There’s no pressure, no expectations … and if you want to try something a little out-there, well, go nuts
I
t is strange that we talk about date-night dressing so much when we all know that the most fun nights to outfit-plan are really nights out with friends. Well, not actually strange at all, just the patriarchy doing what it does, I guess, and making it feel as if the world as seen from a male point of view – in this case, the view of a frock from the other side of a restaurant table on date night – is automatically the point of view that matters.
In a fashion context, it just makes no sense. I mean, I accept that I’m generalising wildly here, and I don’t for a moment claim to speak for everyone. But my own experience, which I would wager is a fairly common one, is that it is an evening out with friends when I’m going to get maximum appreciation for the fashion content of my outfit. Men just want you to look … nice? Which is fine, but there’s a lot more to style than that. Like I say, I am generalising, and not all dates are boy-girl anyway, but still: for many women, dressing up for friends is one of life’s under-appreciated joys.
On a friends night, you can be wildly overdressed for pizza and your pals will appreciate your look for what it is: enthusiasm for their company. Or you can turn up in your work clothes because you had to run straight from the office, and they won’t give a toss and just be thrilled to see you. You can wear your new leather trousers and know you will get the chance to tell, at great length, the triumphant story of how you tracked them down on Vinted. You can wear totally impractical shoes and nobody will roll their eyes when it means you have to get an Uber to a bar a quarter of a mile away.
