Men In Pink
June 7, 2008 by tsims
Is pink the new black? Everywhere you look guys are wearing pink and you know what… they look great.
From our birth pink is associated with femininity. You don’t see a whole lot of pink “It’s a boy” signs. So we have been raised with this idea that pink is for girls. We beg to differ! Psychological attributes aside, pink is a very alluring, versatile color that plays well with all sorts of colors – greys, tans, black, blues… pink goes with just about everything. It also has a great way of providing contrast to skin tone.
So why is it that pink is getting so much attention from guys these days?
Just as men are realizing that taking good care of yourself on a daily basis is not just for women, they are re-thinking the color lines of what is considered masculine. There is this social stigma that “pink is for girls”, so a man in pink is stepping outside those rules to let everyone know that he is not afraid and will wear what he wants. That conveys a message of confidence and security. Plus they get tons of compliments from women! A man wearing pink goes against all those social mores ingrained in their brain, so they can’t help but notice. Try it sometime and see if you get a woman or two looking your way.
Here’s a couple suggestions on how to incorporate pink into your wardrobe:
Get a pink dress shirt – Dress shirts are the easiest way to incorporate pink because of their versatility. Not bright pink or salmon colored… just a nice light hue of pink. You can wear them with a suit or under a sweater when you need to look professional or with a pair of jeans in a more casual setting. Stay away from the ones with white collars and cuffs, unless you are holding an “I’m a tool” sign.
Get a pink tie – a good looking pink tie goes great with a suit and can be worn with lots of different color shirts. Rock it with a full windsor knot for a really distinguished look.
Get pink shoes – just kidding… don’t do that!
Get a pink golf shirt – A pink golf shirt goes great with a pair of tan khakis to celebrate a beautiful day
Get a pink flat cap (aka golf cap) – having a nice throwback like a flat cap is a great accessory, but add a little pink to that and you’ll really be making a statement
Get a pink insignia – If you can’t bring yourself to a full pink wardrobe item, you can always opt for a more traditionally colored item with pink insignia to get started
You’re right on spot there. It’s good to see that men start to realize that there is actually no color that only one gender can wear. However there are limitations. Just as much as there is a certain type of hat that fits you best (or certain type of glasses, etc.) there is only a certain range of colors one can wear.
This is not just some strange idea but based pretty much on old rules of how colors influence each other. Colors never appear alone are always juxtaposed by other colors influencing of how we perceive them. The same principles apply to wardrobe and skin color and can profoundly impact the first impression on leaves on people.
Think about the instances were you wear your favorite shirt and how everyone gives you compliments on your good looks. Or vice-versa when you pick that one shirt that was quite expensive but for some “strange” you do not wear it very often and when you do, people ask you if you’re alright because you look so tired and overworked, even though you do not feel like that at all. Most often these reactions are caused by your choice of color.
If you are interested in more of these kind of principles you might want to look into these sites ( LINK LINK that a simple google-search turned up (disclaimer: I am not involved with these sites). I only know about this because here in Germany (and probably in the US and other countries as well) there are studios that do style and color counseling but all they tell you is not some mumbo-jumbo but rather easy to understand color theory. That way I feel like not everyone has to spend a buck load of money to know what they should wear.
Cheers,
Daniel.
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I totally agree that pink is a wearable color for us men, if it matches the rest of our colors and compliments our skin and such. Just please, no more pink polo shirts with popped collars matched with spiky hair or a sideways cap… It does not look hip nor reinforce your masculinity. That’s my only male-wearing-pink pet peeve. It’s embarrassing.
Totally agree. In the summer my Mediterranean skin looks great in pink. I had a pink oxford shirt for years, always got compliments on it.
my husband does wear pink shirts and ties with black trousers and oh my god he looks so sexy,and my eyes are always all over him. pinl its a very nice colour for man
P{lease do not be offended by my question and concern……….
What is anyone’s opinion of wearing the suit ensemble pictured above with the satin pink tie to a job fair for a recent education college graduate; in this case a teacher for secondary public school? Is it sending the right gender orientation message and does it influence pro or con landing a teaching position?
During the early 1900s, women were advised to dress their boys in pink and girls in blue. Yup, at that time, pink was considered a boy’s colour and blue a girl’s color. But somehow, that got reversed and co-opted by the antimale media, which started to brand pink exclusively a girl’s colour. Breast cancer awareness and the pink triangle only reinforced the stereotype that pink is for women only. Too bad, men’s fashion is already so limited compared to women, that anything additional is welcome. Someday, men will be able to wear the full spectrum of colours that society has longed denied them simply because of stupid stereotypes of what is appropriate colour or not. Women don’t have such colour limitations, and neither should men.