Grooming With Heather: Men survive on a lean wardrobe

Standard People
In my previous article I gave you my top 6 “fashionable” reasons I loved being a woman. This week, The Boys Next-door gave me their “fashionable” reasons for loving being men and the few reasons they envy us.

1.    A man can get by on only 3 pairs of shoes in his wardrobe. 1 formal pair of black shoes can be worn all week to work, a pair of sneakers for weekends plus one other. We cannot say the same for us women because our clothes come in different colours that need matching shoes and different styles of dresses require different types of shoes, for instance round-toe heels for work and strappy heels for a wedding. All men’s shoes are comfortable too. They do not have to suffer in order to look good.

2.    Men’s hair is very low maintenance.  A clean haircut every so often is sufficient to do the trick plus it is inexpensive. Those that perm their hair, or have dreadlocks or braid their hair in cornrows may not relate to this point.  We will not even go into the amount of time we spend in our hairdressers’ chairs let alone the cost of the chemical, weave or extension we put in our hair.

3.    Guys have the fortune of owning a few outfits and “recycling” them and it is still acceptable. If a man has to attend four weddings consecutively he can wear the same black suit and just switch shirts and ties. I, on the other hand could not wear the same dress four weeks running even if it was a basic black dress that I accessorized differently.  Men can own three pairs of jeans, two pairs of shorts, two suits and this will be more than sufficient to sustain them for the entire year whilst we wear jeans, dresses, skirts, shorts, jumpsuits, leggings, only to mention a few.

4.    Getting dressed in the morning is not such an elaborate affair. Lotion, underwear, pants, shirt, tie, jacket, socks, shoes, and brush his hair and he’s done. She will cleanse, moisturise and tidy her eyebrows. Then she applies make-up; foundation, fill in eyebrows, apply mascara, lip gloss and finally just the face is done. Underwear is a two piece. She wears the dress and jacket now it is time to accessorise; the necklace, bangle, earrings and watch. Change handbags to match the colour of the day. Then style your hair which may involve curling, straightening, pinning up and oiling (if you have ethnic hair).

5.    Menswear is not so driven by trends. A golf shirt and shorts will be just that from January to December.  Men’s formal shoes generally look the same they may vary the material that makes them but the concept is the same. Our shoes, handbags, clothes in general are ever changing.

6.    A guy can wear the jersey of his favourite soccer team every weekend without it meaning that he only has one top; it just says he really loves his soccer team. At least that’s what guys’ think it means. We may think he only has one weekend shirt. I’m just saying.The “fashionable” reasons that make women worth envying

1.    Our clothes are “dirt” cheap in comparison their clothes. One of the boys went as far as saying we could buy a whole outfit for the same amount it costs him to buy just a t-shirt. Men have “cheap” clothes too but they look shoddy on them. The better the quality, the better the fit and, of course, the higher the price.

2.    Women can be adventurous with colour without raising any eyebrows. Pink and purple have only recently become acceptable for men to wear.

3.    We can transform a top into a dress by adding or subtracting accessories like belts or leggings.

4.    We have a variety of clothes to wear so we look different depending on what we wear whilst men generally look the same. They are either formal or casual. We also have a variety shoes, peep-toes, Mary-Janes, pumps, gladiator sandals, round-toe heels, strappy heels, wedges and the list goes on instead of just formal shoes, sneakers, loafers and flip-flops.

A key to love being a woman is the variety of colour, dresses, shoes, handbags, accessories and hairstyles we have. Variety is the spice of life. On the other hand a prime reason to love being a man would be the simplicity of their wardrobes. Three of the same kind of thing is good enough, three suits, three pairs of shoes, three pairs of jeans plus the less complicated, inexpensive non-time-consuming hairdos.