dressing

As I sit here on my couch in my long flannel shirt, two different high heels on, immaculate make-up, and stick straight hair, I realized something: watching the process a woman goes through when she gets ready to go out can be very confusing to a man. When women get ready to go out, each one has a different routine.

I grew up with sisters and have gone to many a dance, club, or event which required getting ready. First of all, men should know that women tend to like to get ready in pairs or groups. This is mainly just so they have a second opinion about their clothes, even though a woman will just wear what she wants anyway. A female friend can tell a girl something is not flattering and it is accepted. She then throws everything out of her closet to change. But if a man tries to tell her — just don’t even try. Ask her friend to come over if your girl is looking large.

Some girls do their make-up, then hair, then get dressed, then choose their shoes, and then they go out. Some girls swap the make-up and hair, but everything else stays the same. These are the standard, most logical ways to get ready, but some girls get creative with their routine.

She may put on the outfit first. Now, the reasoning behind this is she does not want to mess up her hair or make-up putting the outfit on. However, depending on the outfit, this may require her to stand the entire rest of the time she is getting ready. So, if you see her standing around in a dress with her hair in a towel, not to worry, this is normal. She may wear the shoes as well. Again, perfectly normal.

Sometimes a girl is indecisive about her shoes. This means she may be walking around the house in a t-shirt (the pre-outfit outfit), and two different shoes on. Don’t worry, she knows what she is doing. And yes, it is hard to decide which shoe is better when they are two different lengths and she is hobbling around the house, but trust me, she knows what she is doing. Feel free to give your input about which you like, however, do so early on so that it isn’t too close to when she makes her final decision. Otherwise she might freak out and accuse you of saying you don’t like the pair she was going to choose. Which could result in an entire wardrobe change, which may then change the hair and make-up choice. So, actually, it’s best not to say anything until both shoes match.

If she is walking around in her outfit, her hair done, and finally has two pairs of shoes on, but no make-up, do not say, “You’re going out like that?” She will be “putting on her face” shortly. Or if she is ready and her hair is still wet, again, she will be “doing it” shortly.

Women are fully aware of what it is they are doing, even though it may look odd to the typical man. I write all this to let you know that yes, we know we may look silly for an hour or so, but in the end it’s totally worth it.