considering that most male animals are more colourful than the female, why is men's fashion soo boring?

Question

Ladies have loads of stuff to put on....... 4 blokes it's, socks, trousers/jeans, shorts, shirts ,t-shirts, waistcoats, vest, jumpers, (once in a blue moon, if you don't wear one to work) a suit and that about it.......

It seems strange to me that historically men's clothing was a lot more elaborate in years gone by..compare your average victorian dude about town or Elizabethan geezer and the modern equivalent..

So have blokes just got lazy?

I mean how many types of skirt or dress os there? Trousers are trousers...........

Ohh yeah, why don't people wear hats anymore? Look at any film 1920's - 1970's-ish and nearly everyone got something perched on their noggin.......... what happenned?

Answer 1

You raise an excellent point. Historically, women's fashions were more elaborate as women had less serious, more frivolous lives. Showy but impractical clothes were a means of control, and fashion was meant to preoccupy them. Men were running the world and couldn't be as bothered.

However, menswear doesn't have to be boring. One reason why I loved the movie Casino was that for once, as much care and creativity had been lavished on the menswear as on the ladies (if you've not seen it, rent it and check out the colours on De Niro). I and enjoy wearing pink socks to match my bespoke pink shirt, or yellow socks to match my yellow tie against a a blue shirt (both with matching pocket squares). In Britain there is a wide range of colours acceptable for men to wear, and lots of opportunities to co-ordinate.

I also miss hats. One factor which facilitated its decline was President Kennedy not wearing them. As a young, glamorous world leader he was inadvertently a trend-setter and the decline of the hat was quite dramatic during the 1960s.

As for the present, men and women have both gotten lazy. When I go out to a nice restaurant or the theatre I like to dress up, but am always in a minority. I've even seen shorts and jeans at the Royal Opera House, which should be grounds for refusing admission. Anyway, if you care you can play your part by exploring lots of stores (the expensive ones still have sales twice a year) and dressing well.

Answer 2

Male animals and birds (especially birds) use their colourful plumage to attract a mate. So did the men in Medieval and Elizabethan times - to be able to wear fancy clothes many years ago was a luxury only of the rich, if you were a woman in those times, who would you find most attractive a peasant in drab clothing or a Dandy strutting in the street showing off his wealth?

In a way it is the same thing now, just in a different way. Women are still attracted to power/wealth and this is represented by a sober suit or more subdued clothing in a man. Men have been and always will be attracted to a female who looks feminine, pretty, etc., (dammit) so we have to constantly buy more attractive plumage.

As to the hats - that's just a fashion cycle - I am sure they will be back at some point.

Thanks - you made me think.

Answer 3

Fashion is a buisness that thrives on buying power. Women spend more on Fashion so the market is set up to provide women with many options. sometimes it is just that there are more designers out there who are designing for women!! Don't you find it strange that women can wear almost anything, mens clothes and styles too. They also say that designing for men can be tough. On a popular US TV show called "Project runway" on that show they were just saying that a womans body is easier to drape.

Answer 4

Maybe most men still beleive thaqt nature has given them enough and don't need to adorn themselves more. Wemen tend to try and please more so they have beome very inventive on the way they dress

OR

on the other side of the coin... men in general have lost their vanity in the last century or two while women are becoming more daring and emancipated. Who would have guesses, two hundred years ago that females would wear trousers?

Answer 5

Because female are more complicated when it comes to fashion. Women are bombarded by media with model sexy women, and so women are pressured to look the same with one of the reason like pleasing men. Men are visuals so women should look good visually. Society accepted the fact that men just lounge around in the sofa drinking beers and eating. While women should always look good. Thats why all these years, womens fashion has gone far compare to mens boring usual clothes. Dont worry, males are actually keeping up nowadays. Just think the rise of metrosexuals(Equally vain men), Men wearing pink polo and floral shirts. In time, it wont be boring anymore.....I hope.

Answer 6

ugh! this hurts my soul. i ask myself the same question everyday. i absolutely hate that mens clothing is so BLAH. i think that men, in general, have gotten lazy about self appearance and just go with what is easy. Although there are a few designers/clothing companies that do make a bit more fashion forward clothing for me, its still nothing compared to women. Someone stated earlier that women are more complicated shoppers, Yea Right! i cater to men everyday and they are soooo picky about fits/colors/styles/etc. Women are way easier to sell to.

Answer 7

Your right in the animal kingdom the males are more colourful in order to attract a female, but in our society it is the females who are trying to attract a mate, so we are the most colour full.when the female attracts a man she likes, she will then try his social skills to see what he is like, if he is not able to whoo he with his words, he is dropped and the female starts all over again. Men rely on thier charm to gain a woman, while a woman relies on her looks to get a man. Does that help.

Answer 8

I like men's styles.

I spend about a fourth as much on clothes as my wife, and I like it that way.

You can wear a chicken suit if you want to be colorful. I'll stick to my drab and boring wardrobe.

Answer 9

Once this colourful young man with rainbow coloured hair and outlandish attire was sitting next to an old man on the park bench.

The young man felt the old man staring at him:
'What's up, pop? Can't you appreciate fashion?.'

'Young man, in my youth, I once was so drunk I had sex with a parrot; I was wondering whether you were my son'.

Answer 10

It's a curious question, and I'd love to answer it properly, but I just don't know why that is :) Good thinking process though