Real men don't care about fashion

mdaudioguy

I think it's best to leave fashion to the women. Casual, comfortable, normal-fitting jeans. Levi's, Wrangler, Lee, Old Navy... and a t-shirt. A polo, maybe, to look a little nicer, and a button-down when a polo won't do. My wife usually tells me which will be appropriate. :redface:

Btw, buying new jeans with holes in them already is ridiculous. I'll make my own in due time, thank you!

newrival

This is hilarious.

mdaudioguy wrote: »

My wife usually tells me which will be appropriate. :redface:

Yep, you sure sound like the definitive source on REAL men.

zane77

+1 that was good

mdaudioguy

newrival wrote: »

This is hilarious.

Yep, you sure sound like the definitive source on REAL men.

Well, more than once she's saved me from feeling like an idiot. Other times, there's not much she can do to stop that... :razz:

mdaudioguy

Haha!!

What's an iron?

Syndil

I know a lot of truck-driving, cigar-smoking, bourbon-drinking guys who do the things they do because they think it makes them a "real man."

Real men don't care about what others think makes a real man.

mystik610

Fashion is subjective. Real men are comfortable in their own skin, regardless of their taste in fashion. Also, real men dress themselves, and don't need their wives to tell them what's appropriate :cheesygrin: (kidding).

I've got a friend that's big on fashion. Wears skinny jeans and only shops at boutique stores. (he's into trendy street wear) Not my style at all, but believe me, this dude pulls women like no other. Key is, he's comfortable in himself wearing that kind of stuff. It's who he is.

Fashion to him is what audio is to me. It's a hobby for him, and something he's passionate about. I don't necessarily see eye to eye on him with it, and sometime thinks he looks a little ridiculous, but I don't judge him for it.

mdaudioguy

mystik610 wrote: »

Real men are comfortable in their own skin

I yam what I yam, and that's all what I yam!!

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xHBt9mHq-5c?rel=0&quot; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

maximillian

Not an endorsement for the site, but....

http://www.mans-man.com/mansman.htm

newrival

Real man is as real man does.

newrival

And anyone looking for an abridged resource for the modern man, look here: www.uncrate.com

cnh

Are we still talking about this? I've never been concerned with what "real" men or "real" women are "supposed" to look like and I'm not a fashion guy, as my daughter duly informs me.

For me the problem is not what to wear...but "How much money am I going to spend on a daughter who has been taught that if she's not wearing the latest and the greatest "she's not really an attractive and hip girl". The fashion "market" with it's skinny assed models that NO one looks like has damaged the self-confidence of the majority of "women" in this country. Fashion is NOT benign. It holds up unreachable ideals and has women internalize their shortcomings and "hate" themselves because they're not close to 6' tall and don't weight 110 pounds or less at that height.

There is probably a cohort of fat, greasy, balding middle aged or older men up at the top processing consumer data every second and "plotting" on how to create new "desires" and control the appetites of the young in order to generate outrageous profits and make sure that NO one is ever satisfied. Little to do with gender there except in a "negative" sense. Let's see: for women (low self-esteem, "do I look fat in this", "no one will ever love me", "I spend all my money on clothes and shoes and I have NOTHING saved!", etc.

And for Dads, our money is being drained for superficial concerns of "appearance" (the ultimate High School mentality--did anyone really "like" H.S.--its social cliques and nonsense, the popular and unpopular kids). This is not something funny, young people have offed themselves because of perceived shortcomings and abuse at the hands of the cooler, more fashionable, beautiful? And our commercials rarely feature anyone who is NOT a beauty!

So if you think "fashion" is something harmless and mere art in "this" society. Think again, and again, and again. Check the spread sheets on how much this area of our economy makes in profits (or how little those Chinese seamstresses are being paid by the Laurens, etc.) and how mercilessly it shapes "body image" and berates those who don't look like that! I know, because I have a 14 year old daughter who is very pretty but doesn't look like an "emaciated" model--who, BTW, looks "good" in skinny stretch jeans but feels less than all the skinny girls who look so "MUCH BETTER"--to return to an earlier topic.

I'm outta here. Tired of giving my daughter pep talks and watching my money fly out the window! I guess those marketing guys have REALLY infiltrated the teenage mind and are manipulating it as successfully as those "pods" from Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

A lot more issues here than whether you like and follow fashion or not. Many complex, some bogus and others, outright "destructive"!

cnh

rebuy

sucks2beme

Fashion is for those with extra money to spend. Same thing for luxury items
like a Rolex or Jaguar. Dressing sharp doesn't always mean being in fashion.
You can have a put together appearance without refilling your closet every year.
It's like those stupid house buying programs on tv. You'd think they would die if
a house doesn't have granite and stainless steel in the kitchen. Get over it.
Buy smart and within budget. Most of the trendy stuff is overpriced and
will not be trendy next year.

mystik610

cnh wrote: »

Are we still talking about this? I've never been concerned with what "real" men or "real" women are "supposed" to look like and I'm not a fashion guy, as my daughter duly informs me.

