Inquirer Asks Old White Men About Fashion
Inky columnist Elizabeth Wellington hit the streets of Philly to find out what the men of our town thought of women’s fashion. She met this guy over here who wants you to know that he has got it all figured out. Women need to follow his fashion advice, and you will be Philly-chic in no time at all. Here is his (and other boring old white men) list of do’s:
I do like bell bottoms with halter tops. That’s a good look.
Other dude do’s included skirts (of all kinds), sandals with clear heels – you mean stripper shoes? – white linen pants (remember, no black), and, surprisingly, baseball caps with ponytails sticking out of them.
They also want to see you all in dresses (is that with the baseball cap and clear heels?), and unanimously hate capri pants. Shockingly, there was no disclaimer at the bottom of the story stating that only married straight men were interviewed.
Inky: When Did All These Broads Start Wearing Pants?
Correction: An early draft of this post erroneously attributed this chestnut to the Daily News. Philebrity regrets the error.
June 19th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Thank you, Elizabeth. Now I hate men, too.
June 19th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
She’s an Inky columnist. For once, you can’t blame this on the People Paper.
June 19th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
misleading head line. actually 4 of the 7 men identified are 28 or younger. just think like straight old white men.
June 19th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Shocking!!!! doods like chics in skirts & heels. Can I write an article about how doods like drinking beer & watching sports too?
June 20th, 2007 at 11:47 am
Not for nothing, but Mortimer Duke (pictured) did not say he loves bell bottoms and halter tops, (except for when he thinks back to his days in the U.S. Navy circa 1945), the author of that line was some dude from West Oak Lane…makes more sense, yes?
June 20th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Didn’t read the article, but as an “old white man” (I assume such a tired, lazy pejorative term is supposed to invalidate anything that follows?), my pet peeve is the eyesore of denim mini skirts. I hated them in the eighties, and I hate them now. Ugly color and texture, stiff, unflattering to a woman’s behind–creates a “unicheek” effect–and they look uncomfortable. Might as well be cardboard. Skirts of lighter materials are more aesthetically pleasing in silhouette and color, and the breezy drape about the woman’s form is flirtatious without being brazen.
In the interest of fair play: The most annoying thing on men is the ridiculously prim Casual Friday Top Shirt Button Code. Undoing just that top shirt button looks so uptight and square, like a timid cubicle rat who thinks he’s really cutting loose. Anything below this brings spasms of prudery to onlookers for some reason. Undoing that second button is perfectly reasonable; it rarely fans out, anyway. Not advocating the Tom Jones look, but c’mon–chests are a fact of life, babies.
Of course women dress for themselves, but they also like to be admired by the opposite sex. Men dress to impress women, too–or at least the ones who believe women are worth pleasing. To dress to please others is a wonderful thing–why be a bratty, adolescent eyesore? Jeans and tee shirts are the new establishment–slovenliness and the cult of comfort have made the streets of our fair city an incredible bore. The streets are theatre, the sidewalks are catwalks. The variety and surprise in people’s appearances should be one of the basic pleasures of living in a city, right along with variety of cuisines and nightlife. Let’s not continue to treat Philly as a cramped suburb.