Who Do You Think Women REALLY Dress For?

Jennifer Anniston

Jenna Dewan-Tatum

The other day, I overheard a woman in my salon say that women don’t dress for themselves or for men – they dress up for other WOMEN. Now, this is certainly not how I have always viewed things. In fact, when I thought about it, I divided women into three categories: the “smallest” – women who dress to please no one but themselves; the “medium” category of women who dress to compete with or impress other women; and the “largest” and (in my humble masculine opinion) most important category, women who dress to attract and seduce men.

Katherine Heigl

So, this conversation really got me going, and then I saw the pictures of ELLE Magazine’s Women in Film luncheon, a lovely women-only daytime event honoring the power ladies of the movie industry. 

Amber Heard

And there they were, with dresses slit to their navels (yes, Miss Jennifer Anniston), ample amounts of cleavage, sparkles, skin-tight sheaths, minis, killer heels – and not a man in sight. 

Camila Alves

Alice Eve

So, have I been fooling myself all these years that the ladies have been slipping into slinky gowns and sexy shoes, not to drive us men completely wild, but to compete with each other?? Don’t they know that when a man compliments a woman on her dress, he is thinking, “I wonder how easy it is to get her back OUT of that dress?”

Evan Rachel Wood

Michelle Pfieffer

I think it’s time you told us what YOU think! All you powerful women, tell us the truth:

A. Do you dress totally to please yourself, do you not really care what others think or say, do you love your style no matter what?

B. Do you dress to make the other women in the room jealous, to be the most fashion-forward, to turn other women’s heads and make them wish they had your sense of style, fearlessness, budget, or figure?

C. Do you dress to turn men’s heads, with all other attention strictly collateral damage?

 

Ellie Kemper

Gillian Jacobs

As a man who’s been in the beauty industry a very long time, I have some very definite opinions on what I think the answers will be. I listen to women making sure they’re not wearing the same hairstyle, the same designer, or even the same color, to dinner or a party. But now I wonder, who is that for?

Whatever the answer turns out to be, here are the things to always remember: 

• The color of your dress is as important as the color of your hair – it must compliment your skin tone and your personality.  
•  If you feel comfortable in what you’re wearing, you’ll feel sexy in it.
• Make sure your hair is as sexy as your dress, and that your makeup compliments both.
• Remember that it’s a TOTAL look, and leave no part undone.

Now, tell us whether you’re an A, B, or C, and next week we’ll let everyone know just who our poll tells us women are dressing for. At the Elle Women in Film luncheon, I think we all know it was very much B.

Until next week, ciao!