For me the problem is not what to wear...but "How much money am I going to spend on a daughter who has been taught that if she's not wearing the latest and the greatest "she's not really an attractive and hip girl". The fashion "market" with it's skinny assed models that NO one looks like has damaged the self-confidence of the majority of "women" in this country. Fashion is NOT benign. It holds up unreachable ideals and has women internalize their shortcomings and "hate" themselves because they're not close to 6' tall and don't weight 110 pounds or less at that height.

There is probably a cohort of fat, greasy, balding middle aged or older men up at the top processing consumer data every second and "plotting" on how to create new "desires" and control the appetites of the young in order to generate outrageous profits and make sure that NO one is ever satisfied. Little to do with gender there except in a "negative" sense. Let's see: for women (low self-esteem, "do I look fat in this", "no one will ever love me", "I spend all my money on clothes and shoes and I have NOTHING saved!", etc.

And for Dads, our money is being drained for superficial concerns of "appearance" (the ultimate High School mentality--did anyone really "like" H.S.--its social cliques and nonsense, the popular and unpopular kids). This is not something funny, young people have offed themselves because of perceived shortcomings and abuse at the hands of the cooler, more fashionable, beautiful? And our commercials rarely feature anyone who is NOT a beauty!

So if you think "fashion" is something harmless and mere art in "this" society. Think again, and again, and again. Check the spread sheets on how much this area of our economy makes in profits (or how little those Chinese seamstresses are being paid by the Laurens, etc.) and how mercilessly it shapes "body image" and berates those who don't look like that! I know, because I have a 14 year old daughter who is very pretty but doesn't look like an "emaciated" model--who, BTW, looks "good" in skinny stretch jeans but feels less than all the skinny girls who look so "MUCH BETTER"--to return to an earlier topic.

I'm outta here. Tired of giving my daughter pep talks and watching my money fly out the window! I guess those marketing guys have REALLY infiltrated the teenage mind and are manipulating it as successfully as those "pods" from Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

A lot more issues here than whether you like and follow fashion or not. Many complex, some bogus and others, outright "destructive"!

cnh

I agree man.

Unfortunately in society today, products are designed, marketed, and sold to be a form of self-expression, and we model our own sense of identity by the products we own. This applies to fashion, but also automobiles, consumer electronics, even things like hygenic products and foods. Look at the whole Apple movement, and how many people are paying a price-premium for Apple products, primarily because they're trendy (and I say this as a person who owns an iPhone, iPad, and Macbook Pro). Look at the whole Dre Beats movement, where young kids are spendings hundreds of dollars on headphones simply because they're trendy.

You see a lot of that even here, where people are judged by the products they own (ie I'm pretty much labelled a scrub here for using an EMO amp, even though I specifically chose it becuase of how it pairs with the LSi's.). Look at all the snobbery in the realm of audio enthusiasts in general, where 'audiophiles' often snub their noses at Polk products, strictly because they aren't some esoteric boutique brand.

Nothing wrong with spending luxuriously on things that you truly enjoy and find value in....but things do really get self-destructive when you start to mold your identity around what you spend your money on. I think more people fall into this trap than they truly realize.

polkfarmboy

I am using MIT Exp2 as a belt for my skinny jeans ....... high fashion !!

Face

decal

newrival

cnh wrote: »

So if you think "fashion" is something harmless and mere art in "this" society. Think again, and again, and again.

It IS harmless. fashion doesn't hurt anyone, people do. Do you think kids don't get teased in private schools where they all wear the same thing? I can attest first had that they do. Kids can be cruel, in '"this" society' or any other. Fashion is just one excuse for a kid to pick on another. Make no mistake, if a kid is going to pick on another kid, they will find a reason.

cnh

The fashion industry in the U.S. does not hurt women? Maybe you should take that up with my colleagues in Women's Studies. I think they would have a few things to say about that!

And then there is what's happening to my daughter's sense of her body? It tears me up, because she's not really what I would consider overweight but Media images, air-brushing, etc. are telling her "otherwise" and it "hurts" even if NO ONE is actually mocking her.

This is not about being bullied or ridiculed alone. It's for more invasive and pervasive. Not being a woman, does NOT help one understand the depth of the pain and loathing this engenders.

