Man Repellers Vs Repelling Menswear: Shouldn’t Men Wear What They Like Too?

Hands up if you’re guilty of this: Wearing whatever you damn well like no matter what the man in your life thinks, but then insisting that you wouldn’t be seen dead with him wearing that football shirt/those shoes/that shirt and tie combination?

I have to sheepishly put my hand up and say that I have thought those things before, and I’m not proud of it!

However, I AM proud to be part of the #iwillwearwhatilike revolution. I love the fact that my little corner of the internet encourages women to be free of style rules and to stop worrying about what others think about what they wear and thinking they should dress “age appropriately”.

So what I thought this week was… Should #iwillwearwhatilike not apply to men as well? Should they not be allowed to go out wearing things that make the lady in their life cringe or think that it’s an outfit that’s just not working (or “not doing them any favours”, for want of a better expression) even if THEY like what they’re wearing?

I can hear women everywhere saying “Er no, of COURSE they can’t wear what they like…” – and I know it’s the first thing that we think: Men need to be told what to wear… don’t they?!

Double standards

So while that response IS amusing, and one I’ve often heard women saying in jest, the fact is that if the tables were turned, women would be HORRIFIED to hear a man say that about a woman. Women have long been fed up of being told that they can’t do this and can’t do that, from serious things like having the vote to trivial things such as wearing leather trousers after the age of 40. Any strong, modern woman certainly does not give two hoots about what other people think about what she wears, and that includes the man/men in her life.

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ISN’T THE IDEA THAT WOMEN DON’T GIVE MEN THE SAME FREEDOM TO WEAR WHATEVER THEY LIKE, DESPITE WHAT WE THINK OF THEIR DRESS SENSE, SOMEWHAT… WRONG? AND ULTIMATELY HYPOCRITICAL?

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But isn’t the idea that women don’t give men the same freedom to wear whatever they like, despite what we think of their dress sense, somewhat… wrong? And ultimately hypocritical? After all, the number of fashion bloggers that blog about their “man repellers” (any item of clothing – or a whole outfit – that they love but that men think is awful) is growing. Almost every week I read a post where the blogger has featured an outfit they loved but their husband/boyfriend/partner etc. has seriously questioned what they were wearing (like Rachel the Hat did only last week).

And why not continue to wear things that he doesn’t like? Not exactly the end of the world, is it?

So it’s definitely double standards for women to wear what they like but then expect a man to conform and wear what SHE thinks he should be wearing. We just need to ease up on the criticism of what men wear and try to think about it the other way round.

And if he WANTS to clash prints and wear football shirts and socks with sandals, we’re just going to have to grin and bear it if we don’t want to be labelled as hypocrites.

Just remind yourself (and him) of my mantra: Always wear what you like, but always be occasion appropriate.

And if he doesn’t, you have my permission to say, “You’re not going out wearing THAT, are you…?!”*

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT WHAT THE MAN IN YOUR LIFE WEARS? AND DOES HE WEAR WHATEVER HE LIKES? TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS BECAUSE I AM DYING TO KNOW!!

*Disclaimer: I cannot be held accountable for any marital/relationship disagreements as a result of taking heed of this advice, which is given with my tongue firmly in my cheek 😜

So all that’s left to say is – I’ve shared my thoughts/stories/tuppence-worth this week, now it’s time to share yours… LET’S GET THIS [LINK UP] PARTY STARTED!

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