The peculiarities of men's clothing

Lies, the replies prove their are peculiarities! But it exits because I was shopping for my cousin and that I could get away with not buying underwear but was told otherwise without a good reason.

Because society up and decided female nipples were disgusting. If you asked why everyone insists on making bras hold boobs in uncomfortable positions...

edited 11th Jul '12 8:48:31 AM by IndirectActiveTransport

Nah. There's weird stuff about all clothing if you look closely enough.

I mean... ties. They don't do anything. I'm told that they evolved out of some sort of a thin scarf, but what do they do and why are they mandatory male formalwear? =P

And lapels. Why do we have those?

Be not afraid...

According to Wikipedia, lapels evolved from military collars that could be turned up/down depending on the weather. You can still do that if you have a coat that has a collar that isn't sewn down/non-functional.

RE Bras: They're not uncomfortable at all, unless you're in the 80% of women who are misinformed about bra size and thus buy bras that are too loose/tight in the cups. Being raised in a Western society, I find it really uncomfortable to have them bouncing around everywhere when I'm doing anything more strenuous than walking.

Properly-fitting bras are really comfortable.

Also, lingerie and high-fashion bras are useless no matter how well they fit.

edited 10th Jul '12 6:14:34 PM by Sharysa

Hmm. That does make sense, but nobody turns them up any more.

My point being, fashion is weird. For both genders. Female fashion is just more so.

There's a weird relationship between formality and covered-up-ness. I think generally, as men's fashion gets more formal, it covers up more (compare board shorts and a t-shirt to a dress suit) while women's fashion exposes more (Compare a women's business suit to a red-carpet dress).

That's what bugs me about shopping for fancy dresses. It's hard to find one you can comfortably wear in winter.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, the relationship for women's fashion is more exposed at both ends of the spectrum....

edited 10th Jul '12 6:42:28 PM by LoniJay

Be not afraid...

Also, women's clothes have a much lower chance of having pockets than men's.

I thought that the male faction of society decided that they were sexy, the media decided they were controversial, and mothers decided they were for babies.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

I've been thinking of investing in a bunch of button up shirts and vests. I like vests. They're classy, but less formal than a full suit jacket.

edited 10th Jul '12 9:53:32 PM by DirectorCannon

"Urge to thump... rising." -Fighteer

I used to really like red vests (like the kind Target employees wear), but I was in second grade then.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

Yes, they evolved out of Croatian military scarves (hence the name "cravat", which derives from "Croatian"). They do nothing; but they look nice, and they are one of the few ways in which one is allowed to customize men's clothing. I am a fan of them — I think you can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I went out of home without them (or bowties, alternatively) in the last eight years.

Personally, I tend to favor uniformly colored ties, generally, and use the Windsor knot to tie them (it's the one with the big, symmetrical tie knot); but it varies.

EDIT: And yes, vests are awesome.

edited 10th Jul '12 10:38:07 PM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

What, you don't like ties that have ironic or otherwise humorous images printed on them?◊

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

Gah, my eyes. No.

As I see it, a striped tie is already rather daring (I have a few of them, like the official membership tie of my university).

I think that the current style of formal men's wear works best when it is somewhat understated. I am pushing it already with my appreciation for bright colors, to be honest.

On the topic of formal male wear, I am happy that hats have become popular once again. I rather like my black hat (it's about halfway between a fedora and a homburg, I'm not entirely sure how to call it).

edited 10th Jul '12 10:55:14 PM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

My high school's uniform included striped ties.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

What if it's in a classic neutral print, like this?◊

edited 10th Jul '12 11:04:00 PM by DrunkGirlfriend

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

Yeah, for some reason "official" ties are generally striped. I have recently acquired the official tie of my university (mostly because I want to use it in my defense), and it is white and grey stripes on anthracite. A bit gloomy for my tastes, but eh, it looks nice.

There certainly is a huge market for joke ties, that's for sure.

edited 10th Jul '12 11:07:44 PM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

That's why striped ties are daring; if you're not careful you could be claiming to belong to all sorts of groups or organisations.

I have a blue and yellow striped tie, for example, that means 'I studied at King's College, at the University of Aberdeen' and a couple of regimental/corps ties.

That's why I stick to plain ties unless I know what the colours symbolise: I operate a strict "Weren't there? Don't wear!" policy with all my clothes.

Unfortunately, that means I'm having a bit of a dilemma about my sexy new flying jacket. While I am a pilot, I've never served with the USAF, so should I wear an A2, even one devoid of insignia?

edited 10th Jul '12 11:11:21 PM by InverurieJones

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

@Carcio: Yeah. My grandfather has a huge collection of them.

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

Hadn't thought of it that way. (Though I should note that our ties had the school's initials on them.)

edited 10th Jul '12 11:14:53 PM by 0dd1

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

On the topic of ties, what do you think of tie clips? I don't use them myself, but I tend to flip-flop on whether they are horribly tacky or can be alright if simple and tasteful (some of the ones in the Wikipedia image are awful...)

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

Ye gods, the ones in that picture are awful!

Personally, I'll sometimes use a tie pin, but that's about it.

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

Danny Tanner uses them for protection.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

Y'know, I have yet to find a fitting occasion to use the in truth very nice tie clip I got as a present from my aunt.

Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!

Vests? Why would you guys wear vests? Nobody's really going to see them.

Unless you decide to not wear shirts or something.

edited 11th Jul '12 5:59:32 AM by Inhopelessguy

Waistcoats, whatever. Hobbit-style clothing

edited 11th Jul '12 6:35:11 AM by Carciofus

But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.

Ohhhh.

Waistcoats.

Oh yeah. Forgot that vests meant undershirt in British English.

"Urge to thump... rising." -Fighteer