Everything is a "part" of society and everyone is a "part" of society. To think that individuals can defend themselves through their individual choices and actions "alone" is to be a tad naive or to believe that we're all Jean Paul Sartre! Or worse yet, that we're all Fantasy (World) Supermen in an Ayn Rand novel. lol

That's all folks. The rest is for a Seminar; "Consuming the BODY in a Global Economy" Lots and lots to talk about, 15 weeks worth? I can refer you to the Professor.

cnh

Syndil

I think there is a difference between fashion and body image that is getting blurred here. Fashion has to do with what type of shoes I wear, not if I'm overweight or not. You can absolutely be overweight and fashionable at the same time.

cnh

While that distinction may be there. It is NOT what Marketers are purveying. Their images of why you should wear those shoes and what you should look like etc., do NOT encourage the buyer to separate the two. The images are of ideals and beauty and youth, etc. When's that last time you saw a "balding, pot-bellied middle aged man" advertising for Nike, for example? It's in the interest of the advertiser to not separate these.

I don't disagree with you, but fashion has to "create" "desire", and that requires "sensuous" images and visuals that affect us subliminally so that we want to, for example, follow trends set by a Brad Pitt or a George Clooney, even though we probably look more like a Rush Limgbaugh, or a Keith Olbermann (don't want either side to be left out).

And again, the focus is not on you or me, but on what this does to one's conception of what you should look like. Now tell me, that NO one here has some problems with their "body" image and I'll concede! And if you do. Why do you? Don't just try to "parse" the argument so it devolves into a case of individual preference and choice, because that is certainly NOT what the advertising industry is doing. And to do that is to confuse rather than illuminate.

cnh

newrival

cnh wrote: »

The fashion industry in the U.S. does not hurt women? Maybe you should take that up with my colleagues in Women's Studies. I think they would have a few things to say about that!

I never said that. I said fashion does not hurt anyone. The fashion industry and fashion are not the same thing.

newrival

double

cnh

newrival wrote: »

I never said that. I said fashion does not hurt anyone. The fashion industry and fashion are not the same thing.

OK, I can agree with you there. But it is hard to pull these apart for "most people". But not impossible!

cnh

newrival

cnh wrote: »

OK, I can agree with you there. But it is hard to pull these apart for "most people". But not impossible!

cnh

Perhaps so. But should tire makers not use Ferraris to model their product because the majority of a population is driving camrys? I wouldn't pretend to know how to begin to tackle the issue of poor self-image in women, but I don't think using homely models will solve the problem.

cfrizz

Outstanding posts CNH!

The way to combat this problem is to strongly reinforce to your daughter that she IS beautiful, and that any of her so called friends who might be giving her trouble with her image are not really her friends. Encourage her to think for herself & not rely on her peers for her own self image/worth.

It is an up hill battle all the way around between the advertising, peer pressure, and boys/men who also feed into this BS subtlyltly & not so subtly encourage the emaciated look in these girls.

I wish you luck in this endeavor.

TECHNOKID

Real man do not need wife guidance or approval to get dressed; that is the difference between a child male and a man male. Your mom would provide you guidance when you were a child (appropriate to grow). If you wife needs to provide you guidance (innapropriate, you haven't grown up).

Real man while not requiring guidance from the women in their life will gladly acknowledge their opinion and use it in order to please them.

Fashion and trends are not the same. Fashion defines real men which feel good about them selves and will gladly let their claas and style transpire in their outer apperance (not glamor but humble reflect of their fully floorished/accomplishe manhood).

Fashion reflects the above, trends may at times reflect the above (in style) but at other times are far from reflecting the above (are simply vogue and fade quickly). Therefore, being fashionnable does not always mean following the latest trend as the latest trend may not be or mean style.

Fashion also associate with class (not always associated with glamor) and class does not always follow trends and/or fashion as fashion that has class is never old fashion and some trends are far from having class.

Lastly, lIMHO, jeans never been fashion/stylish/classy. There are trends in jeans but is there such thing as class jeans? Jeans used to be simple work clothes, as a result of a trend they've been accepted as casual clothes for years now but IMHO, are far from being fashion and/or classy.

Syndil

TECHNOKID wrote: »

Lastly, lIMHO, jeans never been fashion/stylish/classy. There are trends in jeans but is there such thing as class jeans? Jeans used to be simple work clothes, as a result of a trend they've been accepted as casual clothes for years now but IMHO, are far from being fashion and/or classy.

I think Jeremy Clarkson would take umbrage with that statement. But to each their own.

TECHNOKID

Syndil wrote: »

I think Jeremy Clarkson would take umbrage with that statement. But to each their own.

Eh, as I pointed out, just IMHO!

ken brydson

I'm wearing Costco jeans and a Polk t shirt right now. Am I fashionable?