February, 2008

Today’s Womens Wear Daily asks the legitimately thought-provoking question: Who do you dress for?

Some famous celebs answered this question as follows:

Anne Hathaway

“Most women dress for their most fashionable friend.”

Designer Isabel Toledo

“Women dress for men. I do dress for myself because it makes me feel empowered, but I’m definitely looking for [husband] Rubin’s expression, not his approval. I do use clothes to speak — how I dress is a form of communication for me.”

Michael Fink, vice president and women’s fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue

“I hope women dress for themselves and not out of pressure to mimic someone or to be something they’re not. They’re also dressing for the special someone in one’s life, but I don’t think that’s every day.”

French Vogue’s Carine Roitfeld

“I don’t know for everyone else. For me, it’s for myself. When you feel good about yourself, you feel good about everyone else.”

David Wolfe, a creative director at the Doneger Group

“In a work environment, they dress for each other because it is so highly competitive and it has to be. For social occasions, they dress for men to try to eliminate any female competition, but not in an obvious sexual way. It’s tricky because overt sexuality doesn’t work and it doesn’t get them anywhere with other women. Another factor is at the designer price level, men are often paying for the clothes, so women need their approval. But men who have trophy wives want the trophy wives to have the latest, hottest things. Its a complicated thing.”

Designer Tina Lutz

“I would hope women would dress for themselves because you can only feel good about life if you feel good about yourself. It’s always a mistake to try to please others because then you lose yourself.”

Marylou Luther, editor of International Fashion Syndicate

“I have often heard it said that the Marni customer dresses for women and I understand that. The dresses are ‘quirkily country,’ and a little too big on purpose or covered up. More sophisticated women dress for themselves and they know what looks good on them. I’m always amazed by the number of young women today showing off so much. They would have been considered fallen women years ago. But I think younger women dress for men.”

Valerie Steele, director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology

“People dress for themselves to present an image of themselves. It’s not so much for other women and men as it is for friends and colleagues. Most dress for their cohorts. They want to be appreciated and thought of as attractive by those people.”

Ken Downing, senior vice president and fashion director at Neiman Marcus

“Women want to look sexy and stylish. They certainly want to dress for the man in their life and there’s always a little competition with other women. That is the truth because I spend a lot of time around women and clothes.”

Photographer Nigel Barker

“Most women dress for themselves. Most men don’t realize what’s going on half the time. If their friend at work wears the same thing every day, they wouldn’t notice. It’s not in the gene pool.”

Designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada

“In Spain, women dress for men. I don’t know what happens here. I think it’s very tiring to have to dress to be sexy all day. It’s horrible and exhausting to have to wear high heels for 24 hours.”

Frank Doroff, senior executive vice president and general merchandise manager of Bloomingdale’s

“It depends on the occasion. A woman might dress for a man or for other women. At work, they may dress for their peers.”

Jamee Gregory

“Women always dress for other women. Women, first of all, dress to please themselves. Unless they’re 16, they like to reflect what’s going on with fashion and other women are interested in fashion. It is a fashion thing.”

The Village Voice’s Lynn Yaeger

“I’m such a quirky dresser. Everyone dresses for different reasons. Some women dress for men, some dress for their personal contentment and some for the other opinions of women.”

Designer Isabella Tonchi

“I would hope people dress for themselves. To be liked by other people, you have to like yourself, feel good about yourself and be confident.”

Sophia Bush

“I dress for myself. There are days when I don’t want to be dressed up so I’m not. And there are other days when I really want to be done from head to toe. You’ve got to dress for you.”

So who do YOU dress for? Do you buy your designer denim for you or for those who look?