Costuming

I wear alot of black and white. It's makes it easy to mix and match and business travel wardrobe simplicity is a breeze. But woman does not survive on black and white alone and for that, I incorporate a fair amount of color to offset the dirge-like tones of my monotone attire.

Women are profound students of the nuance of color in wardrobe and they are appreciative of the way a woman ties together daily costuming. We do dress for other women--let's be honest--because we know they will appreciate our chic taste and our Glamour Don'ts. They'll notice the bag, the shoes, the jewelry and a good cut of a jacket. You will usually get a dead honest answer which frankly, I appreciate. If I need an opinion on my outfit, I'll always ask a woman.

At the risk of generalizing, I have noticed men have decided views that are less discriminating. Yes they will notice if you're showing some boobage. Yes they will notice if your dress is form fitting. Yes they will notice if you're showing a finely toned calf. But outside of these obvious bellweathers, they notice color.

Men don't really like black clothing on women. We wear black because we think we're A) Interpreting Coco Chanel; b) Looking impossibly chic and/or French; C) Looking a size smaller than we actually are. To a man, we look like we're going to an ancient relations funeral.

In one of my notoriously unscientific studies I have noticed that men respond to color. White is always fresh. Pink is undoubtedly feminine. Blues (especially light blue) are coquettish. Yellows are winsome. Fuchsia is fascinating. Teals tickle. You get the idea.

But the mother of all colors, the hue that stirs something ungodly in a man is red. Maybe it's the connection to the metaphor to prostitution but wearing a red dress seems to affect men in the most abnormal ways. I have a fabulous (and yes, comfortable!) red wrap dress that I love. The first time I wore it, I encountered very ardent interest from men. Must of been a fluke. I wore it again. Same outcome. I decided to mix it up and wear a red jacket. Again, the same response. I tried many other variations of red and each time I noticed an increased peaked interest in the male sex. Curious.

Today I arrived at my garage to fetch Angus. It was slightly chilly so I donned a bright red pashmina to swaddle around my shoulders. As I entered the garage, Morning Ahmet was waiting. We chatted briefly and then he paused. He looked at me intently and moved in close to my personal space. "You know," he said in his gentile Egyptian accent, "red is so sexy on a woman. And you look very sexy today." Uh--hello.

So case closed. The truth is I did not look sexy today. I was in dark clothing with my hair pulled back. I had a few hours of sleep in me. But that bright red pashmina transcended all those real demerits and somehow made me (in the eyes of my 30 year old parking garage attendant) sexy.

Time to go shopping.