My boyfriend dressed me for a week
At the end of February, a Facebook friend of mine posted this article in which a woman let her boyfriend dress her for a week (a work week). I shared it with my boyfriend, Chris, thinking he may find it interesting and may even want to do it--and what do you know! He was into the idea, even with the caveat that I get to blog about it. ;) We were going to do it the first week of March but delayed it to last week when I saw the forecast for the first week of March (thank goodness, haha). It ended up working out really well because we had some warm days in between cooler days, so he picked out a range of outfits (they look kind of silly side-by-side unless you know the weather we had).
I realize how problematic it can be when people start dressing specifically for other people, especially when it comes to women dressing for men. I wanted to do this not because I was planning on dressing for Chris and not myself (or other women, let's be honest) but because I wanted to figure out what it was that he found me attractive in. Since I share outfit photos of myself often, I sometimes ask him for his opinion on an outfit and am often surprised at negative reactions (though it doesn't stop me from wearing the outfits most of the time; the other times, I take a closer look in the mirror and realize he's right). He also has a really solid personal style, so I was curious to see if he would dress me in outfits similar to his.
I did ask him to keep the weather in mind when putting together outfits and to please not make me wear a skirt sans tights if it was below 60 degrees or please not make me wear my nice shoes if it's raining. Also, if you're at all interested in the outfit details, they're listed at the bottom of the post. Without further adieu...
Monday, March 9 -- Day 1
Chris picked this outfit because he likes my "skinny colored jeans...for reasons" and because the boots "make my legs look long." He thinks the "whatever-it's-called is really cool" (the cardigan) and he also likes me in stripes. I appreciate that he played around with color and also picked out a fun pair of earrings. While I wouldn't have paired the tee with the cardigan because the tee has 3/4-length sleeves, I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that it didn't bunch weirdly like I thought it would. This is not at all a deviation from an outfit I would normally put together myself.
Tuesday, March 10 -- Day 2
Chris tells me that he picked this outfit "because short skirt" and he "needed a top to go with it." He thought more in terms of overall outfits instead of individual pieces, and he says that taking outfit photos of me gives him "insight into what works...and what goes together." (He adds, "Like, not sweaters and dresses." That is arguably his least favorite look on me and one I like to wear often in the winter, haha.) The stark contrast between the light blue shirt and bold red skirt is still one I'm getting used to, but it is growing on me...and I do appreciate a good nude-colored flat.
Wednesday, March 11 -- Day 3
"Legs" is all he has to say about this day. He also "really likes these boots" on me. He picked the floral jewelry because the dress is also floral. Even though it looks like it was a really warm day, wind and clouds kept it cool so he let me wear a cardigan while at work. He just didn't want to photograph it since it wasn't what he had in mind when putting together this outfit. When I realized that he wanted me to wear the dress and boot combination, I was immediately reminded of this outfit I wore last spring. Another good one!
Thursday, March 12 -- Day 4
Regarding this outfit, he says I'm "confident when [I'm] comfortable, and that's sexy." (I told him the pants are likely my least comfortable pair because they're my tightest pair and it's hard to bend my legs and sit in them after they've been washed, haha.) He is surprised that they aren't comfortable because apparently they look soft (corduroy is soft, I agree). Not surprising to me, he likes that I wear skinny jeans. I also like myself in skinny jeans which is why I wear them 90% of the time I wear pants. One of the first things he said about this outfit when I wore it was that he picked the necklace and earring combination because "they were both pointy" and they were both gifts from him (the necklace for my birthday and the earrings for Christmas). I love a good knit sweater-skinny pant-boot combination (as you all know if you've been around this winter!), though I wouldn't pair the necklace and earrings together myself.
Friday, March 13 -- Day 5
He saw me wear this top in a picture and "really wanted me to wear it again". Plus, those Madewell jeans are a favorite of his. He picked the shoes because they matched the pattern in the top (which you can hardly even see), and he also likes the necklace with the top because it "made the top less flowy" (if you know what he means). I also asked for a cardigan this day since it started off cool. My office mate remarked about how Chris and I matched this day; he was wearing a burgundy top and denim himself. We hadn't even realized it, but Chris thinks he must've been subconsciously on a burgundy and denim kick.
Overall, the outfits he picked out were not as different from my personal style as I thought they would be. (I mean, obviously they couldn't be that different since he picked outfits from existing pieces in my closet.) He didn't go with super tight tops and tight pants or super short skirts like I would think men prefer (broad generalization, of course). I appreciate that he thought about entire outfits versus throwing together individual pieces that don't necessarily go together. The only "interesting" parts of the outfits were the jewelry choices, but I give him props for trying. I bet it was overwhelming looking at all of the options even though I did insist that he didn't have to accessorize me. I'm also not surprised that the outfits were kind of in line with his own personal style. When Chris was looking through everything I had the Sunday before starting, he remarked that I didn't have as many clothes as he thought I did, which I was excited about; I think he was surprised at the limited number of options he had. Still, he didn't spend more than five minutes considering each outfit in the mornings so it must not have been that difficult.
In the article I linked, she talks about the reactions she received from the people around her, like her co-workers. I ended up telling the grad students I'm around on a daily basis what was going on on day 1, so I wasn't able to get candid reactions from them. However, the one female grad student I hang out with regularly liked every outfit and thought Chris did a good job putting them together. I think I may have gotten more/different reactions had the outfits strayed further from what I normally put together myself and if I saw more than the same few people.
All in all, it was a really fun experiment! I didn't learn anything groundbreaking regarding what Chris prefers to see me in, but I wasn't expecting to. Knowing what he likes will not change the way I dress in any way. I guess he'll just like my outfits more when it warms up (and when I stop wearing sweaters over dresses in the winter, haha). :)
{outfit details}
Day 1: Bobeau cardigan via Nordstrom / J.Crew Factory tee (old) / Madewell pants (on sale!) / Cole Haan boots (exact -- on sale in limited sizes) / ModCloth earrings (old; similar from Forever 21)
Day 2: LOFT shirt (similar) / Madewell skirt (old) / J.Crew flats (new version)
Day 3: Francesca's dress (old) / Madewell boots (on sale in limited sizes) / ModCloth necklace (old; similar) / Forever 21 earrings (old)
Day 4: Madewell sweater and necklace / J.Crew Factory pants (old) / Chelsea Crew boots via ModCloth (similar) / J.Crew earrings
Day 5: LOFT top / Madewell jeans / J.Crew flats (new version) / ModCloth necklace (old) / Kate Spade earrings via Nordstrom Rack