Booko
Deviled Hen
Luke Wolf said:
I mentioned running shoes with a skirt to point out that dress clothes change rather quickly and dress shoes don't stay in style either. Not for us.
Running shoes don't change, but you can't wear them with a skirt and not look stupid.
If you work in a profession that requires you to dress, women's clothes will not last for years like men's will. They go out of fashion. You can work around that a bit by going for the more timeless styles, but only to a point. A man can buy a suit that would remain stylish for decades. I have a suit from the 80s that's in perfect condition, but if I wore that into an office I would expect giggles at the very least.
In daily dress, that's exactly what I do. But that's not possible all the time, unless a woman just stays home except for grocery shopping.
Here's what a man needs for his wardrobe:
1 decent dark suit
1 button down shirt (could be 25 years old -- style hasn't changed)
1 pair dress shoes
all the casual clothes he wants
1 pair sneakers
Here's what a woman needs for her wardrobe:
1 or more neutral colored suits (each good for 5 years max)
Several different colored blouses that can be worn either with suits or skirts.
Some skirts
Middle-level dresses (for church, dining out, symphony, whatever)
Basic black outfit (must be fashionable, with striking jewelry to wear with).
One fashionable dress (goes out of style in 2 years at least)
And lets not even talk about the shoes: very dress shoes, casual dress shoes, strictly casual shoes, work shoes. Open toe for summer, closed for winter or office work. Some shoes go with slacks but look stupid with skirts, so you'll need a dressier shoe for the skirt or dress.
Men can get by with 2 levels of dress: dressed up and jeans. If they don't have to dress up much, one suit, one shirt and one pair of dress shoes will do them for years.
Women have many levels of dress they have to come up with. There's the everyday stuff, sure. For office work, there's either suits or business casual. To a funeral, it needs to be black and classy. To the symphony, it needs to be black and stylish. What I wear to the symphony I can't wear to a funeral. I'd look stupid.
A man can just wear the same black suit and be done with it.
And to top off the insult we have to deal with by following fashion enough to not look stupid, they make our clothes like crap, so they fall apart even after they're worn a couple of times. Oh...and the dry cleaning bills. Dont' even go there.
Luke, I'm as simple as they come when it comes to wardrobe, but I still have 3-4 times the amount of clothing my husband has. I'm lucky. I can wear jeans most times. I don't do church, so I don't dress for that. I still have something to wear for funerals and weddings and the symphony.
Oh, and if I perform somewhere, I do have a bit of basic black stuff that covers the seasons and will do for that sort of thing. Fortunately, those are always simple-lined clothes, because people are supposed to be paying attention to the music, not my clothes.
I have a short sleeved dress, a long warm skirt, a longish lighter skirt, black slacks (2- winter and summer weight) white blouse, black top (for the full black effect) and 2 pairs of shoes, according to the weather. There's nothing I can delete from this.For performance clothes, here's what the guys have: 1 pair black slacks, 1 white dress shirt, 1 black shirt, 1 tie, tux (bought secondhand). Oh yeah, one pair black shoes -- when were oxfords ever out of style? Not in my lifetime.
Even in something as simple as performance wear, I still have easily 2-3 times the clothing needs they do.
For the final point, you may think women look fine in jeans and a t-shirt, but there are plenty of men who think otherwise (remember Faint?) and at some ages jeans and t-shirts are not the most flattering things women could be wearing.
