Instinctively, I would say, as men and women, that our respective experiences with clothing—as they pertain to the metaphysical—are as different as our views on everything from relationships to candles in the bathroom.
Similarities do exist. When we look for a new piece of clothing we are looking for similar things: Is this in style? Does this make my butt/chest/pecs look good? Does it look like it costs more than what I'm paying? But that is probably where the similarities end; shopping is a therapeutically narcissistic past-time and is one of very few socially accepted activities that allows us to focus on ourselves with unbridled vanity.
Okay...so, if shopping is our one-night-stand, what are our relationships like with our clothing once we enter into the dating phase? Wow...insights abound...hold on...okay: I have this one sweater that I bought in San Francisco last winter. I saw it on the rack at H&M and I thought, "You are stylish, sweater. If you fit, I'd like to have you on my body." I wore that sweater as many days in a row as I could without appearing awkward and of course unstylish. I became attached. But as can be expected with any garment that you put through that type of exposure, it lost buttons, became holey, faded, pilled and then became thin and flaccid. I still wear this sweater two to three times a week, inside my house only now, and it is, at this very moment, sitting right next to me in bed as I write—looking like a chalk-outline of its once animated self. I suppose the sweater and I will soon go our separate ways.
So...I guess that our relationships with our clothing are no different than our relationships with people. With some items (socks, functional undergarments), we have lasting friendships; with other garments, we have love affairs of varying intensity and duration.
Consider what I just wrote, and now think about the fact that women have far more items of clothing than men. What does that mean? Women like to have options. Men want their clothing to reflect whatever women want from them (stability, style). Men want to have sex with women and, for some, I'm sure that fashion can be viewed as just another hoop that they have to jump through.
I really miss my majestic sweater.
I think that our views on fashion are as varied as our views on relationships. We are all looking for something different. It cannot be looked at as a male/female thing because there is too much emotional cross-contamination.
-- Ally
