September 08, 2007

Real men wear pink???

Everywhere I go, I see men wearing pink shirts. Pink polos with shorts, light pink dress shirts and slacks, even pink shirts paired with pink ties. I've always thought of pink being more of a girls' color, but now I'm not so sure. I think some men can pull it off.

pink shirt 1.jpg
James, on the other hand, disagrees with me. He doesn't think ANY man can pull it off. The other day we were stopped at a traffic light and a very straight looking man crossed the street right in front of us, walking proudly in his light pink polo. James immediately points and says, "I don't know WHY men have started wearing pink!" So I asked him if he thought it was a gay color and he said, "No. Not at all, I just think it looks girly."

So last night we were shopping for James and our two good friends B and J (I've mentioned them before-- they're both guys and also a couple) were helping James pick shirts. I knew we were in for an interesting shopping trip because B and J are VERY comfortable wearing many colors and they immediately started pushing James to go for colors he wouldn't usually wear. James is a navy blue, black, tan, gray, and the ocasional marroon type of guy. I have to twist his arm just to buy something green. Everything James picked up looked like 5 other things in his closet, so I was thrilled they wanted to "brighten" James's wardrobe.

pink shirt 2.jpg We talked him into a coral color and a green, but then they saw the pink. Uh oh, I thought. Here we go!

J: "James, you've GOT to get the pink. Pink is such a great color!"

James: "I don't really like pink."

At this point I'm thinking James is going to kill me for allowing my two gay friends to "help" him shop. I am really enjoying this whole exchange of words between the three of them; the brightly dressed gay couple and my ultra-conservative (in terms of clothing) husband who wants to buy yet another gray shirt.

I felt bad because I didn't want them to think that James thought these shirts they picked were "gay". Finally, J reassured James that these weren't gay colors at all, that they look good on all kinds of people. James reassured him that he didn't think colors were gay, he just didn't think he'd look good in colors. We all agreed he would. Of course, I think James is sexy in anything. :-)

pink shirt 3.jpg
Finally, they talked James into a nice, pale lavender shirt to wear with gray slacks and I was impressed! Yay for B and J for getting him to branch out because he doesn't listen to me, and yay for James being so awesome to shop with my gay male friends AND take their advice. He really likes them too though. They're both really good people.

This whole shopping trip got me thinking about pink. I'll admit, I was kind of glad James didn't go for pink because there's a part of me that still sees it as a girly color, even though some men can pull it off.

What do you think? Is pink just for girls? Would you want your man to wear pink??

Posted by Hannah at September 8, 2007 11:23 AM
Comments

OMG, my hubby wears non-traditional colors all the time. He looks fantastic in pink, lavender, and pretty blues (my favorite is baby blue to match his eyes!). All his buddies in Gville are the same way, the colors of the rainbow when they get together! In Key west, it's a whole new kind of rainbow :) :)

Posted by: girl from florida at September 8, 2007 01:43 PM

I won't judge any man that wears pink because it's their choice. BUT, I do think pink is a girly color (& it happens to be my fav color :). Yay to James for being diversified :)

Posted by: Connie at September 8, 2007 03:55 PM

My husband has a pink dress shirt as well as a pink tie and they're two of my favorite things on him. They both look great with his coloring.

Did you know that up until the middle of the 20th century, pink was a more traditional color for baby boys, and blue for girls? Since pink is a diluted shade of red--traditionally thought of as a "powerful" color--people used it for boys' clothes and rooms. Fascinating, huh? It's falling out as a "boy" color is equally intriguing. Here's a link to some of the history: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=238733

Posted by: Arin at September 8, 2007 05:00 PM

You know, I don't even notice when men wear pink anymore. It's gotten so common. My husband wears lots of colors, reds, oranges, greens, blues. He doesn't like pink, however...or purples. He doesn't mind them on me, Lila, or anyone else...he's just not really fond of the colors. I buy his clothes, and I'd never even attempt to buy anything pink or purple b/c I know he wouldn't like it enough to wear it. His wardrobe, shirts at least, are colorful enough as it is.

The funny thing about new pink thing is how it has changed so quickly. Just a few years ago...2004 to be exact, I was student teacher and I remember a male teacher wearing a pink polo and some girls and boys in my class snickering about it...like Haha he's wearing a girly shirt, he must be gay. Fast forward to last school year and half my boy students had their own pink polos.

Posted by: Chas at September 8, 2007 11:41 PM

I think some men look really really nice in pink. I like it

Posted by: Melany aka Supermom at September 9, 2007 01:45 PM

my husband is just like yours -- his closet has clothing in the same colors. he doesn't like to branch out either, and he would never EVER wear pink. i don't think anyone in the worlds could convince him to do that. hehe. he says it's a girly color. i think it depends on the guy. on some guys it works. on others, it doesn't.

Posted by: cady at September 11, 2007 09:47 AM

My husband would probably never wear pink. I have no problem with any color on men, as long as its tasteful. What kind of bugs me is when they wear something pink just for the sake of it being pink. If it's really your taste, go for it. But don't try to be "in" with your male pinkness. ;)

Posted by: Laura at September 17, 2007 01:09 AM