Exchange program with women's style forums

[Fabienne]

A little while back, my husband and I dressed his brother from head to toe for a television appearance. My husband might have gone more towards a traditional look, I took my brother-in-law's physiognomy and skin tone into consideration. We decided he needed clothes he would feel comfortable in and wear again. In the end, I don't think my brother-in-law would have looked as nice as he did if only one of us had helped him dress.

 

[esquire.]

From my experiences on other internet forums, it would be a huge mistake to indiscrimantely bring in too many women considering the amount of tangents threads in this forum. Maybe, it was the ones I've seen, but it seems a lot of women don't want to deal with facts or honestly discuss something. They'd rather everybody feel good about themselves even if its all a sham.

This is what happens:

A woman posts something wrong. Ex. a woman will post that Tom Clancy wrote 'Bonfire of the Vanities'.

You respond and write that it was Tom Wolfe who wrote it.

And, for whatever reason, the woman becomes hysterical and angry. It was strange to see how some women couldn't handle this.

 

[LA Guy]

From my experiences on other internet forums, it would be a huge mistake to indiscrimantely bring in too many women considering the amount of tangents threads in this forum. Maybe, it was the ones I've seen, but it seems a lot of women don't want to deal with facts or honestly discuss something. They'd rather everybody feel good about themselves even if its all a sham.

This is what happens:

A woman posts something wrong. Ex. a woman will post that Tom Clancy wrote 'Bonfire of the Vanities'.

You respond and write that it was Tom Wolfe who wrote it.

And, for whatever reason, the woman becomes hysterical and angry. It was strange to see how some women couldn't handle this.

Hmmm... Interesting. Maybe she got hysterical because she realized that Tom Wolfe's books are paeans to his own self importance and that the "The Hunt for Red October" kicks the ass of "Bonfire of the Vanities" hands down. And seeing that Dr. Seuss's "Cat in the Hat" kicks any Tom Clancy book's butt any day of the week, she realized that she'd just wasted a whole chunk of time really a really crappy book, when she could've read the entire Dr. Seuss oeuvre and a couple of Harry Potter books to boot.

Maybe that explains it.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

In terms of both his personal and literary style, Tom Wolfe is a man in full and always will be.

 

[LA Guy]

In terms of both his personal and literary style, Tom Wolfe is a man in full and always will be.

To use one of the most heinous phrases ever minted, "We will have to agree to disagree."

 

[dah328]

I think it will be interesting to see what happens to the men's forum on Ask Andy after Andy adds the new forum for women's clothing. I think there will be the inevitable crossover between the forums and I'm not sure it will be for the better. Although, if it kills off the incessant "Where to buy trad underwear/dogs/cars" threads, that will be for the better.

dan

 

[bry2000]

Andy is now going to have a woman's forum? Only upside to that is if that helps kill the trad bullshit. I agree with you. Andy's forum has gone way downhill.

 

[esquire.]

another reason to not bring in women: we'd have to close a number of our threads that ever involved women because it meant we were objectying women and being sexist.

while the site was down, i had to go to other forums for my fix. my experiences with those sites truly makes me appreciate this site even more for the general level of intelligent discourse. while there might be disagreements on this site, we usually don't resort to name calling.

in that other site, if you happened to disagree with a woman, you'd be accused of sexism. it seems the evolving definition of sexism now includes the crime of ever disagreeing with a woman.

i would be having a discussion that had nothing to do with sexism, yet as soon as i disagreed, they started calling me sexist. this is how the spiel would usually go 'stop oppressing me. you can't handle an assertive woman.' or, in a unrelated discussion, they'd start to bring up the topic of female oppression.

nor, could i even make a joke or use satire cause female oppression was too important and thus everybody needed to be serious all the time.

i must be doing something right if whnay thinks i'm a soft hearted liberal and those women thought i was sexist and a nazi.

 

[Roger]

Wow, you guys..  My experiences have been very different from the ones noted above. First, I've found the opinions of the few women who post on this forum and AAAC very valuable--and sometimes dealing with nuances overlooked by the male posters (like color). Second, the one person in the world that I'd trust on color and cut is my wife. And third, the few female salespersons in the two major menswear stores in Vancouver (Harry Rosen and Holt Renfrew) are, as a group, generally more thoughtful and usually more tasteful than their male colleagues.  I'd really welcome more female input.

