Dan

 

[CharlesB]

You can't be at your best unless you look your best. I take a lot of pride in what I do, how I live and genuinely love the hell outta my life. If I'm going to make hte most of it I might as well look damn good doin it.

Always remember that a man that LOOKS like he knows what he wants often gets it...

 

[tylerevansokay]

I don't dress up every day, primarily because I don't have enough clothing to do so, but I do about 3-4 days of the week. I do it because I like the way it looks more so than modern clothing. I like my pants to sit at my waist, not my hips. I like my shoes to have a shine... I like my hair to have pomades in it and shine like crazy... I just like the way the mid-50's rockabilly style looks.

 

[TheKitschGoth]

I work at an art gallery were a large majority of people, thinking themselves painfully hip, choose to wear vintage T-shirts and skinny pants. When I first started here, wearing a suit and tie, I was repeatedly told that I didn't have to dress up so much, as though slovenliness were a perk of the job. It took about a year before people realized I dress this way because I like to, not because I have to.

I got that in one of my past jobs.

I dress up because it's fun. Can you guess that my favourite "toy" as a kid was the dressing up box? Because making a fuss of myself every morning makes facing the day so much easier. And because the compliments I get make me very very happy lol

 

[Patrick Murtha]

Men are the peacocks. We are expected to dress/look fantastic. I love the attention. I was in Portland last month @ Jake's Grill; in the wonderful Governor Hotel, where I was staying, and feeling completely @ home for once, and heads were turning; (All I had on was a windowpane sportscoat and pearl grey flannels.) My female companion commented, "Everyone thinks you are someone important." Ridiculous.
I was dressed appropriately for the occasion. Go figure.

Agree 100%. It's so easy to gain an advantage these days by dressing even moderately well.

 

[Patrick Murtha]

I'm just flamboyant. Always have been!

+ 1

Me, too. I enjoy looking sharp every day. It's a nice hobby that brings me pleasure, does no harm except to my wallet, and brightens my attitude toward daily living. I like the attention, too, I will admit, and I've never minded standing out from the crowd. There's just no downside.

 

[Will]

I wear a suit or odd jacket 6-7 days a week, because that's what I choose to look like.

 

[John in Covina]

What's on the agenda.

I find that I like to have a collared shirt and khakis for work most of the time since I don't have to engage people and represent the company often. If it is a special event I guage the event and bring the dress up to an appropriate level. Jeans are for things like yard work or camping- something outdoors and adventuresome. But going first to a polo shirt and khakis is a step up, then a dress shirt with tie and khakis, then add a jacket of some sort, then go to a sports jacket, then to the suit and finally tux time.

In the summer I am a fan of shorts simply because it can be sooo hot in Southern California and I am prone to sweating badly anyway. (Gone native?) But it all begins with guaging the event and sometimes a little discomfort on my part shows I have respect for the host and the event...

I am lucky enough that when I put on my sports jacket or go to the suits I will usually get a "lookin' sharp" comment from friends or family and that is a confindence booster.

 

[Alan B.]

I do not dress to impress any women, friends, family, Ect... NOBODY BUT MYSELF. The only reason I do it is because It brings me pleasure. I do it because it fulfills me and makes me enjoy life with on optimistic attitude when I have the luxury to wear art created by myself for myself. I think my purpose in life is to create and I see clothing as one of the ways of expressing this ideal passionately and naturally.

Brilliantly stated!!

 

[DerMann]

For the pockets.

Seriously, I have almost four times the amount of pockets that my friends have - it's probably one of the most convenent aspects of wearing a jacket.

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

Well, the odd thing about it is...I don't often *feel* like I'm dressing up. I have a classic/traditional style of dress, and have only recently been moving into more of a vintage-inspired look. I can happily don jeans, but I'm generally most comfortable in something a little more polished. It helps me feel ready for the day and to take on the world (or at least my classwork).

But despite the fact that I feel like I'm dressing "normally", I frequently get asked whether I'm going somewhere special, did I come from work, etc. And often enough, it's when I feel like something doesn't quite fit right, my hem is uneven, garment fabric is on its last leg, etc! lol Black - which I wear a lot of, and not in a Goth way - seems to garner the most comments.

"Dressing up" definitely has its pluses, however. I think people tend to see me as automatically more responsible, intelligent (!), and level-headed. Perhaps even more so than I actually am!

 

[donCarlos]

I have always loved the way men look in suits, but I was so young, it would be extremely strange to dress like that. Now I´m 19 and thus old enough to look well

One day, I was walking through the city centre and was looking at the stuff in the display windows and at the people around me. I thought "I can´t be part of it... It´s terrible!". That´s the first point.

The second point is that I look like something better than the others. Since I still don´t have eye for the color combinations, I sometimes ask my female friends for an advice. When I asked yesterday, she said "yes, you will definitely look like someone very important". I´m curious whether she was right, I´ll find out today...

And last but not least, the girls I know some who love well dressed men. However, my girlfriend doesn´t seem to love it. She even makes fun of me sometimes... No matter, I will stay the way I am.

 

[Luigi Vampa]

And last but not least, the girls I know some who love well dressed men. However, my girlfriend doesn´t seem to love it. She even makes fun of me sometimes... No matter, I will stay the way I am.

Same here. My girlfriend asks me all the time, "Why don't you wear a t-shirt and jeans? It would be a nice surprise."

Nah, I don't think so.

 

[donCarlos]

Same here. My girlfriend asks me all the time, "Why don't you wear a t-shirt and jeans? It would be a nice surprise."

Nah, I don't think so.

that´s just what the girls are We are lucky we have the tollerant ones.

 

[Abyss]

I dress up because, if you are ever going to do anything, do it with style.

That, and "For the chicks. But I must be doing it wrong" (Deckard 1).

 

[CharlesB]

I would hate to meet the most important person I'm ever supposed to meet and look unprepared

 

[Jovan]

For the chicks. But I must be doing it wrong.

Well quoted.

The last girl who commented on what I was wearing in person asked if I had just gotten out of church in a really snarky, patronising tone. But I didn't comment at all, given I would have said something equally snarky -- and thus no better than her -- about the wide assortment of metallic paper accessories on her face. I also distinctly remember when a girl who worked in a supermarket sort of looked at me and giggled when I was wearing a suit and tie. Not sure how to interpret that. [huh]

The thing that gets me through the day is that ZZ Top song. You all know which one I mean.

 

[Patrick Murtha]

Well quoted.

The last girl who commented on what I was wearing in person asked if I had just gotten out of church in a really snarky, patronising tone. But I didn't comment at all, given I would have said something equally snarky -- and thus no better than her -- about the wide assortment of metallic paper accessories on her face. I also distinctly remember when a girl who worked in a supermarket sort of looked at me and giggled when I was wearing a suit and tie. Not sure how to interpret that. [huh]

The thing that gets me through the day is that ZZ Top song. You all know which one I mean.

Hmm, maybe this is an age thing. Because I get compliments from women (and men, too) all the time. I walked into a supermarket one day in suit, tie, and fedora, and a nice woman stopped in her tracks and said, "Now, that's how a man should look." Seersucker suits, spectator shoes, bow ties, boutonnieres -- comments, I get comments, and they are all positive. But I am 49, and my hair is going quite gray, and although I don't think I look old, I do look my age (finally!), and kind of distinguished, kind of moneyed. I get "Sir" a lot these days. I think that I must look like I "own the company." And people seem to like it.

So hang in there a few decades. It gets better.

 

[univibe88]

Any girl who says something negative is doing you a favor. She is immediately letting you now she is not worth any of your valuable time. You immediately know to move on.