So you’ve finally landed a date with the guy you’ve been eyeing for the past month, and the only thing on your mind (besides envisioning that romantic first kiss) is what you’re going to wear. When it comes to guys, though, sometimes we forget that dressing to impress takes on a whole new meaning. While you think your new harem pants make you look like Hollywood’s top fashionistas, he thinks you’re auditioning to be in a MC Hammer music video. So put your copy of Vogue away and read on to find out what guys really think of how girls dress.
Rompers are for…
…not seducing members of the opposite sex to a romp sesh, as it turns out – but what else should we expect from something resembling a onesie circa our diaper days? Peter Frankman, a contributing writer at Her Campus’s University of Iowa branch, says that everything he doesn’t understand about fashion “starts and ends with those onesies girls are wearing.”
“The ones that are usually covered in flowers and that are shorts or pants and seem to be loose and tight at the same time, I don’t get those,” he adds.
HC Contributing Writer and Emory grad Ben Kassoy says that it’s how a romper fits that makes it so unattractive. “I find rompers very unflattering to the midsection and lower body,” he explains.
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“Man Repelling” 101: Harem Pants
Fashion blogger Leandra Medine of “The Man Repeller” blog defined man repelling as “outfitting oneself in a sartorially offensive way that will result in repelling members of the opposite sex,” and harem pants are number one on her list of outfit examples. A survey conducted by Cosmopolitan Australia shows that of a list of 10 fashion options, 38 percent of men said harem pants were their least favorite. Leandra, who notes on her blog that she has “never met a drop crotch I didn’t like,” says in the Telegraph that harem pants may just be the greatest man repellant of all time. “I’ve said before: mine are so roomy they could sleep an army,” she says. “The only problem here is that the members of this hypothetical army would probably take their chances and opt to seek refuge elsewhere.”
“That’s tight.”
No, when your guy says that, he is not referring to your second-skin layer, even though you think they’re pretty tight (in every possible meaning of the word).
Unless you’re wearing sheer, lacy bits held up by garters, guys don’t appreciate tights – black, leopard print or floral. “Tights or stockings with serious patterns scare me,” Ben says. HC Contributing Writer Erica Avesian, a junior at University of Michigan, agrees, saying that she’s noticed guys particularly dislike when shorts are worn over tights. So girls, even though those tights make you feel skinnier or are hiding the fact that you’ve neglected to shave for the second week in a row, guys like it better bare. Not surprised? Me neither.
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Being a [label] wh*re isn’t going to get you anywhere.
As girls, we may be able to spot a Missoni print from miles away, but your everyday guy probably doesn’t know the difference between the Coach and Chanel Cs. Skidmore grad and former HC Campus Correspondent Adriana Vetrano says that when girls wear all the latest trends and big names, they’re out to impress other women. “Only women know how much a Prada bag or Tory Burch flats cost – and, more importantly, what they signify,” she says. “It’s one thing to own something nice like that for yourself, but I think it’s often silly to buy super expensive clothing just for the name brand. Buy what looks good!”
Ask yourself this: Would he wear this?
HC Contributing Writer Anna Williams, a junior at New York University, says her guy friends hate how pantsuits look on girls (sorry, Hillary). Surprisingly, blazers aren’t a guy favorite, says Alexa Johnson, HC Campus Correspondent at James Madison University. “Once I wore a blazer out. One of my guy friends, when he first saw me, asked me why I was wearing his jacket, and then a guy I met that night kept telling me to take it off,” Alexa says, adding that guys don’t seem to like when girls are dressed in menswear. “I once wore an oversized, pinstripe button-down shirt out,” she says. “This guy came up to me and said, ‘You have to be pretty confident to be wearing a men’s shirt out.’ Little did he know they make shirts like that for girls all the time!”
Matt Glodz, a sophomore at Cornell University, explains the lack of appeal. “I feel like it shows that they don’t care about how they are perceived,” he says.
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High-waisted? He says, “Wasted effort.”
We used to make fun of our moms for wearing high-waisted jeans back in the day, but now we’re wishing they had kept those gems and passed them on to us. But as much as we think elongating the waist will make us look leggier while giving us that hourglass figure, our guys, who are notorious for showing off what boxers they’re wearing that day, are left thoroughly confused by why we’d want to wear anything that goes halfway up our torsos. Charlie Pribble, a senior at Johns Hopkins University, has this to say about all things high-waisted: “They make your bodies look weird.” I mean, I guess our butts do look kind of weird in high-waisted shorts.
So what do guys like?
University of Utah senior Alan Chou explains that guys love anything that flatters and accentuates a girl’s body (read: best assets), but he thinks that “sundresses are pretty cute, too.”
Adriana says that her boyfriend is partial to sundresses and simpler outfits, noting that the opposite can be more off-putting than we think. “[My boyfriend] explained that guys are much more attracted to a cute or sweet-looking girl rather than someone who puts it all out there, which tends to look trashy,” Adriana says. “I think even on a night out, a guy seems to be looking for a girl whose outfit doesn’t seem to be begging him to take her home with him.”
Columbia University senior Eduardo Santana says that all he wants is for a girl to make an effort and to look presentable. “Seriously, sweats, no matter how PINK or Couture they may be, just make you look lazy,” he says. “And it is exactly this kind of laziness and self-disregard that makes it very tempting for me to unpack all those Ed Hardy T’s my grandma keeps getting for me because of how sparkly and soft they are.”
The most important part of any collegiette’s™ outfit? “A nice smile,” Alan insists. Even in harem pants? Looks like we’re in luck, collegiettes™!
Sources:
Collegiettes™ and college guys around the country
http://www.cosmopolitan.com.au/10_fashion_trends_men_hate.htm
http://manrepeller.com
http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/columns/belinda-white/TMG8399082/Are-harem-pants-the-most-offensive-fashion-item-of-all-time.html
http://www.polyvore.com