 

[Jill]

Thanks for the kind words from a few of you guys.  And don't forget "Fabiene" here as well as "VS" on AAAC - both of whom are very knowledgeable.

I have to agree with most of you that women are far more interested in their own "fashion" than in menswear.  VERY FEW are educated or interested in high-end menswear, or how to put it together.  And I would say that most women I know don't care about learning.  And when dressing their own guys, take their cues from what they see on entertainment and fashion magazines.  EEK.

Is there a women's equivalent of Style Forum or Ask Andy?

Yes, rumor has it that there is going to be a forum for the ladies made available on Andy's to fill what is a HUGE void in the online style fora for the girls.

Andy is now going to have a woman's forum?  Only upside to that is if that helps kill the trad bullshit.  I agree with you.  Andy's forum has gone way downhill.

Lighten up, Bry. That's pretty harsh.  I think the trad stuff is a little overdone too, but different strokes for different folks, eh?  That's why I love having both SF and AAAC - something for everyone.  Why is that the only upside?

 

[bachbeet]

I really don't understand the desire to keep women off this forum. I welcome all opinions. I may not agree and that's my right and everyone else's. Let's all take another look at the 1st amendment. It is perhaps the greatest right ever put down in writing by a government. Jefferson insisted on it. I'm glad he did and was so wise. It plays a great part in fostering self-expression. Let the women express themselves. disagree when you do. Let the discussion continue. don't fear another's words. Remain civil.

Specifically, the two women I've been married to had/have good senses of style and have chosen some nice clothes for me. I've appreciated it. When I've not liked a choice, I've put it as tactfully as possible and it usually works out well. And, I'm sure I have less of a clue about women's clothes than women have about men's clothes.

 

[gorgekko]

I'm not sure what the First Amendment has to do with inviting women on to SF since that only protects your free speech rights against government interference, but whatever. I don't think anyone here is opposed to women being members of SF. Hell, Jill and Fabienne have made great contributions to this board and I for one and very happy they're here. I'm just uncomfortable with actively soliciting women to come here and provide their views on men's style given that men and women tend to have very different philosophies on clothes. To steal a bit from Jill's post, if I wanted to know what the hottest styles were according to many women, I could just spend $2 and buy an issue of People. I'm not, however, interested in that.

 

[bachbeet]

gorgekko: If you read my post, you'll understand that I was pointing more to the philosophy of allowing self-expression (which was behind the First; after all, Jefferson et al excelled at political philosophy and owed debts to Locke et al) rather than any enforcement of the right and it's use against government intrusion.

 

[bachbeet]

gorgekko: If you read my post, you'll understand that I was pointing more to the philosophy of allowing self-expression (which was behind the First; after all, Jefferson et al excelled at political philosophy and owed debts to Locke et al) rather than any enforcement of the right and it's use against government intrusion. Â So what if you're uncomfortable. Â (Although I really don't see why it makes you uncomfortable). Â That's what differing opinions sometimes do. Â They bring discomfort. Â And, the upside is that in a true open expressive environment, resolution usually is found. Â And, sometimes one loses his/her discomforts and finds common ground with others. Â Self-expression is sneaky like that. Â

 

[dah328]

And third, the few female salespersons in the two major menswear stores in Vancouver (Harry Rosen and Holt Renfrew) are, as a group, generally more thoughtful and usually more tasteful than their male colleagues.  I'd really welcome more female input.

That's like saying that men know lots about dressing well because you've heard these guys on the Style Forum discussing clothing in excruciating detail.  You're basing your opinion of all women on a sampling of some of the most informed women who work at high-end men's stores.

Don't get me wrong.  We welcome female opinions.  We just prefer those who come to the SF out of an interest, and often aptitude, in men's clothing.  Those are a minority of the female population just as we are a minority of the male population. Soliciting the opinions of the uninformed just degrades the overall experience.