to its most basic description it is the idea of image, the projection of ourselves onto others, and the projection of others onto ourselves. Integral to this ‘projection’ of self is fashion, which is a critical component in terms of personal style. As aforementioned style, and more specically fashion, seems - from a male perspective - to be more crucial to the female experience of courtship than the male’s, but this is a misconception. Despite the fact that women’s fashion may generally be more elaborate and widely-discussed than men’s, both men’s and women’s fashion are equally important in the game of sexual attraction and courtship. One of the most fundamental struggles men face when it comes to personal style is the allure of comfort at the expense of other, arguably more important factors such as put-togetherness, quality, etc., and this is probably attributable to the apparent double-standard within society between men and women in terms of ‘comfort vs. style.’ Women, over time, have been forced to adopt a ‘no pain, no gain’ mentality in terms of fashion, which is particularly evident when we consider the girdle (more historically), and objects like high heels, skin-tight dresses, ‘suctioning’ undergarments (such as Spanx), mini-skirts, etc. Men, on the other hand, have been able to enjoy a greater level of comfort when it comes to fashion (historically and today) than women have, and as a logical consequence their approach to style has become substantially more ‘slack’ than women’s. The fact is, however, that men must reconcile themselves to the idea of being comfortable with being uncomfortable (a concept to which women have been long-accustomed) if they wish to give themselves that edge when attempting to win that
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special woman. This means that instead of allowing ‘convenience’ or ‘ease’ to be their primary considerations in terms of fashion, men should style themselves with a woman’s desires at the forefront of their minds; it may seem daunting at rst trading in that T-shirt for a collared shirt, but you’ll reap the rewards of the self-worth and condence you’ll project. The advantages of dressing with a woman’s desires as the standard may seem pretty obvious, but the disadvantages of failing to do so are probably far less apparent; how a man (or anyone, for that matter) dresses/styles himself says more about him than he may realize. For example, a woman who meets a man who is dressed conservatively is likely to, either subconsciously or consciously, categorize him as being conservative with money, conservative in bed, conservative with his emotions, etc.; if she is not enamored with the idea of being with this kind of man she will immediately become turned o, without the conservatively-dressed man having said even one word. This example illustrates the fact that, just as women would prefer a man who chooses style (i.e., wearing a collared shirt) over comfort (i.e., wearing a T-shirt), they would prefer a man who is not afraid of being a bit bold or perhaps even ‘ashy’ over one whose style is more drab or predictable. The challenge of resisting dressing ‘drably’ or ‘predictably’ is representative of yet another major struggle men are faced with when it comes to fashion and personal style, and that is the allure of minimalism; generally-speaking men are not encouraged to wear bright or eye-catching colors, or to embellish their personal style to the same degree that women are, and instead are encouraged (or at
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