Why are you interested in clothes/style?

[lance konami]

I've always been drawn to cool looking clothes, it might stem from being dragged to the mall constantly to go shopping with my mom when I was a kid, but now I admit I am interested in clothes because of the noticeably more positive responses from women. I mean it's like night and day. I also like how much better I feel when I'm dressed well.

What about you? Have any of you experienced the same thing? Do you get complimented more often by the opposite sex?

 

[minya]

Haha. I don't think I've ever received compliments from a girl. Had quite a few same-sex attempts, though. (I'm just waiting for blackplatano to PM me telling me how cute I am)

 

[Goblin]

Originally Posted by lance konami

I've always been drawn to cool looking clothes, it might stem from being dragged to the mall constantly to go shopping with my mom when I was a kid, but now I admit I am interested in clothes because of the noticeably more positive responses from women. I mean it's like night and day. I also like how much better I feel when I'm dressed well.

What about you? Have any of you experienced the same thing? Do you get complimented more often by the opposite sex?
I'm not really sure.

I think part of it is because I grew up in an extremely poor, hand-me-down environment. I had no one to show me how to dress well, especially for business purposes (still learning that one), and I got a lot of crappy clothes and hand-me-downs, so I had to learn how to dress under those constraints. I still get a kick out of dressing on a budget, albeit a less restricted one than I had growing up, and with the advantage of the Internet.

I was also always a weird kid and drifted into "outcast" subcultures, and have retained elements of those styles. Hence, as an adult/perpetual adolescent, I still gravitate to punk/rocker/post-skater style, along with the military and workwear influences that go along with those looks. I can finally dress the way I always wanted to dress but either didn't have the money for or didn't know how - and dressing like other 35-year old lawyers has *nothing* to do with what I want out of life.

I do get a lot of compliments about my casual wardrobe from girls - not just "ladies," but girls. I'll have been married for 11 years in October, but obviously I still dig on that ****, especially since the average "well-dressed man" undoubtedly thinks I look like a guttersnipe.

That said, I take girls' opinions with a grain of salt, because when it comes to men's clothing, they're pretty much full of **** ... they think I look cool, but any time I go shopping with my wife or any other girl, they try to ****** me up something fierce (not that there's anything wrong with that.) They understand that I'm awesome but they don't understand why.

I still have a lot to learn about style, especially business style, about which I'm still fairly clueless. I have a handle on my casual style but I'm still refining it.

I think my current interest in clothing comes from having significant discretionary income for the first time in my life and wanting, as always, to rock with all due hardness.

 

[Babar]

Originally Posted by lance konami

but now I admit I am interested in clothes because of the noticeably more positive responses from women. I mean it's like night and day. I also like how much better I feel when I'm dressed well.

That about sums it up for me as well.

 

[Arethusa]

Style is, for me, a personal expressive medium. I approach it in many ways as I approach writing, cinema, or (visual, 2d) art. It is a medium in which I can create, and that covers everything from outfits with unconventional aesthetics to cutting new stuff. Like all things, it influences me beyond the specific medium (eg approaching cultural design in a webcomic partially through fashion). I'm really not interested in following trends, and any attention from the same or opposite sexes is superfluous as far as I'm concerned.

I did have some interest in getting involved in designing professionally and possibly starting a label (eventually, obviously; I'm in no position to do so and won't be for the forseeable future), but after what happened to Jay, I don't know.

 

[lance konami]

Originally Posted by Arethusa

Style is, for me, a personal expressive medium. I approach it in many ways as I approach writing, cinema, or (visual, 2d) art. It is a medium in which I can create, and that covers everything from outfits with unconventional aesthetics to cutting new stuff. Like all things, it influences me beyond the specific medium (eg approaching cultural design in a webcomic partially through fashion). I'm really not interested in following trends, and any attention from the same or opposite sexes is superfluous as far as I'm concerned.

Interesting. I'm a musician and an artist, and I do look at it as a personal expressive medium as well.

 

[kronik]

Originally Posted by Babar

That about sums it up for me as well.

Ditto.

 

[Spoony]

Originally Posted by Goblin

I'm not really sure. I think part of it is because I grew up in an extremely poor, hand-me-down environment. I had no one to show me how to dress well, especially for business purposes (still learning that one), and I got a lot of crappy clothes and hand-me-downs, so I had to learn how to dress under those constraints. I still get a kick out of dressing on a budget, albeit a less restricted one than I had growing up, and with the advantage of the Internet.
This, and I'm very skinny, so finding clothes that fit my is a challenge, so therefore I have to know more about clothes and be very selective. And girls.

 

[jet]

For me, design and aesthetics evoke certain feelings. When I see things that appeal to me or look good, I feel good. It has nothing to do with self-esteem though however. I really enjoy seeing the sum of pieces coming together being greater than the pieces of the sum. I pay notice to colors, textures, design and if I like what I see it's a nice feeling and influences my day.

 

[Get Smart]

having been heavily involved in subcultures since I was young teen that were all defined by a distinct clearcut style, old habits die hard.

 

[whodini]

Originally Posted by lance konami

Interesting. I'm a musician and an artist, and I do look at it as a personal expressive medium as well.
I feel I approach clothing like I do music: what I hear/wear can be an expression of how I feel or want to feel. Feeling a bit ****-you, I'm gonna dress dark and put on some QOTSA, D-Tones, or Thrice. Out to party, it'll be a bit more colorful with some Eagles of Death Metal or Strung Out. Rainy day, it'll be comfortable with Kings of Convenience, Sigur Ros, or Elliott Smith. But if I know I'm going to have a ****** day, I dress to the 9's and put on some Radiohead to balance it out. A bad song is like a bad shirt for me: worthless.

 

[LA Guy]

I've just really been interested in clothes and all things clothes related - the clothes themselves (not necessarily stuff I would wear myself either), construction, design, marketing, the workings of the industry, sociology, etc. Always have been, since I was a kid. Don't really know why.

 

[Manny Calavera]

Art is my life and fashion is no different than any other medium in that I embrace clothing wholeheartedly.

 

[StevenRocks]

I've always been facinated with design. Combining this with being hard to fit for clothing has made me the clotheshorse and design freak that I am.

 

[alien22]

i lack confidence and dressing all pretty makes me feel good about myself.