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| A typical Sunday |
The interview goes as follows:
Q: How important is clothing in your life?
A: I don't know, it's kind of a necessary thing. Sometimes it's fun, but it's generally necessary.
Q: How much time and thought do you give to what you will wear on an average day?
A: It depends on my actions; I guess just enough to accomplish what I need to.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish from being dressed in a particular way--now or in the future?
A: Just noting that I am dressed appropriately to whatever task I'm trying to accomplish.
Q: Do you dress to please yourself or others?
A: Myself, generally.
Q: Do you think that it's important to wear specific things to feel confident?
A: No. I guess it just depends on your attitude. I'm going to be more confident going to an interview if I'm wearing a suit, rather than jeans. I'm probably going to be less confident working on a car if I'm wearing a suit rather than a pair of jeans.
Being married I have the opportunity each day to see my husband pick out his attire, whether it's for work, church, date nights, working around the house and on cars, or other social settings.
Although portrayed differently through media, I don't think there really is a huge difference in the way men and women think about how they dress. Men wear certain clothes for certain occasions, just as women do. I see him pick out casual clothing most days; at his job he is required to change into a specific work shirt, in order not to ruin his own clothing. That being said, there's no reason to put a lot of emphasis into what he wears on the days he goes to work. He likes to wear something casual, but with a collar (usually short-sleeve button-up shirts). When we go out with friends, he wears either the same thing as he would wear to work, or just a t-shirt and jeans. On date nights, he generally puts a little more effort into his appearance. A long-sleeve button up shirt (often with the sleeves rolled up) and a slightly nicer pair of jeans. His church-wear is generally as follows: A long-sleeve white shirt, a tie (which he carefully picks out - often to match or complement what I am wearing), suit pants, usually his suit jacket, and on occasion a vest. The picture above was obviously taken on a Sunday.
I think the only difference in particular that I have noticed is that I like to plan ahead more than Jonathan. Since I wear a lot of layers, I need to make sure that I have all parts of my outfit planned out before I start getting ready; Jonathan just grabs a pair of jeans and a shirt out of the closet. There's not much coordination that takes place on a regular basis. I like to plan out certain outfits for certain events (4th of July, weddings, etc); he doesn't care to do so, as long as it's something that is appropriate for an event, he will, again, just grab something from the closet.
I think the media gives women the idea that they need to spend more time on their appearance than men do. I also think that fashion cycles more slowly for men than for women; men's styles are often in line with classics and each article of clothing can be worn for a longer period of time before it becomes unfashionable.
